Was Sherri Papini's Kidnapping A Hoax? Chris Hansen 'Truly' Believes California Mom Was Abducted

Five months after her disappearance, conspiracy theories abound online about Sherri Papini, the 34-year-old California mom who was kidnapped and freed last fall. Internet sleuths have cast doubt on Papini's past, her relationships and her story as they've scrutinized every detail of the abduction, trying to solve one central question: Was the entire thing was a hoax?

According to Chris Hansen, the answer is no.

Read: Missing California Mom Has Checkered Past With Family

The host of "Crime Watch Daily" was set to appear this week on "The Dr. Oz Show" to talk about the Papini case, which he recently investigated for an episode of his own in February. Hansen, who interviewed Papini family friend Lisa Jeter for his TV segment, told Oz he thought Papini had indeed been kidnapped.

"I can tell you this: After sitting with Lisa Jeter, her friend, I am convinced she's telling the truth, I am convinced that she cares for Sherri Papini, and I'm convinced she told me everything she knew," Hansen said, according to a news release from the "Dr. Oz Show." "This isn't some, you know, cockamamie scheme here. I believe, truly, that she was abducted."

Papini vanished Nov. 2 on a jog in her neighborhood in Redding, California, and turned up weeks later on Thanksgiving Day beaten, bruised and wearing restraints. The local police, who gave frequent updates on her case while she was missing, have since stopped talking about the investigation. Papini's alleged captors haven't been identified, and her once media-friendly family has gone into seclusion — two factors that have only stoked the speculation online.

Read: California Police Search For Missing Mom Stacey Smart

Hansen's report uncovered a few details about the Papini case, including that she'd been kept in a "dark, dingy holding cell where she was starved" and had to seek special treatment for her wounds after she returned.

Hansen, who used to host "To Catch a Predator," told Oz Papini's ending wasn't simple.

"She was battered, bruised, branded, as we said in the story there, and — and really damaged. You know, one of the things that made this case suspicious to some people was that it was reported she was released after just hours in the emergency room from the hospital," Hansen said, according to the release. "She didn't go home. What we found out in the story was, she actually went to a higher level treatment facility, because her injuries were so severe."

Law enforcement officers have repeatedly said they believe Papini's claims and are still investigating her abduction, talking with the Papini family and analyzing evidence.

"We work on this case every day," Shasta County Sheriff Lt. Pat Kropholler recently told People. "There is no evidence here that shows this is a hoax or this didn’t occur."