Alabama woman set for a plea hearing months after police say she faked her own kidnapping

BESSEMER, Ala. (AP) — A new plea hearing has been set for an Alabama woman accused of falsely telling police she was abducted last summer after stopping to check on a toddler wandering near a highway. Carlee Russell’s disappearance captivated the nation before police called her story a hoax. A court document filed Thursday shows a plea hearing is set for March 21. She is appealing an earlier guilty judgment from a lower court. Russell disappeared July 13 after calling 911 to report a toddler beside an interstate near Birmingham. She returned home two days later. Her attorney later said Russell never saw a toddler and was not kidnapped.