Sherri Papini Arrested for Making False Statements After Alleged 2016 Abduction

That’s what the FBI now alleges about the mysterious 2016 case of Sherri Papini. The California woman sparked a nationwide search in November of that year after she disappeared for weeks, then surfaced and alleged she’d been kidnapped. Now, more than five years later, the FBI alleges that the kidnapping tale was a hoax.

Papini, a 39-year-old married mother of two, was arrested March 3 and charged with making false statements to federal law enforcement officers and also with mail fraud. If convicted, she could face up to 20 years and fines of up to $500,000.

“She told federal law enforcement officers and others that she had been abducted by two Hispanic women,” an FBI special agent wrote in a criminal affidavit filed in a California court. “Papini also provided details of the alleged Hispanic women to an FBI sketch artist and sent text messages to FBI agents about instruments the Hispanic women used to inflict injuries on [her].”

The officer continued, “However, this was a false narrative Papini fabricated; in truth, Papini was staying with a former boyfriend and harmed herself to support her false statements.”

Following her arrest, Papini’s family issued a statement of support for her.

“We love Sherri and are appalled by the way in which law enforcement ambushed her this afternoon in a dramatic and unnecessary manner in front of her children,” they said, per The Sacramento Bee. “If requested, Sherri would have fully complied and come to the police station, as she has done multiple times before, where this could have been handled in a more appropriate way.”

E! News has reached out to Papini’s attorney and has not heard back.

Sherri Papini
Andrew Seng/The Sacramento Bee via AP
The statement continued, “Sherri and [her husband] Keith have cooperated with law enforcement’s requests despite repeated attempts to unnecessarily pit them against each other, empty threats to publicly embarrass them and other conduct that was less than professional. We are confused by several aspects of the charges and hope to get clarification in the coming days.”