Sherri Papini ‘s life drastically changed after she claimed to have been abducted — only to get arrested for faking her own kidnapping. Before her legal drama, Sherri lived in Redding, California, with then-husband Keith Papini and their two kids: Tyler and Violet. Keith reported Sherri missing in November 2016 and the wide-spread search for the mother of two lasted for 22 days.
After Sherri resurfaced three weeks later on Thanksgiving she claimed she was taken at gunpoint by two Hispanic women who held her hostage, beat her and branded her. The investigation didn’t go far until authorities found a DNA match in 2020 that was linked to Sherri’s ex-boyfriend and ultimately resulted in Sherri being arrested in 2022 for orchestrating her abduction. She pleaded guilty to a federal judge later that year and was sentenced to 18 months in jail for committing mail fraud and lying to a federal officer about being kidnapped.
“[I am] so sorry for the pain I’ve caused my family, my friends, all the good people who needlessly suffered because of my story and those who worked so hard to try to help me,” Sherri said in a statement at the time about how “deeply ashamed” she was of her actions. “I will work the rest of my life to make amends for what I have done.” Sherri’s scandal was the subject of Lifetime’s 2023 movie Hoax: The Kidnapping of Sherri Papini starring Jaime King .
After serving her prison sentence, Sherri will break her silence in an upcoming docuserie.
