# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Skara\_Brae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/61 "2016-11-30T12:07:50Z")
I have read speculation that she was involved in an operation growing marijuana, and it is starting to sound like maybe this was done by a rival operation. Her sister “could not confirm or deny she was employed” at a press conference, which is kind of weird. She had her kids in full time daycare, which would suggest a job. And the police are saying she was branded “with a message to others.” :eek: ---
**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 30, 2016, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/62 "2016-11-30T13:52:05Z")
> [@Azeotrope](#): > > So what _would_ it take to convince you? :dubious: For the pieces of the story to add up, no matter how many gaps there might be. It’s that simple. Go read the progression of stories on almost any past crime against an individual, and from day one to day “solved” there’s a steady progression of information, agreement, and consensus towards something like a complete, connected story. Not that there aren’t gaps and mysteries and red herrings, but you can see the jigsaw puzzle come together in sensible fashion. In cases like this, where you’ve got a “crime” that doesn’t match any sensible pattern, and the family releasing overwrought, defensive statements while the police are much more circumspect - when the authorities just kind of “Mm-hmm” questions about the family statements and say they’re still pursuing all leads without being very specific - it almost invariably turns out to be some kind of a snipe hunt if not an outright hoax or something where the victim and family know full well who did it and why. Go back and reread the news progression carefully. Note who actually said what and when, and compare the extended, emotional statements of the husband with the terse reports that actually originated with police. There’s a huge amount of shitty journalism in this where vague statements and unverified claims are repackaged into factoidlets and then taken as ground truth. Just a consistent story from all parties. That’s all it would take. I bet one wooden nickel we don’t get one, and by week’s end the police will come out on the side of something closer to a hoax/inside job/misrepresentation than a real crime by “two hispanic women in a van.” ---
**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, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/63 "2016-11-30T14:33:22Z")
Well, I can see withholding judgement about what happened until all the facts are out, but saying something is definitely hinky just because the family is overreacting and law enforcement isn’t saying enough?? Earlier this year, my brother-in-law cut his finger on a utility knife, fainted when he saw the blood, and keeled over, knocking his head hard enough to give himself a concussion. The cut didn’t even need stitches. When my sister broke her leg, he was totally hysterical because her foot was flopping around loose (it was at a wierd angle, but not moving) and he was convinced they’d have to amputate (they didn’t) or she’d never walk again (walks a mile every day.) Even men freak out sometimes, especially when their wives are hurt. I don’t see any significance to law enforcement keeping quiet, either. There’s reports on the news almost every night where a LEO says they can’t comment because it’s an ongoing investigation, but they’re following all available leads. It could be anything from them not wanting to tip off the perpetrators to not having a clue and not wanting to admit it. Most of those crimes are solved quietly. Some never get solved and just fade out of public view. The few that turn out to be hoaxes turn into a media feeding frenzy. I’m sure one of those three will happen in due time, but there’s no definitive proof of anything yet. ---
**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, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/64 "2016-11-30T14:38:09Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > 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. No matter how lurid the description of her injuries is, none of them were considered medically serious enough to justify holding her in the hospital for any length of time. (not even a full 24 hours if the news is reporting things correctly) It’s almost all surface skin stuff - rashes, small burns, abrasions, bruises. Broken noses are not usually considered severe injuries. If the ‘severe burns’ had really been severe or large, she would have been kept in the hospital for further treatment - burns of any appreciable size are a serious medical issue that would keep her from being sent home. If someone wanted to impose pain and suffering on her they didn’t do a very good job of it. (Cutting hair? Really? Hair grows back and women know this. You don’t impose pain/suffering by hacking a few inches of hair off. But it sure does look dramatic when you’re found.) There are many ways to interpret the evidence in this case. I don’t think it necessarily points to a real kidnapping, and my point of view is that of an experienced medical professional who is looking beyond the deliberate florid luridness of the published description of her injuries. Also, some news sources are reporting information from unnamed family members that she has a history of having attempted to fake a kidnapping some years back. Again, unknown what the credibility of this is. I would