Where is Sherri Papini now, 9 years after kidnapping Hoax? Inside her life

Sherri papinioriginally called “The New Girl“When she disappeared in 2016, changed her story In May 2025, claiming that she did not counterfeit her kidnapping after invoking herself guilty of doing so. Instead, she claimed that her then boyfriend, James Reyes, had “abducted” her. He has declined to comment on claims.

Sherri disappeared in November 2016 While on a run in Redding, California after the investigators spent weeks looking for herSherri suddenly Returned again three weeks later and claimed that two Latin American women kidnapped her with weapons.

But four years after she resurrected the police discovered new DNA certificates that only tied her and Reyes to the disappearance. In August 2020, he told the authorities that Sherri was planning “everything” and had asked him to help her “come from her husband”, Keith Papini.

Sherri was then arrested in March 2022 for allegingly forged his own kidnapping. She was accused of – and later invoked guilty of – to comment on a federal law enforcement officer and engage in post fraud and was Sentenced to 18 months in prison. She began her prison in November 2022 and was was released in August 2023.

Less than two years after her prison, Sherri releases a new story and has placed Reyes. In the four -part documentation, Sherri papini: caught in the liePremiere May 26, claiming she made up the story of the Latin American women who abducted her because she wanted to hide her business with Reyes.

But she claimed that her former boyfriend kidnapped her after she asked him to visit her to end their relationship. Reyes has denied commenting on these claims.

Here’s everything to know about Sherri Papini’s kidnapping Hoax, her new claims and where she is today.

Who is Sherri Papini?

Sherri first made headlines in November 2016 when she disappeared after giving a jog.

When her husband Keith arrived back to the Redding home they shared that night, neither Sherri nor their then 4-year-old son Tyler and then 2-year-old daughter Violet was there. He called the children’s day care centers to see if Sherri had picked them up for the day, but the children were still there. It was then, Keith said ABC News’ 20/20 2016, that he knew something was wrong.

Keith then called 911 to open a case of missing persons, and for several days more than 100 volunteers helped search for his wife. On Thanksgiving Morning – 22 days after her disappearance – a motorist sherri who went along the side of the Yolo County, California, discovered about 150 miles from Redding and warned authorities.

Sheriff Bosenko told people that sherri had been beaten and was hospitalized for her injuries. She told police that she was abducted on weapons by two Latin American women in a dark suv and that the women tortured her and noticed her skin. Sherri claimed that the women held her hostage and chained her in a bedroom for weeks until one of the women released her.

Bosenko said that the investigators did not receive much information from Sherri at first, but that it was not necessarily unusual for the situation.

No motive was given for the abduction, and even though they received more than 600 tips, and offers a reward of $ 10,000 for information and releases sketches of the alleged kidnappersThe police were still cannot resolve the case after one year. Three years later, The authorities had still not come in their search for suspects.

What happened in the investigation of Sherri Papini’s disappearance?

Police had a breakthrough in the case in March 2020, when they matched DNA at Sherri to a relative of her ex-boyfriend Reyes. On June, they compared it with DNA from a bottle of green tea found outside his apartment and it was a match.

In August 2020, police questioned Reyes, and he claimed to the authorities that Sherri was hiding with him in Costa Mesa, California, from Keith, which she claimed was sexual and physical abuse (as Keith later denied in an interview with Good morning America).

Reyes told the authorities that he and Sherri had communicated with prepaid mobile phones, Sfgate reportedAnd that Sherri injured himself to create his own injuries during the disappearance. According to Sacramento BeeSherri’s mother submitted a police report in 2003 and accused Sherri of having done the same and blaming her for it in 2003; Her parents had reportedly also accused her of burglary and made unauthorized withdrawals from their control accounts.

On March 3, 2022, more than five years after her alleged abduction, police arrested Sherri at her child’s piano lesson for forgery of her kidnapping. She was accused of making false statements to a federal law enforcement officer and engaged in post fraud, the latter derived from the $ 30,000 she received from the California’s victims’ compensation board.

What was Sherri Papini’s punishment?

