Thoughts on Sherri Papini?

[Gumbo4x4]

Did she move to your state? 3 years ago, she was in Richmond, VA working as a nurse and was having her wages garnished from a civil case from that little farce.

No, nothing like that. I just see that name a lot more frequently than you'd think LOL

 

[Darcy03231]

This is a weird case, no doubt about it. I'm just going to step back and let the police and investigators do their jobs though. They have a lot more info and experience than I or any other internet sleuth does.

I remember when a young girl went missing up in North Conway. Just disappeared walking home from school. The rumors ran rampant and then 9 months later she just walked in the front door of her condo. I can't imagine the absolute joy and shock her mother must have felt.

She wouldn't give cops info or really even talk to them for a while. People speculated that she was protecting someone, that she had been up to no good, that she had wasted the law enforcement resources for her own games.

In the end, when the truth came out and the horrors that she went through came to light, I bet the ones who were saying the horrible things they were saying felt pretty bad about it.
It's natural to want answers. If in the end, she faked this, if her husband was in on it. It will come to light and they will pay for it. I just hope it isn't fake. I can't imagine putting my kids through something that horrible for a bit of money for internet fame.

I live in this general area and I remember some of the speculation/rumors that went on.... I would hope that some people were thoroughly ashamed of themselves after the truth came out.

 

[Heidict]

I live in this general area and I remember some of the speculation/rumors that went on.... I would hope that some people were thoroughly ashamed of themselves after the truth came out.

I am just glad he changed his plea to guilty and she didn't have to go through a trial and relieve it for all to hear.

 

[erin1715]

This case just gets stranger. Now they've found male DNA (and female) on her clothing that was not her husbands, but she only claims to have been kidnapped by two females.

http://people.com/crime/sherri-papini-dna-male-alleged-abduction/

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I read that she was also in a texting/long distance "relationship" with a man and he was in her state two days before her abduction.

She also stated she was never raped or sexually assaulted so they are ruling out sex trafficking as the reason for her kidnapping.

This case is indeed very weird.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

It seems there's a lot more to the story than we're hearing.

She's been a recluse since this happened, apparently.

 

[erin1715]

I read that she was also in a texting/long distance "relationship" with a man and he was in her state two days before her abduction.

She also stated she was never raped or sexually assaulted so they are ruling out sex trafficking as the reason for her kidnapping.

This case is indeed very weird.

I read that also about the other man but apparently they interviewed him and concluded he didn't have anything to do with her abduction. I also read that she's having trouble with recollection....makes me go, hmmmm.

 

[bcla]

There's video of the night she was released. There's a faint image of someone running by a Jehovah's Witness hall parking lot and it came from their security cam. She kind of wanders around.

 

[diznygirl]

The video looks like she ran past, then was walking on her way back - perhaps catching her breath - and then running again. Nothing really unusual.

 

[erin1715]

The video looks like she ran past, then was walking on her way back - perhaps catching her breath - and then running again. Nothing really unusual.

Yeah, I'm not sure anything can be gathered from the video. Just that maybe she was looking for someone to help her.

 

[bcla]

The video looks like she ran past, then was walking on her way back - perhaps catching her breath - and then running again. Nothing really unusual.

I know it's not much, but this is just one more piece of the puzzle. I was previously under the impression that she was released right about the place where she was found, but now it sounds as if she was released in a less conspicuous place and had to find her way to some place where there was more traffic.

 

[sasywtch]

I thought she was chained when she was found

 

[erin1715]

I thought she was chained when she was found

I was curious about that too because the video shows her running pretty freely, but from what I read yesterday she had a chain around her waist connecting to her wrist and then she had some type of "anchor" (not the right word I'm looking for) around each ankle but they weren't' connected together.

 

[diznygirl]

I was curious about that too because the video shows her running pretty freely, but from what I read yesterday she had a chain around her waist connecting to her wrist and then she had some type of "anchor" (not the right word I'm looking for) around each ankle but they weren't' connected together.

Good point. I really can't make out much in that video. The experts will have to weigh in on this. I just thought she was running one way to get help, and then the other.

This has been a bizarre story from the beginning with nothing adding up.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I’ve seen some news stations now reporting it as an “abduction.” Emphasis on the quotations.

