# Sherri Papini purported abduction (Update: She has been sentenced for faking her own kidnapping) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 25, 2016, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976 "2016-11-25T17:23:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/41 "2016-11-28T19:01:39Z")
So the abductors grabbed her from a jogging trail, leaving behind the one trackable/identifiable/mcguffin-ish thing they could, her iPhone with her hair tangled in it. But they got her to a vehicle without anyone noticing? Three weeks go by. She’s then left chained to something next to a road, beaten and possibly presumed dead? Assuming neither Pasini or her husband are involved, this is very, very strange behavior for any kind of abduction. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/42 "2016-11-28T21:30:58Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Okay, I’ll accept that one, although two days is an odd time period. > > It seems like kidnappings of women or other sexually vulnerable people have two outcomes: > > [ol] > [li]Abandoned, released or killed within a short time (1-24 hours).[/li][li]Held for an extended period (weeks or more) with various outcomes, rarely just released.[/li][/ol] > If it goes on much longer than 24 hours and they are just released, it seems to always be some variant of a hoax, a stunt or an extended coverup for something else. The case you cite falls just outside the norms and given the conditions, I’d bet more on her turning up as a corpse than released. Mental illness was involved, though. I think this is where most people are coming from. Anything’s possible but based on past history of how similar scenarios have played out the betting would usually be a stunt of some kind in cases like the one being discussed. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/43 "2016-11-28T22:24:24Z")
Sherri divorced a few years ago. That widens the group of suspects. They’re doing a very thorough investigation. > **[Police: 'No Reason to Disbelieve' Sherri Papini's Story, Investigating Past...](https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/police-reason-disbelieve-sherri-papinis-story-investigating-past/story?id=43816705)** > > Police put out 20 warrants including surveillance cameras and cell phone data. > [@](#): > > The Sheriff also said that investigators are looking into past incidents with Sherri Papini and are aware of her previous marriage and divorce and are checking into her past, including any online activity. > > Investigators put out 20 warrants for data including surveillance cameras and cell towers. The camera footage, from locations in Yolo County and the city of Redding, include homes, business, a church, motels and traffic cameras. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2016, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/44 "2016-11-29T00:11:41Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > So the abductors grabbed her from a jogging trail, leaving behind the one trackable/identifiable/mcguffin-ish thing they could, her iPhone with her hair tangled in it. But they got her to a vehicle without anyone noticing? > > Three weeks go by. > > She’s then left chained to something next to a road, beaten and possibly presumed dead? > > Assuming neither Pasini or her husband are involved, this is very, very strange behavior for any kind of abduction. From what I heard, she wasn’t chained to something. She apparently rolled or was pushed from the van while it was moving. Her wrists reportedly were chained together. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2016, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/45 "2016-11-29T08:30:09Z")
I can’t believe I got sucked into following this whole bizarre story. Perhaps the weirdest part is the alleged “reverse ransom” offered by a mysterious and anonymous businessman. This only came to light when one Cameron Gamble pronounced himself the negotiator representing the man supposedly ponying up $50,000 (later upped to $100,000) for the no-questions-asked release of Sherri Papini. Gamble has been interviewed multiple times by several news organizations (including USA Today and the Sacramento Bee.) For some reason, he’s been presumed legit. Here’s the story from [redding.com](http://redding.com), a news site in Papini’s hometown, which includes the youtube video appeal Gamble made to the kidnappers: [http://www.redding.com/news/local/Negotiator-posts-video-to-find-Sherri-Papini-402089545.html](http://www.redding.com/news/local/Negotiator-posts-video-to-find-Sherri-Papini-402089545.html) Gamble, along with his wife Jennifer, run something called **Project Taken** which is affiliated with the [Bethel Church](https://www.ibethel.org/missionaries/cameron-jen-gamble/) in Redding, CA. Their organization is tasked with advising and assisting missionaries who find themselves in hostile situations overseas. From the church link: > [@](#): > > Cameron’s been training the U.S. Military Special Ops community on survival tactics since shortly after September 11, 2001. He’s 36 freaking years old! Since around age 21 he’s been training U.S. Special Forces? Jesus Jumping Christ, doesn’t anybody do their homework anymore? And this bullshit, on a church website? Yeesh. Anyway, I have no idea what happened to this woman. Her story sounds hinky as hell, but who knows? The lack of details and the seeming lack of urgency in finding the perpetrators by law enforcement are red flags, but who knows what they aren’t releasing. For all anyone knows they might have the two “Hispanic women” under constant surveillance. OK, I’m going to forget I read any of this crap now. I hope Sherri Papini didn’t suffer horribly, and if it’s a hoax, I hope she gets help. ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2016, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/46 "2016-11-29T08:51:31Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > I can’t believe I got sucked into following this whole bizarre story. Perhaps the weirdest part is the alleged “reverse ransom” offered by a mysterious and anonymous businessman. This only came to light when one Cameron Gamble pronounced himself the negotiator representing the man supposedly ponying up $50,000 (later upped to $100,000) for the no-questions-asked release of Sherri Papini. I’m betting The Dude and Walter threw the kidnappers a ringer. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2016, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/47 "2016-11-29T19:14:46Z")
