Sherri Papini charged with faking her own kidnapping

Sherri Papini was arrested and charged with false statements to a federal agent and mail fraud on March 3. Photo / Supplied

For three weeks Sherri Papini's kidnapping gripped the US, especially the town of Redding that she disappeared from.

The mum went missing while jogging in the small country Californian town on November 2, 2016, prompting a nationwide search for any trace of her.

Miraculously she was found just 22 days later, claiming to have been abducted and held captive by two Hispanic women.

While alive, Papini had extensive injuries — she had been branded and sported bruises, burns, a broken nose as well as having her long blonde hair cut short.

A motorist discovered the mum of two on the side of a highway about 240km from her home, chained from her waist with clamps around her wrists.

At first, Papini's discovery seemed like a happy ending that didn't often happen when people were abducted.

But a tiny detail on the underwear Papini was wearing sparked suspicion among police and would later lead to her arrest almost six years later.

While Papini claimed she had been kidnapped by women, police found male DNA on the trackpants and underwear she had been wearing when she was found.

A missing sign for Sherri Papini in 2016. Photo / AP

"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," Shasta County Sheriff's Office Captain Brian Jackson told People.

Jackson, who was one of the lead investigators on her case, was proved right when in 2019 police began searching for familial DNA.

The technique involved police searching ancestry DNA databases for any matches, with a potential male relative of the mystery DNA on Papini's clothes flagged in March 2020.

The family member was related to one of Papini's ex-boyfriends, with police confirming he was their guy after getting a match from a used drink bottle in the rubbish bin outside his house.

In August 2020 police interviewed the ex-boyfriend, who has not been named, and he admitted to helping Papini "run away".

The man told investigators Papini had claimed her husband Keith Papini had been abusive.

According to police records, the man "wasn't sure of Papini's intentions during her stay with him, but he believed they might end up in a romantic relationship again".

He watched Papini change her appearance and also branded her shoulder with a wood-burning tool at her request.

The former boyfriend also allegedly "helped her create some of the injuries, although he never laid his hands directly on her", People reported.

Keith and Sherri Papini.

But days before she was found the man claims Papini said she missed her children and asked him to drop her on the highway where she was later found.

Once home police thoroughly investigated Papini's claims, however, were unable to substantiate her version of events despite her recalling small details like what her captors' breath had smelt like.

On March 3 of this year Papini was arrested and charged with false statements to a federal agent and mail fraud.

She has since been released on bond after surrendering her passport and must attend a psychiatric programme.

Prosecutors now claim Papini copied the plot of popular crime movie and novel Gone Girl by seeking shelter with her ex-boyfriend, Daily Mail reports.

The story follows a man, played by Ben Affleck, whose wife (played by Rosamund Pike) stages her own kidnapping and stays with an ex-boyfriend for cover while missing.

In a statement after Papini's arrest US Attorney for the Eastern District of California Phillip A Talbert said her disappearance had left a community "filled with fear and concern".

"Ultimately, the investigation revealed that there was no kidnapping and that time and resources that could have been used to investigate actual crime, protect the community, and provide resources to victims were wasted based on the defendant's conduct," he said.

Shasta County Sheriff Michael L Johnson previously told The Sun investigators were "frustrated" by Papini's alleged actions, labelling her "callous" and "selfish".

"I have zero sympathy for Sherri Papini," he said.

"I do, however, have compassion for her husband, the kids and her other family members that were duped and unknowingly victimised by what she was doing."