Lawmakers are seeking to toughen the consequences for making a false abduction claim following the 2023 hoax disappearance of Carlee Russell.

Alabama Sen. April Weaver (R – Brierfield) and Rep. Mike Shaw (R-Hoover) on Thursday held a press conference to announce a bill that would make faking an abduction a Class C felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. They were joined by Hoover police Chief Nick Derzis and representatives from the Alabama Attorney General’s Office.

Russell, 26, seemingly vanished Thursday, July 13, after calling 911, and a family member, to report seeing a child, about 3 or 4 years old only wearing a diaper, walking alone on I-459.

The family member reported hearing a scream, and then only interstate noise through the open cell phone line.

Russell’s disappearance sparked a massive search and widespread concern.

Two days later, Russell showed up alone at her parents Hoover home. She was taken to UAB Hospital for evaluation.

While in the hospital, Russell told Hoover police she escaped the clutches of a man and woman who abducted her. She did not speak with Hoover investigators again after that initial interview.

She later admitted through her attorney that she had not been abducted.

Read full coverage of the case here

“Like so many others around Alabama and the rest of the nation, I paused when news of the abduction and disappearance of Carlethia Russell was reported and I said a prayer for her safe return,’’ Weaver said. “The fact that such an incident could occur so close to home made it very disturbing and made an already disturbing event even more alarming.”

“Like many others, I was outraged when I discovered the entire incident was an elaborately staged hoax,’’ she said. “It wasted thousands of taxpayer dollars and hundreds of human resource hours.”

Perhaps the biggest victims of Russell’s hoax, she said, were the dozens of volunteers who searched for Russell in record-breaking heat.

Weaver said her outrage was compounded by Russell being charged only with two misdemeanor crimes – false reporting to law enforcement authorities and falsely reporting an incident – for which a municipal judge found her guilty. She has appealed the verdicts to state court, with a trial set in March.

There were no laws on the books to charge Russell with more serious crimes, Weaver said. That’s why she wants to take steps to discourage future, similar hoax abductions.

The bills, one sponsored by Weaver in the state senate and the other by Shaw in the house of representatives, would require mandatory prison time and restitution for the full cost of resources spent by law enforcement agencies investigating a hoax abduction.

Shaw said, he too, was initially concerned about how an abduction could happen in Hoover, which he described as one of the safest cities in the nation.

“I watched it become a national story, an international story and it made it look like our community was somewhere where somebody could disappear without a trace and they were using toddlers as bait,’’ he said.

“Now we know that’s not true,’’ Shaw said. “It was an elaborate hoax to get attention or something, and we know that our laws need updating to reflect it’s a serious crime, it hurts the fabric of our community.”

Hopefully, Shaw said, enhanced laws would prevent similar incidents in the future and “make anybody whose thinking about hurting our community like this think twice about what they’ll do.”

Shaw called it “common sense legislation.”

Chief Derzis during a July 28, 2023, announced the misdemeanor charges against Russell and said he would be contacting legislators for enhancements to the existing laws.

“Six months later, here we are,’’ Derzis said.

“Judging from the emails and phone calls our department received last July, individuals through the country called us and were appalled that Carlee was only being charged with a misdemeanor despite the panic and disruption of her actions,’’ Derzis said. “I felt the same way.”

Hoover officers, he said, worked more than 424 hours of overtime during the investigation. Thirty percent of the workforce was devoted at some point to case.

Police deployed drones, tracking dogs and drove “untold amounts” of miles. The 911 Center had to call in additional personnel to field the more than 1,000 calls that came in regarding Russell’s disappearance.

Multiple other agencies also joined in to assist.

Derzis said his agency alone likely spent more than $50,000 during the 49-hour ordeal.

“Actions have consequences,’’ Derzis said. “This bill enhances those consequences.”