love to be proven wrong on all of this, honestly. But a LOT of things don’t add up at the medical end, and a lot of other things also aren’t adding up at the investigative end. I imagine we’ll hear more as things move along. ---
**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 30, 2016, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/65 "2016-11-30T14:39:47Z")
> [@Azeotrope](#): > > Well, I can see withholding judgement about what happened until all the facts are out, but saying something is definitely hinky just because the family is overreacting and law enforcement isn’t saying enough?? You’re misstating what I said. I said the story doesn’t add up. 99 times out of 100, when a news story doesn’t add up the way this one doesn’t add up, there’s some significant misrepresentation going on. Maybe this is the 100th, but almost everything said since she reappeared, and the factual background as we know it, keep pulling my BS detector over to the 99%. And I’m not alone, and I have yet to see anyone actually “blaming the victim” here - either she’s a victim of a real crime, _or she’s not actually a victim at all_. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/66 "2016-11-30T17:19:49Z")
I feel cynical when I say this, but my first thoughts when I heard about the kidnapping were either a drug deal gone bad or a message from a not particularly professional loan shark. Any thoughts? ---
**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 30, 2016, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/67 "2016-11-30T17:30:31Z")
And, of course, there’s no touch of Pretty White Girl here. Gosh, she’s a pretty little suburban supermom who’s married and has two kids she’s devoted to and she jogs to keep healthy and everything! And a couple of THOSE PEOPLE took her and beat her! (Sure a good thing they were women, or something s\*x\*\*l might have happened to her, too!) By gosh, it could have been… any pretty little white woman in America! / full snark off. I don’t really feel that way about this case, only its disproportionate coverage given PWG syndrome on the part of the media. Let’s face it, if she had been a single mother of color, it would be way down the page. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/68 "2016-11-30T18:05:50Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > 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. I love the juxtaposition of this immediately following the post where you berate others for questioning the veracity of a story. > [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > 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. ---
**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, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/69 "2016-11-30T19:28:26Z")
> [@GythaOgg](#): > > No matter how lurid the description of her injuries is, none of them were considered medically serious enough to justify holding her in the hospital for any length of time. (not even a full 24 hours if the news is reporting things correctly) It’s almost all surface skin stuff - rashes, small burns, abrasions, bruises. Broken noses are not usually considered severe injuries. If the ‘severe burns’ had really been severe or large, she would have been kept in the hospital for further treatment - burns of any appreciable size are a serious medical issue that would keep her from being sent home. > If someone wanted to impose pain and suffering on her they didn’t do a very good job of it. (Cutting hair? Really? Hair grows back and women know this. You don’t impose pain/suffering by hacking a few inches of hair off. No kidding? So you completely ignore the many painful injuries that were indeed inflicted on her, focusing only on their severity relative to the necessity of hospitalization, and then behave as though her tormentors really blew it in trying to inflict pain and suffering on her because they only cut her hair? How about you subject yourself to starvation for a few weeks, probably threats of death to yourself and possibly your family, be chained up long enough to create rashes and abrasions, be beaten over and over again, and burned in multiple places and branded, have your hair cut off, and then come back laughing about your tormentors and and telling us it was all no big deal, all they really did was cut your hair and it’ll grow back. :rolleyes: > [@TroutMan](#): > > I love the juxtaposition of this immediately following the post where you berate others for questioning the veracity of a story. I merely said I would be inclined to think this was her motivation, not that I was going to believe it until someone disproved it, which is basically the attitude the first quote was responding to. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/70 "2016-11-30T20:28:29Z")
> [@Skara\_Brae](#): > > And the police are saying she was branded “with a message to others.” :eek: “With”, or “as”? Because the first really is an eek! I’d hate to see a branded message like: “To whom it may concern. This is what happens when you [del]renig[/del] reneg on your obligations to the drug growing and/or manufacturing cartel, and pursue a path of personal [del]agrandizemen[/del] [del]agrandisement[/del] [del]personal oops rdundant[/del] gain.” ---
**Author:** ![Grim\_Render](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@Grim\_Render](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grim_Render)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/71 "2016-11-30T21:42:46Z")
Women are not necessarily less vengeful than men. Has anyone considered that she might have been having an affair, and the wife found out? ---
