Sherri Papini, the California mother who claimed she was kidnapped at gunpoint before she disappeared for weeks in 2016, made up the story, authorities said.
She was arrested on charges of making false statements to a federal law enforcement officer and mail fraud, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Thursday.
The mother’s disappearance in Northern California back in November of 2016 sparked a nationwide search that involved the FBI.
The Redding, California woman was originally reported missing on November 2 and had last been seen going for a jog. She was found 22 days later on Thanksgiving day when a motorist spotted her on the side of the road about 150 miles (241 km) south of her home.
Papini, now 39, had told law enforcement officials that she had been held at gunpoint and abducted by two Hispanic woman, and provided details about the women to a FBI sketch artist.
But the DOJ’s investigation into the alleged abduction uncovered that Papini fabricated the story, and had been staying with a former boyfriend in Costa Mesa the entire time. The mother even went as far as to harm herself in order to support her false narrative.
‘When a young mother went missing in broad daylight, a community was filled with fear and concern,’ US Attorney Phillip Talbert said in a statement.
‘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,’ he said.
Papini continued to lie about the kidnapping in August of 2020 when she was interviewed by a federal agent and a local detective, according to the charges. She had been showed evidence indicated she was not kidnapped, and officials warned her that it was a crime to lie to a federal agent, but the mother stood by her story.
She was also paid more than $30,000 in victim assistance by the California Victim’s Compensation Board from 2017 to 2021, which included visits to her therapist and her initial ambulance ride when she was found, according to the DOJ.
Papini faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 if convicted of making false statements to a federal officer, as well as up to 20 years and $250,000 for mail fraud.
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