Woman Arrested For Faking Her Own 2016 Kidnapping And Lying To Law Enforcement

A Northern California woman whose disappearance sparked a frantic three-week search was arrested Thursday for faking her own kidnapping about five years back.

The woman is facing charges of lying to federal agents about being kidnapped and defrauding the state's victim compensation board of $30,000.

Sherri Papini, 39, of Redding, was reported missing on Nov. 2, 2016. She had gone jogging near her house before authorities were alerted of her disappearance, according to PEOPLE. When Papini failed to pick up her children from daycare, her husband went looking for her and only found her cell phone and earphones. She hadn’t taken her purse or jewelry with her.

A motorist found her about 22 days later on the side of the road in Yolo County, roughly 150 miles away from her home. She was found with a swollen nose and a chain restraint around her waist and one arm. Other bindings were also found around her wrist and ankle, according to a court filing Thursday.

Her blond hair had been cut to shoulder length, and a “brand” mark had been burned into her right shoulder, the authorities said at the time. She was also found to have bruises and rashes on parts of her body.

Papini told investigators at the time that two Hispanic women kidnapped her at gunpoint. Law enforcement agencies began hunting for the suspected kidnappers, based on details Papini provided to an FBI sketch artist.

The investigation ultimately determined that Papini fabricated the entire story and harmed herself to support her claims. The investigators also found evidence of Papini having stayed with her then-boyfriend nearly 600 miles away during the time of her disappearance.

The former boyfriend admitted to the investigators that Papini stayed with him.

“When a young mother went missing in broad daylight, a community was filled with fear and concern,” U.S. Attorney Phillip Talbert said in a statement, according to ABC News. "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.”

Papini had continued lying for years that she was kidnapped and even stuck to her false claims in August 2020 while being interviewed by a federal agent and Shasta County sheriff’s detective. According to the current charges against her, Papini allegedly made false statements despite being warned that it was a crime to lie to a federal agent and being shown evidence that indicated she wasn’t kidnapped.

The charges said Papini also reimbursed more than $30,000 by the California Victim’s Compensation Board after conjuring up the story of her abduction.

The court filing also stated that $49,000 was raised for Papini’s family through a GoFundMe fundraising campaign.

Papini faces 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted for mail fraud. She faces a five-year prison sentence and a $250,000 fine if convicted of making false statements to a federal officer.