Sherri Papini Went From Staging Her Own Kidnapping to Possibly Writing Books

In September 2022, ABC News obtained exclusive video of Sherri Papini realizing she had been caught in a web of lies. The then-40-year-old mother of two sat next to her husband Keith Papini as detectives questioned the story she had been telling them since her alleged abduction in November 2016. They showed her photos of the house they believed she had been hiding in.

"The reason why you can describe the room is because you stayed in the room in the dark for hours, for days on end," said one officer to a sobbing Papini. "I didn't do anything wrong," she cried. Not only did she do something wrong, but she put her family, friends, and law enforcement through hell in the years following her fake kidnapping. Where is Sherri Papini now? She's a free woman with a new story to tell.

In April 2022, Keith filed for divorce from Papini while she was incarcerated, reported The Independent. He was also granted temporary custody of their two children. The Papinis were back in court in November 2023 arguing about finances, per the Daily Mail. The outlet reported that the disagreement was over an "unpaid credit card bill and Sherri's bid for a share of the insurance payout he received following the Fawn Fire that scorched large swathes of Shasta County – including Redding – in October 2021."

Papini was also ordered to pay a $300,000 fine but when asked about her financial status, she repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment. Two months prior to this court date, Papini moved into a four-bedroom house in Shingletown, Calif., valued at $755,000, via the Daily Mail. Documents obtained by the outlet state that it was purchased by a limited liability company named 33 TEN Properties LLC, which is owned by Shawn Hibdon. Court documents state she pays $500 a month for the $3,294 per month house.

Papini was spotted in June 2024 kissing Hibdon outside of a Starbucks after a court date regarding custody of her two children. The 49-year-old widower owns Hibdon Auto Center and has two sons of his own. As of the time of this writing, Papini is only permitted supervised visits with her kids for one hour per week.

A report dated Jan. 17, 2024, from one of the supervisors was obtained by People. In it, Papini was asked what she was doing for work. In response to this, she asked her children if they know what an author is. "Mommy’s also an author now," said Papini. "She’s writing two books. I work lots of hours to write chapter books. So, when I tell you I’m working remotely, that means I’m at home writing chapters on my laptop." We'll believe this when we see it.

On Nov. 2, 2016, Sherri went out for a jog in Redding, Calif., where she lived with her husband Keith Papini and their two children. When Keith arrived home from work later that day, he found it odd that neither Sherri nor the children were home. She should have picked them up from daycare by that point.

After calling the daycare facility and discovering that his children were still there, Keith began to worry. Per Inquisitr, he used the "Find My iPhone" app to determine that Sherri's phone had been dropped somewhere along her usual jogging route. Her earbuds as well as several strands of her hair were with the phone. Other than that, authorities had nothing to go on until Sherri miraculously reappeared, 150 miles away from where she was allegedly taken.

The San Francisco Chronicle noted that Sherri was spotted by a truck driver who was headed north on I-5. "She was bound with restraints and was found with a brand on her left shoulder," reported the SF Chronicle. Keith released a statement to the media about Sherri's condition which, at the time, investigators weren't aware he was going to do. They were still actively looking for her kidnappers, and Keith releasing information like that to the press was potentially compromising to their case.

The Los Angeles Times picked up the statement, which detailed her physical status at the time she was found. "My first sight was my wife in a hospital bed, her face covered in bruises ranging from yellow to black because of repeated beatings, the bridge of her nose broken," Keith said. Evidently, she had also been branded.

Once she was physically able to, Sherri told authorities that "two Latina women held her at gunpoint and kept her in a small closet during three weeks of captivity," per The LA Times. What Sherri was actually doing was hiding out in her ex-boyfriend's home in Orange County. She lied and told her ex that Keith was abusing her, and she needed to get away for a while. So, the ex drove 595 miles to Northern California to pick her up.

The injuries she sustained were self-inflicted, which included being branded. While Sherri was missing, a GoFundMe account was set up in her name which would eventually raise $49,000. This money was used for personal reasons. The New York Post found that on Dec. 6, 2016, Keith "wrote a $31,818.13 check to himself from the GoFundMe account." He maintains he knew nothing about the hoax. People added that Sherri spent $3,053 of the GoFundMe money to pay off a credit card.

On Sept. 20, 2022, she was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Per NPR, prosecutors wanted her to serve eight months, but Senior U.S. District Judge William Shubb chose to sentence her to 18 months in order to deter others from following in her footsteps. "The nation is watching," he said. "They need to be sent the right message ... We have to make sure crime doesn't pay." According to People, Papini was released from prison in August 2023 after serving 11 months of her sentence.