Sherri Papini made international headlines when she disappeared on November 2. Photo / Facebook
Sherri Papini made international headlines when she disappeared on November 2. Photo / Facebook
Young mother-of-two Sherri Papini made headlines in November when she was found bound by the side of the road, 22 days after she was reported missing.
She told police she was abducted by two Hispanic women near her home in California when she was out running. She said that in captivity she was branded, beaten and starved.
Little is known about Papini's life since she was discovered by that passing motorist on the side of the road, almost 240km from her home.
Surprisingly, investigators have said very little about the case, which captured international attention when the story broke.
"There's a phrase that no information is often chased by misinformation. They're not putting a lot out there," defence lawyer Mark Reichel told Fox News.
On October 1, 2000, reports show the Shasta County Sheriff's Office responded to a call from Sheila Graeff, who said her sister, Sherri, tried to break into her home.
Sherri Papini with her husband Keith and their two young children. Photo / Facebook
An hour later, a call came in saying Papini was vandalising her parents' home.
In 2003, when Papini was 21, her mother called the sheriff's office asking for advice about her daughter, saying she was self-harming and blaming the wounds on her parents.
"It definitely hurts her credibility," Reichel said.
Reichel, who like many have followed the case from the beginning, said the old police reports may simply spark speculation about Papini's character.
"There's no drama like family drama, and she may have had some serious drama with her family 13 years earlier," Reichel said.
FOX40 also obtained documents showing in November of last year, days after Papini vanished, two detectives from the Shasta County Sheriff's Office travelled to Detroit, Michigan, for three days for "investigative purposes."
The sheriff's office remains tight-lipped about the investigation, which is ongoing and active.
"This is very far from over, and it is going to get even more interesting, how can it not?" said Reichel.
Even before Papini was found by the side of the road, there was no shortage of doubters airing their views on social media.
The conspiracy theories ranged from her husband Keith Papini staging his wife's abduction to cover up the fact he had murdered her to a joint plot by the couple for financial gain and national fame.
There is also an unfounded allegation that Ms Papini's in-laws made claims that she attempted to stage her own abduction in 2006 doing the rounds on Facebook.
But nothing stoked the flames of suspicion greater than Ms Papini's assertion the perpetrators were a pair of Hispanic women armed with a handgun.
Sherri and her husband Keith Papini. Photo / Facebook
The statistically unlikely scenario sparked comparisons to the notorious case of Susan Smith, who told police her two young children had been kidnapped by a "black man" during a carjacking when she had in fact murdered them herself.
A racially-charged blog posted in 2003 under the name Sherri Graeff - Papini's maiden name - has been circulated in forums and on social media for the past five days as "evidence" of her troubled history with Latinos.
The blog detailed an incident in which Sherry's father had been called "Hitler" and "Nazi" by a group of "Latino guys and girls" while attending a homecoming volleyball game with his daughter.
The author, posting as Sherri, claimed to have broken the nose of a Latino girl in a bid to defend her father's honour after the confrontation turned violent.
"Three Latino guys and five girls rushed in and jumped me," the blog stated.
"They kept hollering about how they hated Skinheads, how all Skinheads should be 'burned alive' and how I and my ancestors were supposedly all 'KKK'."
The author says she was knocked to the ground and kicked in the face.
The post read: "Then, I thought, 'Is it worth it? Is being white and standing up for myself and my beliefs worth all this pain I'm having to put up with?'
"Being white is more than just being aware of my skin, but of standing behind Skinheads - who are always around, in spirit, as well - and having pride for my country.
"Being white is my family, my roots, my way of life. It's always there. There's no denying it. It's nobility. It's strength. It will be there to lift me up when I really need my pride, when I need to 'keep walking'."