**Author:** ![Skara\_Brae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/72 "2016-11-30T21:59:25Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > “With”, or “as”? > > Because the first really is an eek! I’d hate to see a branded message like: > > “To whom it may concern. This is what happens when you [del]renig[/del] reneg on your obligations to the drug growing and/or manufacturing cartel, and pursue a path of personal [del]agrandizemen[/del] [del]agrandisement[/del] [del]personal oops rdundant[/del] gain.” The sheriff department has been kind of vague on it… “I would think that that was some sort of either an exertion of power and control and/or maybe some type of message,” he said, emphasizing that the brand was a message, not a symbol. > **[Missing mom Sherri Papini branded with 'message' by abductor, sheriff says](https://abc7chicago.com/sherri-papini-branded-keith-what-happened-to/1630521/)** > > The suspects may have been trying to humiliate and wear down Sherri Papini by cutting off her long hair and branding her, Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko told "Good Morning America". ---
**Author:** ![Grim\_Render](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@Grim\_Render](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grim_Render)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/73 "2016-11-30T22:03:32Z")
To expand on that, the injuries make me think female-on-female violence. Cut hair, broken nose, bruises and brands. Attacks on her looks without deeper injuries and damage. It sounds like a “Leave my guy/girl alone” message even without a branding message. I figure a medium sized tough woman and her BFF would not have that much trouble with a 100 pound woman whos working out for endurance rather than strength. Jogging along a known path at a known time of day. ---
**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, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/74 "2016-11-30T22:12:16Z")
An interesting idea, and one I admittedly hadn’t thought of. In instances I’ve known of, irate wives tend to retaliate in explosive ways. But I suppose an outlier might keep the revenge/threat-to-keep-away thing going for several weeks. ---
**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:** [December 1, 2016, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/75 "2016-12-01T01:10:08Z")
> [@Grim\_Render](#): > > Has anyone considered that she might have been having an affair, and the wife found out? Which doesn’t lead to three weeks of imprisonment. IMVHO. That’s heavy, heavy stuff whatever the reason it’s done. A vengeful wife might do everything else, but in an hour or two or 24, not three weeks. ---
**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:** [December 1, 2016, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/76 "2016-12-01T01:12:25Z")
> [@Skara\_Brae](#): > > The sheriff department has been kind of vague on it… “It” being everything. Their vague, sorta-kinda-confirming head bobbles are a huge tell, to me, that something’s really fishy here. That’s just not how LE handles these things when it’s a straightforward crime. They seem to be chasing what the husband and family are telling and unwilling to either contradict it or confirm it past “Well, uh-huh, yeah.” ---
**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:** [December 1, 2016, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/77 "2016-12-01T01:28:47Z")
To me it just sounds like he’s saying he’ll confirm what they’ve said but not going any further. He’s already said the police are withholding lots of information. ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/78 "2016-12-01T01:32:25Z")
> [@](#): > > He’s already said the police are withholding lots of information. In general, I’m rather a fan of police not commenting on ongoing investigations. People can be ruined by being named as suspects or persons of interest, even if they are completely innocent. Not to mention actually guilty parties may learn something that allows them to deflect interest. Obviously, there are exceptions, but as a general rule, it works for me. ---
**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:** [December 1, 2016, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/79 "2016-12-01T01:40:18Z")
It’s not that they aren’t spilling everything they know, it’s the strange, uncomfortable way they deal with every inquiry. Never a crisp, “We aren’t commenting on that aspect of an ongoing investigation” or “We expect to be more forthcoming when we can.” But we’ve wandered way down Speculation Road here on the same few lumps of gruel. Time to wait for more substantive pieces of the puzzle. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976/80 "2016-12-01T03:01:56Z")
My “friend” tells me (sorry, no source or link) Papini posted somewhere on social media, bragging how she “broke the nose” of some Hispanic woman who was involved in some sort of altercation with her father at a football game. Things may have been said, ice may have been thrown, punches exchanged and noses broken. Can payback be a bitch? I really wish I knew where this shit was coming from, but I don’t want to admit I give a fuck! 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherri-papini-purported-abduction-update-she-has-been-sentenced-for-faking-her-own-kidnapping/772976.md?page=5)