Carlee Russell, a 25-year-old woman who vanished off an Alabama highway on Thursday, July 14, ignited a statewide search and came home safe two days later on Saturday night.
The case, which received national attention, has prompted a fierce online debate about her disappearance.
Netizens speculated that Russell staged her kidnapping and cited the Sherri Papini case, in which a mother of two from Northern California was discovered on the side of a highway three weeks after faking her absence last year.
According to family relatives, Hoover was driving home when she noticed the alleged unattended toddler and stopped to check on the youngster before departing without a trace.
The disappearance prompted a 48-hour search, which was called off on Saturday after Russell returned home on foot.
While investigators are examining the circumstances surrounding the missing girl’s disappearance, netizens have been quick to speculate that the case was an elaborate hoax orchestrated by the missing kid.
Many defended Carlee Russell, though, pointing out that the situation was still being investigated.
Several internet users criticized the conspiracy ideas spreading online because authorities have not yet released any information about the case.