This doesn’t sound like a hoax anymore. Sherri got badly hurt. This sounds very, very personal. Somebody wanted to break and humiliate her. I’m surprised at how much weight she lost in those three weeks. Probably 30 to 40 lbs.? That’s a lot for a slim person. > **['GMA' Exclusive: Husband of Sherri Papini Speaks Out About His Family's Ordeal](https://abcnews.go.com/US/gma-exclusive-husband-sherri-papini-speaks-familys-ordeal/story?id=43840659)** > > The husband of a Sherri Papini, a California mom who went missing for three weeks after allegedly being kidnapped while out for a jog, is speaking out. > [@](#): > > The officers warned me to brace myself. 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. > > Her now emaciated body of 87 pounds was covered in multicolored bruises, severe burns, red rashes and chain markings. Her signature long blond hair had been chopped off. She has been branded, and I could feel the rise of her scabs under my fingers. She was thrown from a vehicle with a chain around her waist, attached to her wrists and a bag over her head. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_Hey_Paula)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2016, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/48 "2016-11-29T20:00:41Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > This doesn’t sound like a hoax anymore. Sherri got badly hurt. > > This sounds very, very personal. Somebody wanted to break and humiliate her. > > I’m surprised at how much weight she lost in those three weeks. Probably 30 to 40 lbs.? That’s a lot for a slim person. > ['GMA' Exclusive: Husband of Sherri Papini Speaks Out About His Family's Ordeal - ABC News](http://abcnews.go.com/US/gma-exclusive-husband-sherri-papini-speaks-familys-ordeal/story?id=43840659) She was described as weighing about 100 pounds at the time of the abduction, so she lost about 13 pounds, not 30 or 40. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2016, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/49 "2016-11-29T20:13:30Z")
I was guessing from the photos that she was about 125 to 135 lbs. She must be a tiny little thing to normally weigh 100 lbs. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2016, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/50 "2016-11-29T20:35:42Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2016, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/51 "2016-11-29T20:42:46Z")
> [@Hey\_Hey\_Paula](#): > > She was described as weighing about 100 pounds at the time of the abduction, so she lost about 13 pounds, not 30 or 40. 13% of your body weight is still quite a lot; I’d be a skin-and-bones dude if I lost 25 pounds. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2016, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/52 "2016-11-29T22:37:11Z")
Excerpt from Keith Papini’s statement today: > [@](#): > > The officers warned me to brace myself. 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. > > Her now emaciated body of 87 pounds was covered in multicolored bruises, severe burns, red rashes and chain markings. Her signature long blond hair had been chopped off. She has been branded, and I could feel the rise of her scabs under my fingers. She was thrown from a vehicle with a chain around her waist, attached to her wrists and a bag over her head. The same bag she used to flag someone down once she was able to free one of her hands. Sherri was taken from us for 22 days and suffered incredibly through both intense physical agony and severe mental torture. My reaction was one of extreme happiness and overwhelming nausea as my eyes and hands scanned her body. I was filled with so much relief and revulsion at once. My **Sherri suffered tremendously, and all the visions swirling in your heads of her appearance, I assure you, are not as graphic and gruesome as the reality.** [bolding mine for emphasis] And to further muddy the water, [here’s an odd story](http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/woman-thinks-she-saw-scared-sherri-papini-before-she-was-found-w452728) from _US Weekly_ about a woman named Christine Everson who thinks she saw a scared but unresponsive Sherri Papini with two men at a truck stop in Redding a few days before she was found. [NSFW - auto play video] There are some oddities about the account that call into question its veracity, but if Everson did notify the police of the truck’s description and tag number, as she says she did, it’ll be interesting to see if anything comes of it, and if so, what was going on there and with whom. From the sound of it though Papini’s injuries had been inflicted over a considerably longer period of time. It just gets interestinger and interestinger. But one thing is for sure, that poor woman suffered horrific physical and mental pain. I doubt life will ever be the same for her, nor for her husband or anyone in her entire family. I really hope the police can get to the bottom of what happened. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2016, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/53 "2016-11-29T22:45:59Z")
Just to put on my Devil’s Advocate™ hat… what we have here is the person who picked her up and said she didn’t seem all that hurt, and then her husband’s unverified (and purply grotesque) report of horrific injuries and treatment. There’s something complicated going on here. But I am still not convinced it was abduction by persons unknown and without at least some foreknowledge or involvement by the Papinis. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2016, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/54 "2016-11-29T23:22:05Z")
