A Californian woman who claimed she was kidnapped and held captive for 22 days in 2016 has now been arrested for making the whole thing up.
Sherri Papini, 39, has been charged with lying to federal agents about the kidnapping and for defrauding the victim’s compensation after claiming $30,000.
Papini hit headlines in 2016 after she disappeared while out jogging on November 2, prompting a weeks-long search.
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She was found 22 days later – on Thanksgiving Day – bound up with restraints and with several injuries including a broken nose and a ‘brand’ on her shoulder.
Papini claimed she had been kidnapped at gunpoint by two Hispanic women, and even provided descriptions to an FBI sketch artist – but no motive was ever determined and no arrests were made.
After she was found, police collected DNA samples that were run through the National Crime Database, but returned no results.
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However, in 2020, cops were made aware of a potential match and traced it back to an ex-boyfriend of Papini, who came clean and admitted the whole thing was a hoax.
The ex-boyfriend, who has not been named, told officers she asked him to pick her up on the day of her alleged disappearance.
An affidavit released by the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California stated Papini had ‘multiple affairs and boyfriends’ and was described by ex-partners as ‘attention-hungry’.
The ex-boyfriend told police the pair had planned to escape and used prepaid phones to arrange the details.
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He then collected her on November 2, and Papini spent the next few weeks at his apartment.
The man said he then hired a rental car to take her back to the area she lived at on November 24.
In the wake of the incident, Papini collected $30,000 from the state’s victim compensation board.
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The US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California said in a statement: 'In truth, Papini had been voluntarily staying with a former boyfriend in Costa Mesa and had harmed herself to support her false statements.'
US Attorney Phillip Talbert said: 'When a young mother went missing in broad daylight, a community was filled with fear and concern.
'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.'
If convicted she faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine up to $250,000.
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Claire Reid