Owner Stuart Rome told the New York Post Ms Russell was no longer employed at the Woodhouse spa in Birmingham, and that staff were “pissed” about her abduction claims.

The 25-year-old told police she was kidnapped while stopping to help a toddler on Interstate 459 on 13 July. However, police say they have doubts about her account after finding suspicious internet searches on her phone.

Mr Rome said staff had been devastated by Ms Russell’s disappearance, and had passed out flyers in an effort to help find her.

“As the information came out that there were some questionable things, we’ve been a little pissed off, mainly because so many people took so much time out to search”