*Carlee Russell’s ex-boyfriend is speaking out about her kidnapping hoax in July.
Thomar Latrell Simmons appeared on the 205 Boyz podcast on YouTube last week, which he hosts with his friend, Marcus Goody, NewsOne reports. Simmons said he’s not sure what motivated Russell to fake her own kidnapping. Before the incident, the ex-couple had been on vacation in New York.
“We was having fun. We was taking tours of the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge. We was good,” Simmons said.
Simmons admitted that he and Russell got into “a little argument” after they returned to Alabama.
“But it wasn’t nothing to kidnap yourself over,” he said.
Russell, 25, faked her own kidnapping for 48 hours and later admitted to making up the elaborate tale. She is now facing misdemeanor criminal charges.
We reported previously via CNN that Russell went missing after telling a 911 dispatcher that she saw a toddler walking along the side of Interstate 459 South. After the call, Russell stopped her vehicle to check on the toddler and called a family member who lost contact with her, though the line remained open, according to the Hoover Police Department.
When officers arrived at the scene, they found Russell’s vehicle and some of her belongings – including her phone – but no sign of her or the child. Days later, the Hoover 911 center received a call that Russell had returned home, Hoover police said in a news release.
Russell returned home on foot two days after her “disappearance,” and told police she was abducted by a couple and held captive until she was able to escape. As The Huff Post reports, during the investigation, Hoover police said they were “unable to verify” Russell’s account of what happened based on surveillance footage. Russell later admitted through an attorney that she was not kidnapped.
She was ultimately charged with false reporting to police and falsely reporting to 911 about a toddler walking alone on the highway, according to The Huffington Post.
Simmons has not been in contact with Russell since her disappearance.
“I’m trying to get back to my normal life, but you know, it’s never going to be normal for me,” Simmons said on the podcast. “I can’t go around Birmingham without people knowing who I am.”
READ MORE: Carlee Russell Charged After Faking Disappearance, Making False Report | Video
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