 

[bcla]

Update after more than 5 years. She's been arrested on charges of making false statements and mail fraud. I think the mail fraud is because she apparently received $30K from a victims' compensation fund via mail.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edca/p...al-agents-regarding-kidnapping-and-defrauding​

Department of Justice​

U.S. Attorney’s Office​

Eastern District of California​

​

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, March 3, 2022​

​

Shasta County Woman Arrested for Lying to Federal Agents Regarding Kidnapping and Defrauding the Victim Compensation Board​

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sherri Papini, 39, of Redding, was arrested today on charges of making false statements to a federal law enforcement officer and engaging in mail fraud, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert, FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ragan, and Shasta County Sheriff Michael L. Johnson announced.​

​

According to the criminal complaint filed in this case, on Nov. 2, 2016, Papini was reported missing, and extensive searches were conducted for her in Shasta County and California as well as in several other states. On Nov. 24, 2016, Papini was found in Yolo County near Woodland. Papini had various bindings on her body and injuries including a “brand” on her right shoulder.​

​

At that time, Papini told law enforcement officers and others that she had been abducted and held by two Hispanic women at gunpoint and held against her will. She also provided details of the alleged abductors to an FBI sketch artist. Based on her account, law enforcement agencies were on the lookout for Hispanic women matching Papini’s description. The investigation eventually showed, however, that this was a false narrative Papini fabricated. In truth, Papini had been voluntarily staying with a former boyfriend in Costa Mesa and had harmed herself to support her false statements.​

​

During an interview conducted by a federal agent and a Shasta County Sheriff’s Office detective in August 2020, Papini was warned that it was a crime to lie to federal agents. She was presented with evidence that showed she had not been abducted. Instead of retracting her kidnapping story, Papini continued to make false statements about her purported abductors. In addition, Papini caused the California Victim’s Compensation Board to pay victim assistance money based on her kidnapping story. From 2017 through 2021, Papini’s request for victim assistance caused approximately 35 payments totaling over $30,000, including for visits to her therapist and for the ambulance that transported her to the hospital after her return.​

​

“When a young mother went missing in broad daylight, a community was filled with fear and concern,” said U.S. Attorney Talbert. “Shasta County Sheriff’s Office immediately began investigating, calling on the assistance of the FBI. Countless hours were spent following leads, all in an effort to bring this woman back to her family. Three weeks later, she was found 146 miles south of where she disappeared, and the focus went from trying to find her to trying to find her abductors. Ultimately, the investigation revealed that there was no kidnapping and that time and resources that could have been used to investigate actual crime, protect the community, and provide resources to victims were wasted based on the defendant’s conduct.”​

​

“This case exemplifies the FBI’s commitment to working tirelessly with law enforcement partners and prosecutors to examine all facts and seek the truth, no matter how long that process takes or how complex the analysis may be,” said Special Agent in Charge Sean Ragan of the FBI Sacramento Field Office. “We are grateful for the dedication of the agents, investigators, lab technicians, professional staff, and prosecutors who aided our collaborative fact-finding efforts. We are relieved that the community is not endangered by unknown, violent kidnappers, and thank the public and media for their patience and strong support for this case since the initial reports of Sherri Papini’s disappearance.”​

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“The Shasta County Sheriff’s Office is very thankful for the partnerships with all of the local, state, and federal allied agencies that have been involved with this investigation for the last five plus years,” said Sheriff Johnson. “The arrest of Sherri Papini was made possible by the outstanding hard work of a multitude of agents, detectives, DOJ criminalist, forensic analyst, crime scene investigators and support staff members that were assigned to this investigation. Everyone involved in this investigation had one common goal; to find the truth about what happened on Nov. 2, 2016 with Sherri Papini and who was responsible. The 22-day search for Sherri Papini and subsequent five-year search into who reportedly abducted her was not only taxing on public resources but caused the general public to be fearful of their own safety, a fear that they should not have had to endure. The Sheriff’s Office has appreciated the support and patience from the citizens of Shasta County and abroad. This investigation has always been a priority to get solved for the Sheriff’s Office as well as for our investigating partners at the FBI and the California Department of Justice’s Bureau of Forensic Services and Bureau of Investigation.”​

