In 2016, 34-year-old Sherri Papini vanished while out jogging. Insisting she must have been ‘taken’, Sherri’s husband Keith Papini organised massive search efforts and wept in TV interviews about wanting her home. And after three weeks, much to the shock of police, Sherri reappeared. Found wandering along the side of a freeway with a chain around her waist, battered, bruised and emaciated with her hair chopped off, Sherri said she’d been abducted by two ‘Hispanic women’ who wanted to sex traffic her.  

Sherri’s return and horrific story made international headlines, but something didn’t seem quite right to police, who quietly set about trying to get to the bottom of the whole thing. And 6 years later, in March 2022, the FBI announced they had finally solved the Sherri Papini case…  

(Content Warning - this episode features talk about domestic violence. Some support resources are listed below.)

Skip straight to the story: approx 17:55

We give you Just The Gist, but if you want more, there's this:

Keith Papini’s 20/20 interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-2GSwAv2dA

Sherri Papini wiki:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherri_Papini_kidnapping_hoax

Details of the divorce petition:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10752297/Sherri-Papinis-husband-demands-sole-custody-two-young-children.html

Some good articles with general info:

https://7news.com.au/news/crime/sherri-papinis-theatrics-are-what-got-her-caught-after-she-faked-her-own-violent-kidnapping-c-6537776

True Crime Daily podcast ep:

 https://omny.fm/shows/true-crime-daily-the-podcast/sherri-papini-busted-california-mom-s-kidnapping-f

Sinisterhood podcast two-parter:

https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/episode-180-sherri-papini-part-1/id1391483100?i=1000556696911

If today's episode was difficult for you, please reach out to:

Lifeline: https://www.lifeline.org.au/

Beyond Blue: https://www.beyondblue.org.au/

If you need domestic violence support, you can anonymously contact 

1800 RESPECT: https://1800respect.org.au/

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