In April 2022, weeks after her arrest, sherri cited guilty to a bill each of lying to a federal officer and e -post fraud. She said in a statement through her lawyer that she was “deeply ashamed” for what she did and brought, “(I am) so sorry for the pain that I have caused my family, my friends, all the good people who were unnecessarily suffered because of my story and those who worked so hard to try to help me.

Sherris Hoax cost California’s victim’s replacement board more than $ 30,000 for her ambulance trip and therapy visit after her false abduction. The fake kidnapping also cost the US Social Security Administration more than $ 127,000, Shasta County Sheriff’s Office $ 148 866 and FBI $ 2558.

In September 2022 was sherri Sentenced to 18 months in prison for the hoax and ordered to repay more than $ 300,000 in repayment for state funds spent on her after her self -destroyed disappearance. It was ten months more than the prosecution also recommended.

US district judge William B. Shubb called Sherri a “manipulator” during her judgment. “People don’t like to be linked,” he said, “and I don’t think the people who were fooled would think that one month or eight months is enough.”

Shubb added that his goal was to deter other hoaxers from doing the same thing and expecting relief.

“” If I get away with that I get $ 49,000. If I do not get away with it, I will spend a month or eight months, “Shubb noted.” We must send a message that crime will not pay. ”

Sherri began its judgment on November 8, 2022 and was released in August 2023.

What happened to Sherri Papini’s husband Keith and their children?

After Sherri’s arrest, Keith told the police that he was “blinded“and” in shock “over the fact that she forged her own disappearance. In April 2022, Keith Divorce from sherri, request full custody of his and sherris son and daughter because of trauma as she had added the family.

“I want to make it clear that my goal is to give a loving, safe, stable environment for (his and sherris children) And I think the requested orders are in line with that goal and the best interests of the children, “Keith told People in a statement.” I do not want to say anything in the submissions that are linked to this issue that would inflame the situation or attract media attention. ”

Keith was awarded full custody, although Sherri now has visits.

“They are very happy children,” Keith told People about Tyler and Violet 2024, who were then 11 and 9. “Many of their childhood were stolen from them in my opinion. So my biggest goal is to give them a happy and healthy life and surround them with loving people.”

Where is Sherri Papini now?

Sherri was Released from prison In August 2023 and transferred to a residential facility. left home October – eight months early – and will remain in the event of monitoring release until the end of 2026.

In March 2024, the US Advocate Office submitted a writing of garnish against Sherri, claiming she still owed more than $ 300,000 in refund From the case: $ 309,292.93, plus a 10% litigation supplement ($ 30,929), giving its total total at $ 340,221.23.

“In information and faith, the debtor (Papini) has a significant interest in property, that is, in possession, custody or control of Garnishee (law firm),” the writing is partly read.

While Sherri had not paid the sum, her lawyer said she was going to do it when she could. “Sherri Papini appreciates the importance of her financial obligations towards the court and for the government and will continue to fulfill the said obligations she has promised,” her lawyer William Portanova told People in a statement. “Nothing has changed.”

Keith told People 2024 that he and Sherri have not spoken outside the court or mediation. “I don’t contact her at all. And I don’t even allow it,” he said. “She has tried but I just can’t. It’s her power, her voice and her manipulation.”

In addition to scheduled visits with the children, Keith also told People that Tyler and Violet talk to Sherri by phone.

She lives in northern California and notes from a visitor leader obtained by The postal light In June 2024, indicated that she wrote a book. Keith also told us Good morning America The month that Sherri had a new boyfriend, although his identity was not revealed.

Sherri talked about the kidnapping for the first time since he was released from prison in Docuseries in May 2025, Sherri papini: caught in the lie. In the doctor, Sherri changed his story and claimed that Reyes waived her without her consent and held her in her apartment in Costa Mesa, Calif.

“I wanted to leave,” Sherri claimed. “So I tried to pull one of the boards from the window and James came in and hit me in the face. And it is the first bruise I got … and after being knocked out and wake up, it was when the chain was around my waist, secured with a padlock attached to a cable that was attached to a pole in the wardrobe.”

Sherri claimed that he let her go on condition that she would say that two Latin American women waived her.

“James had released me from the chain,” she claimed. “I said, my husband will find me. He will never stop looking for you … you have to release me. He was like:” A lot has happened. “So everything came to me. Reyes refused to comment on Sherri’s new claims.