Carlee Russell’s Ex-Boyfriend Says They Had a ‘Little Argument’ Before She Went Missing, but ‘Nothing to Kidnap Yourself Over’

The former boyfriend of Carlee Russell, the Alabama woman who admitted to faking her own kidnapping earlier this summer, said he could have never predicted that his now ex-girlfriend might one day orchestrate an elaborate hoax.

Thomar Latrell Simmons said he was initially dumbfounded when he learned that Russell, a 26-year-old nursing student, had apparently been kidnapped after she tried to save a toddler that she claimed to see wandering along the highway in Hoover, a suburb of Birmingham.

That story, Simmons eventually learned, was not true.

The host of the "205 Boyz" podcast, Marcus Moody, asked Simmons to recall a trip to New York he and Russell went on a week or two before the incident. Simmons said they'd had fun visiting the Statue of Liberty and Brooklyn Bridge, going on tours, and eating out. But there was nothing out of the ordinary that would have clued him into Russell's eventual plan.

Back home in Alabama, Simmons said he didn't spot any noticeable change in Russell in the days leading up to her 48-hour "disappearance."

He also dismissed speculation that Russell might have carried out the elaborate ruse because Simmons had been cheating on her.

"I mean, we had a little argument," Simmons said. But it was "nothing to kidnap yourself over."

"That's why I'm confused, bro. Like, what happened? What made you do that?"

Russell, a nursing student, garnered national headlines after she called 911 in July, telling emergency operators that she was with a baby she'd spotted wandering along the interstate. When authorities arrived, they found Russell's abandoned car but no sign of Russell or the baby.

Days later, Russell turned up at her parents' house and said she had been kidnapped. But after further investigation, authorities discovered that there was no evidence that she had been abducted.

Simmons helped search for Russell after she went missing and initially defended her.

But when he learned that she had lied, he claims he cut off all contact with Russell, who he says he had dated for five years up to that point. He said Russell had the opportunity to come clean even before the police revealed that she had been lying to them.

The pair haven't spoken since, and Simmons said he doesn't anticipate that will change anytime soon.

Russell, who eventually admitted through her lawyer that she had fabricated the story, now faces up to two years in prison for making false reports. Her motivations for setting the ruse into motion remain unclear.