Woman who notoriously faked her own disappearance breaks silence on kidnapping hoax
Topics: Crime, True Crime, TV And Film, Reality TV
Jen Thomas
Featured Image Credit: Hulu/ABC
Topics: Crime, True Crime, TV And Film, Reality TV
Sherri Papini caused a scare when she faked her own kidnapping, and now is set to reveal all about why she did it.
A new series is set to shine a light on what exactly went on back in 2016, when Sherri claims she was kidnapped.
A trailer has been shared by Investigation Discovery, for a four-part new docuseries called Sherri Papini: Caught in the Lie.
Until now, Papini, now 42, has kept quiet about what really went on, despite her husband and others speaking out.
Advert
The new trailer is the first time she has spoken on camera about the alleged kidnapping and the scandal and legal investigations which followed.
She said: "Haven’t you ever lied? And then has that lie been blown up?”
Papini added: “I went missing in 2016 and was gone for 22 days. I was tortured, I was branded, I was chained to a wall — all of that is true. I did keep some secrets from you though.”
She even said she would take a lie detector test, telling producers: “I am willing to do whatever it takes."
Sherri was then seen taking a polygraph test where she was asked if she was 'able to leave at any time without fear of violence' during her kidnapping.
Papini seems to stick to her version of events in the trailer, despite eventually pleading guilty to orchestrating her own disappearance.
As well as Sherri opening up, the brand new series also features her parents, sister-in-law and federal authorities.
It also includes her former lawyer and psychologist, and each person was asked whether they think she is telling the truth about the events.
Some $50,000 were raised as part of efforts to find Sherri when news of her disappearance broke.
She insisted: “I am Sherri Papini. I was abducted and tortured and the FBI said I made it all up. I really challenge anybody watching this film, ‘How truthful are you?'”
Sherri went missing for 22 days back in 2016, after she went out for a jog in her neighbourhood in California.
When she returned, she claimed she had been beaten and branded by kidnappers.
She was found in quite a state, with her now ex-husband telling ABC at the time: "The bruises were just intense."
"She's always had very long, blonde hair [and] they chopped it off."
When Sherri was initially found, she told police that the blame lay with two Hispanic women, saying: "There was an older one and a younger one. They were Hispanic. They spoke Spanish a lot."
Some years later, in 2022, after more information came out, she was ultimately arrested for her part in faking her abduction.
She entered a guilty plea to a federal judge and was sentenced to 18 months prison time.
Her offences included 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,” Papini said in a statement.
She also said she was 'deeply ashamed' of what she did. She added: “I will work the rest of my life to make amends for what I have done.”
Papini also had to pay $300,000 in restitution.
She was released from prison in August 2023.
Police pieced together key bits of information, and found that rather than being tormented by her captors, Sherri had spent her time missing living in her ex-boyfriend's house.
It is also claimed that she asked him to inflict the bruises and to make it look like she had struggled, in order for it to look more authentic.
As well as the new docuseries, there was another show on Hulu, called Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini, released last year.
In it, Sherri's ex husband Keith Papini, was interviewed as well as law enforcement, but Sherri did not take part.
She is using the Caught in the Lie series to tell her side.
Talking about her marriage, she said: “In pictures it looks perfect — like we were an amazing couple. We both participated in some pretty toxic behaviors.”
Keith has said previously: “No, I don’t speak to her at all whatsoever, I might see her in the court for our court stuff, but no, I don’t talk to her.”
He was previously awarded full custody of their children.