The filing of two misdemeanor charges in the staged disappearance of Carlee Russell leaves several questions unanswered in the bizarre case that has captivated the nation.

Russell, who just days ago turned 26, was booked and released on bond Friday afternoon on charges of false reporting to law enforcement authorities and falsely reporting an incident.

The Class A misdemeanors are punishable by not more than one year in a county jail or a year of labor in the county, according to state statutes. They also carry a fine up to $6,000.

Her defense attorney, Emory Anthony, said he expects the next step in the case to be a court date sometime in October.

“As we all know, actions can have consequences and that’s why we are here today,” Hoover police Chief Nick Derzis said at a press conference following her release.

The case has been shrouded in mystery since Russell vanished on July 13 after saying she saw a toddler walking alone on the side of Interstate 459.

Here are some of the questions that have yet to be answered:

Where was Russell for the 49 hours she was missing?

“We still don’t have any idea where Carlee Russell was for 49 hours,” Derzis said.

Anthony has not said where Russell spent the 48-plus hours she was gone.

At 9:34 p.m. Thursday July 13, Hoover 911 received a call from Russell stating she had seen a white male child, about 3 to 4 years old, walking on I-459. She made a phone call to her brother’s girlfriend, about 9:36 p.m.

Officers soon arrived and found Russell’s red Mercedes still running but no sign of a toddler or Russell. Police found Russell’s wig, phone and purse near her vehicle. Her Apple watch was in her purse.

There was no known sightings of, or contact from, Russell until Saturday, July 15, at 10:44 p.m. when Hoover 911 received a call from Carlee’s residence that she had returned home on foot.

How much did the search for Russell cost and is there any way to collect that money?

Police have not yet tallied the cost of the investigation into the fake disappearance.

“We don’t see this as a victimless crime,” Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, whose office will prosecute the case.

“There are significant hours spent, resources expended, and not only that, but the many men and women civilians who wore those yellow vests on a hot afternoon and in the evening looking for someone they thought was abducted, trying to be of assistance,” Marshall said.

Derzis was asked if the police would consider filing a civil suit against Russell and/or her parents to recoup the money spent on the search.

“We have not discussed that,” Derzis replied. “We talked about the hours of overtime and all the significant resources that we used and we’ll certainly be talking to the attorney general’s office about possibly getting some of those funds returned to us.”

Crime Stoppers of Metro Alabama earlier this week announced it was refunding $63,378 donated while Russell was missing.

Did anyone aid Russell in the staged disappearance?

It is not known if anyone aided Russell when she vanished after slowly driving along a 600-yard stretch of I-459 in Hoover.

“My client was not with anyone or with anyone at any hotel during the time she was missing,’’ Anthony has previously said.

Derzis was asked at Friday’s press conference if Russell’s parents would be charged, to which he replied that as Marshall’s office prosecutes the case, “We’ll find out what they say.”

Why are the charges only misdemeanors?

Derzis said that “judging from the amount of phone calls and emails we have received from people all across the country, I know many are shocked and appalled that Ms. Russell is only being charged with two misdemeanors, despite all of the panic and disruption her actions caused.”

Derzis said he shared that frustration and he will ask state lawmakers to address that issue.

“The existing law only allows the charges that were filed, to be filed. I can tell you that I will be contacting our state legislators on behalf of law enforcement in Montgomery and asking them to look at this law as applied to these facts and urge them to add an enhancement to the current legislation when someone falsely reports a kidnapping or other violent crime,” Derzis said.

Hoover City Council President John Lyda said he is asking the council to consider a resolution asking the Alabama Legislature to revise the current laws regarding filing false police reports and incidents.

“Specifically, the crime of falsely reporting a felony incident to law enforcement, as we saw in the Carlee Russell case, should carry with it a felony charge. Likewise, falsely reporting a misdemeanor incident should continue to carry only a misdemeanor charge,” Lyda wrote in an email to city officials.

“The current structure of Alabama law seems inadequate to appropriately address the crimes that Miss Russell has been charged with.”

Why did Russell do this?

The motive behind the faked disappearance did not come up at Friday’s press conference.

Efforts by AL.com to obtain court records in the case were not immediately successful.

Derzis has previously said he does not know why Russell fabricated the disappearance.

“I wish I could tell you,’’ he said. “I think only Carlee knows, and maybe her attorney knows now.”