Sherri Papini Breaks Silence on Fake Kidnapping
Sherri Papini, a California mother whose faked kidnapping captured national attention, is speaking out for the first time since her controversial case. In 2016, Papini vanished for three weeks, claiming she was abducted. However, it was later revealed that she had been with her ex-boyfriend, who assisted her in creating false injuries to support her story.
In a preview for the new docuseries Sherri Papini: Caught in the Lie, she posed a thought-provoking question: “Haven’t you ever lied? And then, has the lie been blown up?” Papini emphasized, “I was tortured; I was branded; I was chained to a wall. All that is true. I did keep some secrets from you, though.”
The four-part series will debut on May 26 at 9/8c on Investigation Discovery. It offers exclusive access to Papini, retracing her case from her disappearance to her return home and the investigation that eventually led to her arrest in 2022.
For the first time, viewers will hear her side of the story, gaining insight into her thoughts during the ordeal. The series will also cover her life after prison and her ongoing struggle for joint custody of her two children with ex-husband Keith Papini.
Papini’s saga started on November 2, 2016, when she claimed two armed women had kidnapped her while she was jogging. The community supported her as she was found 22 days later on Thanksgiving Day, but an investigation soon uncovered the truth. Authorities found that she had staged the entire incident and had been living with her ex-boyfriend in Southern California.
The ex-boyfriend revealed that he helped her "run away" because she said her husband was abusive. They communicated using prepaid phones and crafted a plan for him to pick her up in Redding and take her to his apartment.
During her time away, Papini reportedly tried to lose weight, cut her hair, and inflicted injuries on herself to bolster her kidnapping narrative. In a federal complaint, it was noted that while her ex-boyfriend never physically hurt her, he helped her in some ways, like “banking a puck off her leg” to create bruising.
Papini eventually pleaded guilty to charges related to the hoax and was sentenced to 18 months in prison, released early in 2023. She was also ordered to pay over $300,000 in restitution to various law enforcement agencies.