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“At the California Department of Justice, we're proud of the work that our investigators and forensic experts do each and every day to provide critical investigative leads to our law enforcement partners across California,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta. “No matter the circumstances, our team is committed to the facts. While this case deals with a tough situation, we'll continue to do our part to help secure justice. Thank you to our partners at the federal and local level for your commitment to seeing this case through.”​

​

This case is the product of an investigation by the FBI and the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office with assistance from the California Department of Justice’s Bureau of Forensic Services and Bureau of Investigation, and the California Highway Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Veronica M.A. Alegría and Shelley D. Weger are prosecuting the case.​

If convicted of making false statements to a federal law enforcement officer, Papini faces a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison and a fine up to $250,000. If convicted of mail fraud, she faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine up to $250,000. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.​

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edca/press-release/file/1479901/download

Sherri Papini arrested, charged with faking her own kidnapping while staying with former boyfriend​

https://www.redding.com/story/news/...ping-abduction-fake-officials-say/9367942002/​

Redding resident Sherri Papini, 39, a young mother whose apparent kidnapping and near-miraculous return became global news in 2016, was arrested Thursday on charges of making false statements to a federal law enforcement officer and engaging in mail fraud.​

​

Prosecutors say she not only misled investigators and wasted untold law enforcement resources, but she also profited from about $30,000 of payments from the California Victim's Compensation Board.​

​

The sensational case captured global attention and took on racial overtones when Papini, who is white, told investigators her captors were two "Hispanic women" but failed to provide detailed identification of them despite claiming to have spent 22 days as their captive. Prosecutors now say the women were invented as part of Papini's hoax, and that she was voluntarily in Costa Mesa, California, with an ex-boyfriend the entire time.​

​

DNA evidence ultimately led to the ex-boyfriend and helped crack the five-year-old case, according to a 55-page criminal complaint filed with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.​

*******​

The investigation eventually showed Sherri Papini's account was fabricated and that she had voluntarily stayed with a former boyfriend in Costa Mesa, where she systematically had harmed herself to make her story convincing, authorities said. They said she enlisted his help inflicting some of the injuries — including branding her shoulder — but that much of the physical evidence of her ordeal was the direct result of Papini roughly cutting her own hair, slamming her head on the bathtub and bathroom floor, and refusing to eat enough food.​

​

In the criminal complaint, Redding-based FBI agent Courtney Lantto said Sherri Papini had been in contact with her ex-boyfriend as early as December 2015 – nearly a year before her disappearance. They used pre-paid phones to communicate, according to the complaint, which says she eventually asked the ex-boyfriend, whose name is not given, to drive to Redding from Southern California and pick her up.​

​

On the day the community believed she had disappeared in a terrifying abduction while out on a run, Sherri Papini actually met her ex-boyfriend exactly as she had arranged via text messages, Lantto said in the criminal complaint.​

 

[bcla]

Kind of missed it as there were only a few articles on this, but apparently the allegations had already surfaced in 2020 that she was in Southern California with this guy.

https://nypost.com/2020/10/29/sherri-papini-case-remains-unsolved-four-years-after-kidnapping/​

It’s been four years since California “super mom” Sherri Papini vanished during a broad-daylight jog, and then reappeared with an astounding, never-corroborated tale of a kidnapping by two women.​

​

Papini has long since resumed a quiet, suburban life with her husband, son and daughter — yet tips on what may have happened to the petite mom are still being called in to investigators, including from a mysterious man in Southern California.​

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The man called the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office a few months ago claiming that Papini was with him for the entire 22 days that she was supposedly held captive by her gun-toting abductors, a law enforcement source told The Post.​

​

“He said, basically, that it was a hoax,” the source said.​

 

[TeresaBelle]

Wow! I hope she gets the maximum. Or at least 22 years, one year for each day her husband and children agonized over her disappearance!

 

[ronandannette]

Wow! I hope she gets the maximum. Or at least 22 years, one year for each day her husband and children agonized over her disappearance!

According to the article she has been reunited and reconciled with them for years and is now living a quiet family life. I doubt they’d see a sentence like that as welcome justice for them.

 

[bcla]

Wow! I hope she gets the maximum. Or at least 22 years, one year for each day her husband and children agonized over her disappearance!

My guess is that she pleas down and then gets a suspended sentence. It's for wasting law enforcement's time afterwards.

Had she just fessed up when she got back (probably even in 2020) I'm guessing they wouldn't even charge her.