Sherri Papini had texted her husband Keith to see if he would be home for lunch. Photo / Facebook
Sherri Papini had texted her husband Keith to see if he would be home for lunch. Photo / Facebook
A mother of two is believed to have been abducted after she disappeared when out for a daylight jog in California.
Sherri Papini, 34, has not been seen since last Wednesday. Her mobile phone has been found about 1km from her home north of the city of Redding in Shasta County, northern California.
"She was out for a run. She wouldn't leave her babies," said her sister Sheila Koester, 36, the Ventura County Star reported.
Papini sent a text message to her husband, Keith Papini, earlier Wednesday to ask whether he would be home for lunch, Koester said. He replied later in the afternoon and said he wouldn't.
"He returned to the home later in the evening, around five, and no one was here," Koester said. "He called the authorities immediately."
Sherri Papini would typically pick up the couple's children from daycare.
Sherri Papini typically picks up the couple's two children from day care in the afternoon, family members said. Jogging in the neighbourhood is typical for her.
"She's here with them every day gardening and doing projects. There's just no way she would just take off," said Suzanne Papini, Keith Papini's sister.
She said the recovery of Sherri's mobile phone was good and bad.
"It's good to have some sort of clue. The other portion is that it really points to she's been taken. I mean, she wouldn't just drop her phone if she was running away. So, at least it's giving us some kind of information, but it's pretty - we're sick. This is a pretty sickening situation."
More than 150 people have been searching for Sherri, and the family have posted a $50,000 reward for information as to her whereabouts.
Shasta County sheriff Tom Bosanko said officers are working around the clock and using all available resources.
"Ms Papini has been entered into a national computer for missing persons," he said.
"She is considered at risk due to suspicious circumstances. Shasta County search and rescue and our volunteers are conducting a search in the area. We're also checking with known local sex offenders, parolees and probationers as part of this investigation."
Sherri Papini is considered "at risk" and police are using all available resources to find her.
Papini, who was last seen wearing a pink running jacket, is said to be 165cm tall, weighing 45kg with blue eyes and blonde hair.
Papini is the fourth jogger in the US to go missing this year, although there is nothing to suggest her disappearance is linked to the unsolved murders of registered nurse and writer Alexandra "Ally" Brueger, 31, in Michigan on July 30; caterer and blogger Karina Vetrano, 30, in New York City on August 2; and Google employee Vanessa Marcotte, 27, in Massachusetts on August 7.
The women were all attractive, petite brunettes (Papini is blonde) of a similar age who were attacked while on their daily run.
Vanessa Marcotte and Karina Vetrano were murdered when jogging. Photos/ Instagram
Ally Bruegar was murdered when jogging in Michigan. Her death is unsolved. Photo / Facebook
A GoFundMe page has been set up for Sherri Papini.
