DNA Unraveled Sherri Papini’s Alleged Kidnapping Hoax | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the The Daily Wire. The author of this post is Ashe Schow.

    It was DNA that finally solved the mystery of what happened to mother-of-two Sherri Papini when she disappeared for 22 days in 2016, prompting a nationwide search.

    It was in the spring of 2017, several months after Papini was found emaciated on the side of a highway with a chain wrapped around her waist and a "brand" on her right shoulder, when police discovered male DNA on her sweatpants and underwear. The DNA didn't match anyone in the system at the time, but in 2019 they finally figured out to whom it belonged.

    Shasta County Sheriff's Office Captain Brian Jackson, one of the lead detectives on Papini's case, along with his colleagues and the FBI, requested a "familial DNA" search to see if a relative of the person to whom the DNA belonged was in the system. This found a family member, who turned out to be a relative of an ex-boyfriend of Papini, People reported.

    Papini had told police she was abducted by two Hispanic women with a gun while she was out jogging. She claimed the older of the two women was "really mean" and had breath that smelled like sweetened coffee. She also claimed she had been chained in a room with boarded-up windows for most of her captivity.

    The male DNA called her story into question, but not to the point where she was disbelieved. Jackson told People that "Once we had the DNA, I knew we'd be able to find something, and I just kept telling our guys and our ladies, be patient it's going to happen and we just kept pushing on."

    Investigators interviewed the ex-boyfriend, who told them he helped Papini "run away" after she claimed her husband abused her. The ex-boyfriend said he and Papini spoke over prepaid phones and that he agreed to pick her up in Redding, California, and drive her to his apartment in Costa Mesa. He told investigators that for the three weeks Papini stayed with him, she was "purposefully trying to lose weight," cut off her hair, and "created the injuries while staying with him, including hitting herself to create bruises and burning herself on her arms," the 53-page indictment against Papini reads.

    Papini also allegedly asked the ex-boyfriend to help injure her, "although he never laid his hands directly on her; for example, she told him, 'bank a puck off my leg,' so [he] shot a puck off her leg, lightly," the indictment says.

    The ex-boyfriend also told investigators how Papini asked him to brand her, so he bought a wood-burning tool from Hobby Lobby and burned her right shoulder.

    "Ex-Boyfriend said he was nervous and wanted to hold steady while doing the brand because the tool was so hot it glowed red," the complaint against Papini says.

    The ex-boyfriend thought he and Papini might get back together, but after three weeks she said she missed her kids so he drove her back.

    As The Daily Wire reported, Papini was charged with making false statements and mail fraud. If convicted on the false statement charges, she faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. She faces an additional 20 years in prison and another $250,000 fine if she is convicted of mail fraud. The New York Daily News reported that Papini has been released on bail.

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