When Sherri Papini vanished, she became one of the most recognised women in California. Her photo was on missing posters, details of her disappearance were circulated on social media and news reports gave constant updates on the search to find her.
The whole of the US was asking, “Where is Sherri Papini?”
Papini, then 34, lived in Redding, California with her husband Keith. They’d been married for seven years and had two young children, a boy and a girl. Keith worked for an electrical retailer and Papini was a stay-at-home mum.
On 2 November, 2016, while her children were at nursery, Papini went for a run. When Keith returned from work, Papini wasn’t there and she hadn’t collected the children.
Concerned, Keith used the Find My iPhone app and tracked her phone and ear buds to an intersection about a mile from their home. They looked as though they’d been dropped in a hurry. Papini was reported missing.
Within hours, a huge missing person’s case was launched. Pleas for information about Papini made the national news and her face was splashed across the front pages of newspapers.
Keith made public appeals for his wife’s safe return and her family offered a $40,000 reward. As the community formed search parties, raised money and kept the case in the spotlight, they didn’t give up hope – and that faith was rewarded.
On 24 November, Thanksgiving morning, a motorist found Papini wandering along a road in Yolo County, about 150 miles from where she’d vanished.
She was partially bound with a chain, was covered in bruises and her hair had been hacked off, but after 22 days missing, she was alive.
Papini said she’d been kidnapped and her abductors had released her at 4.30am that morning. She was reunited with her husband and children.
A traumatised Papini struggled to share what she’d been through at first, but soon she told police all about the horrific ordeal she’d experienced.
She said she had been out jogging when an SUV pulled up beside her. She described how two Hispanic women had forced her into the vehicle at gunpoint.
Papini said the women had beaten and tortured her, cut off her hair and kept her chained up to a pole in a closet. She revealed a painful looking branding on her right shoulder that she said had been burned into her skin with a heated tool as punishment for trying to escape.
Papini had also lost weight as she’d lived off one meal a day – rice, tortillas and sometimes apples.
The two women had worn masks or covered Papini’s head, so she couldn’t fully see their faces – but she managed to describe some details so experts could create an e-fit.
She said her captors would play “really annoying” Mexican music loudly and told her they were planning on selling her “to a cop”. But incredibly, she’d been released on the morning of Thanksgiving – pushed from the SUV and left on the highway.
The police made an appeal for information about the two armed females and local Hispanic women feared they might be blamed for Papini’s abduction.
The community was unsettled. Papini had male and female DNA on her which was unidentified. There were no matches on CODIS, the national DNA database in the US.
Meanwhile, Papini was at home trying to rebuild her life with her husband and children. She received $30,000 from the California Victim Compensation Board – some paid for therapy and some paid for blinds for her home.
She then claimed over $127,000 in disability benefits due to the PTSD she said she’d suffered. There was also $49,000 from a GoFundMe account.
As the years went by, no arrests were made. While Papini avoided the spotlight, the case was unforgettable. There were podcasts made about it and articles published that raised uncomfortable questions that were yet to be answered. There were rumours locally that Papini’s tale was suspicious.
Investigators always felt Papini hadn’t been telling the truth about her kidnapping. There were inconsistencies and so many details seemed far-fetched.
Nearly four years on, in March 2020, the police had a breakthrough with the male DNA found on Papini’s clothing. It was traced to a member of the public who had used a commercial DNA testing site – and then linked to a man in his family. This man was an ex-boyfriend of Papini’s.
When questioned, Papini’s ex made a startling confession. He said she’d contacted him out of the blue and said she’d been abused by her husband.
She begged him to pick her up in a rental car and then she stayed with him at his Costa Mesa apartment 600 miles away. They’d used pre-paid phones to make the arrangements.
After three weeks, Papini said she wanted to go home to her kids, so she injured herself and chopped off her hair to make her story believable. His version of events was backed up by phone and rental car records and from a witness who saw her in Costa Mesa.
Papini was brought in for questioning but, despite being told it was an offence to lie to a federal officer, she insisted her story was true. It was a complex task to secure charges against Papini, but investigators were determined to expose her lies.
In March this year, Papini was arrested as her children were having piano lessons. The charges were for making false statements to the police and for mail fraud – relating to money she’d falsely gained being sent via mail – a federal offence in the US. On the day of her arrest, Keith separated from his wife.
The public were horrified that they’d been duped. Why would she make up such a story? The police determined she’d just wanted to spend time with her ex, away from her husband and children.
But her ex insisted that while he thought they might get back together, they didn’t have a sexual relationship during the time she was there. Had she done it for attention? For the money? It was a cruel thing to do to her family.
Papini was released on a $120,000 bond after surrendering her passport. She faced up to 25 years in prison. Six weeks later, she signed a plea deal admitting it was a hoax – she’d made it all up.
Papini pleaded guilty to mail fraud and lying to a law enforcement officer. Keith filed for divorce and for sole custody of their children.
In September, Papini faced sentencing. The prosecutors said she had wasted resources, caused police to investigate innocent people and frightened a community.
Her defence said Papini was taking responsibility and her name would be forever synonymous with the hoax.
She said in a statement, “I am so sorry to the many people who have suffered because of me – the people who sacrificed for the broken woman I was. I am guilty of lying. I am guilty of dishonour. I stand before you willing to accept. To repent and to concede… what was done cannot be undone. It can never be erased.”
The judge called Papini a “manipulator” who had lied to police, the community, her family and her psychiatrist. He said Papini, 40, needed to be punished to stop copycats and to show that “crime doesn’t pay”.
Papini was sentenced to 18 months in prison followed by 36 months of supervised visits. She was also fined around $310,000 for the losses incurred by the compensation board but the judge conceded it was unlikely she’d be able to pay it back. She was told to surrender to authorities by 8 November.
Papini is a skilful liar who became a national sensation – once as a victim and then, more accurately, as a criminal.
