With a docuseries about Sherri Papini set to broadcast Thursday, a famous rapper setting her name to music, a new segment about her on Good Morning America and a new story about her in national magazine, it appears the world-famous kidnapping hoaxer from Redding is back in the news and the national consciousness in a way that hasn’t been seen since she was sent to prison two years ago.
Papini even appeared in Shasta County Superior Court last week with her ex-husband, Keith Papini, trying to work with a judge to get her more time to visit her two children.
The streaming service, Hulu, plans to release a three-part series on Redding mom Sherri Papini, who in 2016 faked her own kidnapping and was eventually sent to prison for lying to the FBI about the crime and defrauding government agencies out of more than $300,000.
Starting Thursday, Hulu plans to air its three-part documentary series, “The Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini.”
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In November 2016, Papini faked her own kidnapping, but law enforcement eventually caught on to her ruse. She was eventually sent to prison for lying to the FBI about the crime and defrauding the federal government, the State of California, the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office and others out of more than $300,000.
On Monday, Vanity Fair magazine published a story about the new series and again delved into the six-year saga that led to her arrest for faking her kidnapping and lying to the FBI and other government officials about it so she could obtain benefits.
For those who have somehow never heard of Papini, she allegedly went missing on Nov. 2, 2016 while she went for a jog near her home north of Redding.
Her disappearance set off a search that duped much of Redding, law enforcement and the media as the case drew worldwide attention.
She was found 22 days later on Thanksgiving Day, bound in chains along a rural road near Interstate 5 in Woodland, north of Sacramento, telling law enforcement that she had been kidnapped by two Hispanic women. She also claimed to be beaten and branded by her captors.
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But it all unraveled as a hoax that investigators uncovered when they learned that during the time she claimed to be held against her will, she actually was staying with an ex-boyfriend at a home in Orange County.
In a news release on the upcoming premiere of the series, Hulu claims to have fresh material on a news story that has been told thousands of times by outlets around the world.
“Keith (her husband) and Sherri Papini’s seemingly idyllic family life is shattered when Sherri vanishes from their Northern California neighborhood, triggering a frenzied search that becomes news around the world. With unprecedented access to Sherri’s family and friends ― as well as the investigators who struggled for six years to solve the mystery of her disappearance ― this limited documentary series intimately explores the jaw-dropping revelations of a relationship that wasn’t what it seemed,” Hulu said about the documentary.
That new “fresh material” includes interviews with Keith Papini, who talks about how the ordeal affected him and his family. Papini sat down again for an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America in a piece that aired Monday. In the interview, Matt Gutman asked Papini why he agreed to work wtih the producers of the Hulu program.
Keith Papini said that when he saw his wife in the hospital with burns and bruises, he couldn’t help but believe she had been kidnapped and abused. But, he said, it was painful to learn the truth — that she made it all up.
“I think she wanted me to be her knight in shining armor and run to her and I think that she wanted to plan a fake kidnapping. But in her version, I was supposed to find her,” Keith Papini said on Good Morning America.
He said it will be difficult to get out from the shadow of the faked abduction and its fallout.
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“I think it’s always going to be there. We do want to move past it. I do want to provide my children an amazing childhood, but I think it’ll always be there,” he said.
Even the rapper Eminem’s new song, “Houdini,” contains a line about Papini. Much of the song plays over a sample from the Steve Miller Band’s 1982 hit, “Abracadabra.” A little over four minutes into song he refers to Papini.
“What you thought you saw (What?)… ain’t what you saw (Nah)… ‘Cause you’re never gonna see me Caught sleepin’ … and see the kidnappin’ never did happen … Like Sherri Papini, Harry Houdini … vanish into the thin air as I’m leavin’ like….”
Neither Keith nor Sherri Papini could be reached for comment for this story.
Reporter Damon Arthur welcomes story tips at 530-338-8834, by email at damon.arthur@redding.com and on Twitter at @damonarthur_RS. Help local journalism thrive by subscribing today!