Carlee Russell fired from spa job as questions about her disappearance continue to mount

Carlee Russell is reportedly out of a job as scrutiny mounts surrounding her alleged kidnapping. According to The New York Post, she was fired from the Woodhouse Spa in Birmingham, Alabama, on Friday (July 21 ).

Owner Stuart Rome spoke exclusively with the outlet about the turmoil his staff experienced when the story of her disappearance broke last week. “It was really devastating for them thinking a co-worker was abducted,” he said. “The following day, Saturday, it was the busiest day of the week, and they had to plug along and work and, in the off times, pass out flyers and other things.”

The 25-year-old nursing student was at the center of a massive search effort after she mysteriously vanished from an interstate on July 13. Russell had called 911 from I-495 after she claimed to have seen a toddler walking along the roadway in Hoover. She allegedly then phoned a family member to tell them about the situation when she suddenly disappeared. Officers who arrived at the scene found no traces of her, but her car, phone, and other personal belongings were located.

She had been missing for 49 hours when she resurfaced at her parents’ home on July 15. She was taken to UAB Hospital for an evaluation, but little more about her alleged abduction was known until a police conference. On July 19, police said they were unable to find any proof of the lone toddler and were unable to corroborate other details about her alleged encounter with kidnappers.

They also claimed that she had questionable searches about kidnappings and stealing money from a register. A separate report from The Daily Mail claims that Russell was also observed on the spa’s security camera stealing a dark robe and toilet paper hours before she was reported missing.

“As the information came out, there were some questionable things,” said Rome. He noted that many of Russell’s former colleagues were angered by the entire ordeal and negative attention that business has received in the aftermath. “We’ve been a little pissed off, mainly because so many people took so much time out to search,” he said. Russell’s parents publicly supported their daughter’s claim that she was kidnapped and had to fight for her life. However, Russell has yet to issue a public statement of her own.