True crime documentaries have proved popular in recent years , and streaming service Hulu is hoping to get a bigger slice of the viewership pie with a new docuseries that focuses on an unusual case that rocked California in 2016. Seven years after her infamous kidnapping hoax, Sherri Papini is back in the spotlight as her story is given the Hollywood treatment with a new three-part Hulu docuseries that dropped in June. Titled Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini , the series tells the story of Sherri’s case from the point of her now ex-husband, Keith Papini.
Per People, the then-34-year-old Californian mother of two was supposedly out for a jog around her neighbourhood when she was abducted at gunpoint by two “Hispanic women” on November 2, 2016. According to NBC, Papini turned up three weeks later on Thanksgiving, nearly 240km away from home. She was reportedly thrown from a car with a chain around her waist and wrists, and a bag over her head, and told police officers that her captors had abused and even branded her.
Her dramatic disappearance led to a six-year, multi-state search – and drew the attention of media across the world. However, per various media reports, Papini’s “ Gone Girl inspired” story – as Time called it – had inconsistencies, prompting investigators to dig deeper. They didn’t catch a break in the case for several years, and eventually found that Sherri was directly involved in her own “kidnapping.
” Now, Papini is still dealing with the legal fallout of her actions, rarely sees her kids, and spends time in a luxury home her new boyfriend bought for her. Here’s everything we know about ex-con Sherri Papini – including new details revealed in Perfect Wife . Did Sherri Papini really fake her own kidnapping? Per Today, almost six years after her disappearance, detectives responsible for Papini’s case eventually found a man’s DNA on her clothing.
That DNA led investigators to Sherri’s ex-boyfriend, James Reyes. According to Time, Sherri and Reyes dated in the early to mid 2000s and, years later, the two reconnected and began communicating with burner phones. Sherri led Reyes to believe that Keith was an “abusive husband” and, eventually, Reyes agreed to pick her up from Redding, California where she lived.
Various media outlets reported that during the three weeks that she was missing, Papini was in fact staying with Reyes in Costa Mesa, California, during which time she asked him to physically hit her to give the impression of being abused when she returned. Screenrant reports that she also asked him to brand her with the word “Exodus” and a Bible verse which mentions kidnapping – a request Reyes agreed to. Some three weeks after she initially disappeared, Papini asked Reyes to drop her off where she was eventually found.
She’s still dealing with the legal fallout of her actions According to the United States Attorney’s Office, in April 2022, Papini was charged with 34 counts of mail fraud and one count of making false statements. She pled guilty to the latter as well as one count of the former and, in September, nearly six years after she disappeared, she was sentenced to 18 months in prison. She was released in October 2023.
Earlier the same year, she finalised her divorce from her husband, Keith. Alongside her legal trouble, Papini is also dealing with financial issues. Official documents state that, during the years that she upheld her false kidnapping story, she lied to law enforcement and made false statements to several government institutions so that she would receive benefits for suffering from “post-traumatic stress” from her supposed abduction.
During the sentencing, Papini was ordered to pay back the losses incurred by the California Victim Compensation Board, the Social Security Administration, the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, making for an amount totalling US$309,902. People reports that, as of March, Papini still owes US$309,292.23 in restitution plus an additional US$30,929 for a 10 per cent litigation surcharge.
A writ of garnishment was filed by the United States Attorney’s Office against her and the law firm representing her in her divorce to seek compensation. She reportedly made her kids sick on purpose During Sherri’s arrest in 2022, Keith found out that his then-wife – who has been described as a “supermum” – intentionally made their kids sick by forcing them to inhale rubbing alcohol. ABC10 reported that Keith finalised their divorce in 2023, while Sherri was still in prison.
Despite this, Keith revealed in an interview with TV Insider that his children, Tyler, 11 and Violet, nine, who he has full custody of, are still in touch with their mother. “They speak to her on the phone once a month or every other week ..
. and they see her in a professionally supervised visitation once a month,” Keith explained. She reportedly had a history of drug abuse, self-harm and racism According to news.
com.au, before Papini was caught lying about her abduction, insiders came forward with reports that she was struggling with addiction and mental health issues. Per the article, a Reddit user wrote that “her [Sherri] and Keith use Kratom and smoke a lot of marijuana”, that “Sherri had a really bad benzo addiction for a few years” and that she had bought “anti-anxiety pills off the street”.
An ABC report added that Papini’s mother once called 911 because her daughter was “harming herself and blaming it on [her]”. Notably, the injuries she was found with after her “abduction”, such as a broken nose, were self-inflicted. Perfect Wife also delves into Sherri’s reported history of racism, as her hoax caused great harm to Hispanic communities.
Where is Sherri Papini now? People reported that, during a supervised visit with her daughter, Papini told her “mummy’s an author now” and that she is writing two books. US Today added that Papini is also set to tell her story for the first time in an upcoming Investigation Discovery (ID) documentary. It will reportedly offer “new insights and potential answers to the questions that still swirl around this case” and is slated for release in 2025.
Papini appears to be carrying on with her life, too. In June, British media reported that her current boyfriend Shawn Hibdon splashed out on a “luxury, four-bedroom property” in Shingletown, California for her to live in. In 2016, Sherri Papini had a seemingly perfect life in California with her husband and 2 children – then she was ‘kidnapped’ for 3 weeks, sparking an investigation that lasted 6 years Now, Sherri’s dealing with the pricey legal fallout of her fake kidnapping; she and her ex-husband Keith Papini also got divorced, while Sherri’s current boyfriend has bought her a luxury home to live in.
