Who was Aniah Blanchard? Mother of dead woman speaks out after Carlee Russell confesses she lied about being kidnapped
HOOVER, ALABAMA: The case of Carlee Russell, which started on a very frantic and intense note, has now ended with an astonishing revelation. The 25-year-old woman had initially claimed she had been abducted on July 13. She then miraculously came back to her home on July 15 and stated that she 'escaped' her kidnappers.
Carlee did not share much at first. However, people began speculating that she was lying and she herself had staged her kidnapping. Ultimately, this was proven to be true on Monday, July 24, when she admitted to faking the crime. A statement by her lawyer Emory Anthony reportedly said, “My client apologizes for her actions to the community, the volunteers who were searching for her, to the Hoover Police Department and other agencies, as well as to her friends and family. We ask for your prayers for Carlee as she addresses her issues and intends to move to understand that she made a mistake.”
Along with a lot of people, the mother of Aniah Blanchard, Angela Harris, who is an activist and was working to find Carlee, has expressed her disappointment over the shocking development. Harris’ statement actually came before Carlee’s guilty admission came out. She shared her views based on Alabama police’s suspicious findings about the nursing student, and clearly showed her anger.
Who was Aniah Blanchard?
Aniah Blanchard was a 19-year-old young woman, who was the daughter of Harris and stepdaughter of UFC fighter Walt Harris. She suddenly vanished in October 2019 in Auburn, Alabama. Soon a probe was launched and it was eventually found out that the Alabama college student was actually murdered as her body was located in Macon County's wooded area.
The investigation also revealed that a man named Ibraheem Yazeed was allegedly responsible for her death. Reports said that Yazeed allegedly killed Blanchard after kidnapping her and stealing her vehicle as well as her other belongings. The 33-year-old suspect has, however, pleaded not guilty to all counts of capital murder after being indicted on three counts in late 2022.
What did Angela Harris say about Carlee Russell?
Harris told PEOPLE, “All we knew was that we needed to find Carlee because she was missing and nowhere to be found. Everybody deserves that. I did everything that I was supposed to, me and my team, and we did it the right way.” She also shared about the state of her parents when Carlee had not returned.
She said, “The parents were exactly the way I expected them to be. They were just like me. They were in continuous, constant go mode,” before mentioning, “I was still under the impression, or telling myself, that Carlee’s in danger. We’ve got to get to her. She may just already be gone, and she’s not going to come home.”
Harris then went on to describe her feelings when Carlee was home. She told the publication, “I can’t even tell you the emotion I felt knowing that she was home and safe. It was overwhelming. I just went in and hugged Carlee and I told her that I’m so happy that she’s alive and I’m so happy she’s okay. She hugged me back and she was like, ‘Thank you for everything you’ve done.’”
‘There’s still so much more work that has to be done’
However, when the lies of Carlee began to unravel, the mother of Blanchard, stated, “I’ve really just been basically speechless, to be honest. I’m just trying to be classy and neutral because something is telling me in my spirit that that’s the way I need to be. Of course deep down inside I’m very angry. I do not regret anything at all.”
But Harris has also asserted that because of one such case, she won’t deviate from her mission. She added, “If someone else is missing and they need our help, we will be supportive and we will search if we have to. This is really what me, my family, and everyone at Aniah’s Heart is concentrating on right now. There’s still so much more work that has to be done. I don’t want people to hesitate. I want them to take every case seriously.”