Carlee Russell’s troubles have just gotten worse. The woman who grabbed national headlines after her family claimed she was kidnapped just lost her job. According to the New York Post, the Woodhouse Spa in Birmingham, Alabama has fired her.
Owner Stuart Rome said his employees were emotionally invested in her disappearance. The spa owner said they felt duped when it appeared she wasn’t abducted by an orange-haired man as she tried to care for a wandering toddler on the expressway.
“It was really devastating for them thinking a co-worker was abducted,” Rome 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.
“As the information came out that there were some questionable things, we’ve been a little p##### off, mainly because so many people took so much time out to search.”
He said the company’s social media had been impacted by people flooding it with negative comments about Russell and her employment.
“Basically, we’ve spent the last day battling to get things deleted,” he said. “Comments. I’ve had to shut down my comment section on Instagram and Facebook page which hurts us because we do a lot of marketing there. We’re just trying to keep the doors open.”
In addition to costing her the job and the social media pushback, he also said it put a damper on people’s willingness to help out.
“I think it erodes faith for the next time, it erodes faith when people see somebody who’s been abducted and they’ve been put through this,” he added. “They’re just not going to respond like they did, which is the worst part.”
