Infamous Calif. kidnap hoaxer Sherri Papini released from prison

Infamous hoaxer Sherri Papini, 41, has been released from prison after serving a sentence for faking her kidnapping in Redding.

Papini’s saga began in early November 2016 when she was reported missing after going for a jog in her Redding neighborhood. Her phone and earbuds were found neatly placed on the side of a road, playing her wedding song, Michael Buble’s “Everything,” on repeat. Three weeks later, on Thanksgiving Day, she resurfaced on Interstate 5, badly bruised and underweight. 

She told investigators that while on her jog, she saw an SUV with two “Hispanic” women inside. When Papini got closer, she said one woman pulled a gun on her and ordered her into the vehicle. Despite the terror of the abduction, Papini told FBI agents that she slept most of the drive. She did not allege she was drugged, although at one point she asked if a stun gun would affect her memory; investigators told her this was unlikely.

Papini said one woman told her they were going to “sell” her to “a cop.” She could not explain why she was released by her abductors. 

According to the FBI, DNA found on Papini’s clothing was linked to an ex-boyfriend in Southern California. According to the affidavit, the man, who had known Papini since they were teenagers, said she contacted him “out of the blue” and claimed “her husband was beating and raping her, and she was trying to escape.” The ex-boyfriend allegedly told investigators he drove from his residence in Southern California to Redding to pick up Papini.The ex-boyfriend claimed he eventually drove Papini back toward Redding, dropping her off when she instructed him to.

When detectives confronted Papini, she continued to deny she faked her kidnapping. Interrogation video showed her husband, who had no role in her scheme, repeatedly asking why she didn’t want to press charges against her supposed kidnappers.

“You’re not making sense right now,” Keith Papini said. “To the point where I’m getting scared.”

Keith Papini later filed for divorce and full custody of their children. He cited “the negative impact of their mother’s notoriety” in court documents.

Last year, Sherri Papini agreed to a plea deal and admitted to lying to federal agents and defrauding the California Victim Compensation Board. “If she had not been caught, she’d still be taking the money and living the lie,” Judge William Shubb said in court before sentencing her to 18 months in federal prison and a fine of $300,000. 

She served her sentence at the Federal Correctional Institute in Victorville until being moved on Aug. 16 to a facility run by Sacramento’s Residential Reentry Management field office. RRMs are known colloquially as halfway houses. It’s not clear where Papini was placed after her release, but the Federal Bureau of Prisons website still lists her release date as Oct. 29, 2023.