Radio transmission from the Highway Patrol officer who found her beside the road Thanksgiving morning stated that she was ‘heavily battered’, and in the ABC video report linked to upthread, the sheriff confirmed on camera that Keith Papini’s account of his wife’s injuries was accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2016, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/55 "2016-11-29T23:29:17Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Radio transmission from the Highway Patrol officer who found her beside the road Thanksgiving morning stated that she was ‘heavily battered’ Primary cite for that? I seem to find only second-hand reports that was what was, er, reported. > [@](#): > > and in the ABC video report linked to upthread, the sheriff confirmed on camera that Keith Papini’s account of his wife’s injuries was accurate. His comments are pretty “uh-huh” and evade firm answers. I hear a cop trying to placate TPTB and the family while still checking out the story. Just too much slip and slide and evasion and pointing fingers off into the distance. I remain unconvinced. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong… but the reserved comment from the authorities coupled with the lurid, defensive comments from the husband screams two different stories. ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/56 "2016-11-30T01:53:39Z")
So what _would_ it take to convince you? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![GythaOgg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@GythaOgg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GythaOgg)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/57 "2016-11-30T04:12:37Z")
Even if the description of her injuries as mentioned is correct, we’re still talking about relatively superficial stuff medically, and definitely not out of the realm of the self-inflicted - no broken ribs, no broken fingers, no concussion, no internal injuries, no knife wounds. This is NOT someone who’s been ‘badly hurt’ - it’s all surface injury. I am very much reminded of the case of the medical examiner in Memphis who threw some acid on himself, tied himself to a fence with barbed wire and a bomb, and claimed he’d been attacked. ( [Dr. O. C. Smith](http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/02/09/attack/) ) There’s still a lot we don’t know, but there is a lot of strange stuff going on with this one. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/58 "2016-11-30T05:00:20Z")
This is a gorgeous cream puff of a woman who to all outward appearances has always taken very good care of her appearance and health. (One only has to look at her teeth and complexion and that she’s jogger to know this.) And yet here her nose has been broken, she’s been badly beaten - apparently all over her body - and if descriptions of her bruises are correct, beaten at different times. She has rashes and abrasions from being chained up, and she’s suffered numerous severe burns including a branding. This all characteristic of her having been the victim of someone who was determined to inflict severe physical and mental suffering. What a bizarre notion that because none of her bones were broken she wasn’t really injured very badly. A person would have to be a bigger psycho than the killer in the first Dirty Harry movie to subject themselves to that kind of punishment, and as far I know there’s nothing in her history to suggest that she has any sort of mental issues at all, much less one that would lead to something like this. Once again I find myself struck by the human capacity to look at a situation and see what it wants to see rather than what the evidence suggests. It may indeed turn out that there’s complicity on her part or on the part of someone in her circle but as of now there’s absolutely no evidence of it, much less the fact that her injuries weren’t crippling. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/59 "2016-11-30T05:53:22Z")
This case could be almost solved if Everson actually saw Sherri at the rest stop. Police haven’t commented yet. Either it’s a false sighting or they are still searching for the pickup truck. > **[Woman Thinks She Saw ‘Scared’ Sherri Papini Before She Was Found](https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/woman-thinks-she-saw-scared-sherri-papini-before-she-was-found-w452728/)** > > Christine Everson believes she spotted a ‘scared’ Sherri Papini with two men at a truck rest stop days before she was found — get the details > [@](#): > > Eventually, Everson, marketing director of Air Shasta Rotor & Wing in Redding, left the rest stop and called the police. “We left before they left. I gave myself about five minutes down the road before I called the police,” she said. “I gave them the number of the car and a description.” ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/60 "2016-11-30T06:52:21Z")
I’d be surprised though if the woman at the truck stop was Papini. Given the notoriety her disappearance had generated, I can’t imagine these two guys would leave her alone in their truck where she could come into contact with or be spotted by passers-by. I imagine threats to her family would have kept her from fleeing or saying anything to anyone people passing by might very well have spotted her and called the police on their own. Way too big of a risk to be plausible, it seems to me. Plus why did Everson ‘give herself five minutes’ before calling the cops? That seems a strange thing to do, given that she was sure enough of this woman’s resemblance to Papini to quiz her and even offer to get her to a shelter. I’m inclined to think this woman is just out to get attention and promote the local anti-sex trafficking coalition she’s affiliated with. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976.md?page=4)