Sherri Papini to Speak Publicly for First Time About Kidnapping Hoax in Docuseries

Sherri Papini, the Redding, California, mother who faked her disappearance, plans to open up about her 2016 kidnapping hoax in a forthcoming Investigation Discovery docuseries.

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The ID docuseries, slated for 2025, will feature exclusive interviews with Papini and individuals close to Papini about her false abduction, the media firestorm that followed, and the six-year federal investigation to find her captors, ID announced Monday.

The news follows the release of the three-part Hulu docuseries Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini , which uses archival footage, photos, and interviews with friends and family to detail Papini’s elaborate kidnapping scheme. On Nov. 2, 2016, Papini disappeared after going for a jog in her neighborhood, which led to a nationwide search. Twenty-two days later, deemed a “Thanksgiving Miracle,” Papini was found bruised, chained, and branded on the side of the road, and told authorities that two Hispanic women had abducted and abused her.

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The whole story, it turned out, was made up. After a six-year investigation, DNA testing of her clothing led authorities to James Reyes, Papini’s ex-boyfriend. Reyes admitted to helping Papini escape and branding her shoulder with a Hobby Lobby wood burning tool per her consent, according to an FBI affidavit . In April 2022, Papini pleaded guilty to mail fraud and making false statements, and five months later was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison. Papini was released early in October 2023 due to good behavior, and now resides in a halfway house. Keith Papini, Sherri Papini’s ex-husband, told Rolling Stone that he has not been in touch with his ex-wife since her release and has yet to understand why she faked her kidnapping.

“From what she has done, in my opinion, I don’t think there was a sentence that would be long enough,” Keith Papini said of his ex-wife’s prison release. “I assumed anyway she was gonna get out way earlier than the 18 months because of good behavior. If that’s all she needs to do, she can act. She is an actress.”

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