An American mother faces up to 20 years in prison after staging her kidnapping in 2016. She wanted to hide her extramarital relationship at the time.
On November 2, 2016, Sherri Papini mysteriously disappeared. She had last been seen jogging. His relatives, obviously mad with concern, immediately alerted the authorities. This mother was found 22 days later during Thanksgiving celebrations along a road in Yolo County, California, about 100 miles from her home.
At the time, she explained to the police that she had been abducted after being threatened by two Hispanic women who were armed. She had gone further by describing these two women so that the FBI could make a composite portrait. But it was all a lie, reports “People” magazine. Sherri Papini, according to the Department of Justice, made it all up. At the time she was reported missing, she was actually staying with an ex-boyfriend in Costa Mesa. To appear more credible, she would have gone so far as to hurt herself. When discovered she was emaciated, “scarred”, with her hair cut shorter, and cuts and bruises all over her body.
“This is the first time that I have been the victim of a hoax”
The private detective hired by the family of the disappeared confided in “People” this week, recounting having found this story “suspicious” from the start. He wonders today why this woman went so far as to invent such a story. “I’m sure she had her reasons, which we may never know. Did she feel that she didn’t get enough attention from her family, husband and friends? Did she want this attention? Was she mad at anyone? For the detective, the worst part of this story is that Sherri Papini blamed two Hispanic women for her kidnapping. “For me, that was the hardest part,” he commented. When he got involved in this business, he agreed to do it for free and now feels cheated. “Because she was a mother of two young children, I felt the need to volunteer. This is the first time that I have been the victim of a hoax in 30 years”.
In 2020, investigators discovered there was a potential DNA match in the case after a family member of Sherri Papini’s former boyfriend took a test. The correspondence led investigators to Sherri Papini’s ex, who allegedly admitted she was with him and was not kidnapped. He also admitted that they used prepaid phones to communicate with each other. Sherri Papini faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 if convicted of making false statements to a federal agent, as well as up to 20 years in prison and $250 000 dollars for mail fraud.
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