Sherri Papini’s Kidnapping Hoax: How She Lied, Confessed and Is Now Rewriting History

Sherri Papini is rewriting her story in the explosive new Investigation Discovery docuseries, Sherri Papini: Caught in the Lie, streaming now on HBO Max.

Papini captured the world's attention in 2016 after vanishing during an afternoon jog near her home in Redding, Calif.

After mysteriously vanishing, she resurfaced 22 days later with a harrowing story: she'd been abducted, tortured and branded by two masked Hispanic women.

However, after some intense scrutiny, Papini admitted six years later that it was all a lie.

She eventually pleaded guilty to making false statements as well as mail fraud and was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for her role in the elaborate hoax.

Watch the Trailer for Sherri Papini: Caught in the Lie

Now 42, divorced and a mother of two, Papini is speaking publicly for the first time in the four-part docuseries, with shocking new claims.

Papini alleges she created the kidnapping story to hide an affair with her ex-boyfriend James Reyes from her then-husband, Keith Papini:

The truth is I was concealing an affair from my husband, who was threatening to take everything from me if he found out I was involved with another man...

Papini now alleges she was "abducted" by Reyes after inviting him to Redding under the guise of ending their relationship.

Allegedly, she has no memory of getting into Reyes' vehicle, but claims she woke up being helped into a house in the dark.

“This is not where I’m supposed to be,” she remembers thinking. “I’m supposed to be picking my kids up from daycare.”

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Papini insists her injuries, including bite marks, a footprint on her back and branding, were non-consensual.

"The melting of my skin — I am telling you, there was no consent," she states in the docuseries, revealing:

I was scared of James, and keeping his identity concealed was keeping me safe. He mentioned he was going to be watching the coverage over and over and over again. So he was watching, waiting to see if I would come out and tell him...

In August 2020, DNA found on Papini’s clothes was linked to Reyes, who later told the FBI that Papini had staged the entire event.

He passed a polygraph test and currently lives a very private life in Arizona.