Revisiting Sherri Papinis disappearance one year later: what happened?
As much as a true crime buff as I am, I am surprised the story of the disappearance of Sherri Papini slid under my radar.
On November 2 of last year, the 35-year-old mother of two mysteriously vanished while she was jogging in her neighborhood of Redding, California. The case received international attention, and a $50,000 reward was offered for information on the disappearance.
However, 22 days after she went missing, Sherri reappeared 150 miles from her home, emaciated, bruised and branded, with her long blonde hair chopped off. In a news conference in November of 2016, Sheriff Tom Bosenko described the woman’s alleged captors – two armed Hispanic women, a younger one with dark, curly hair, pierced ears and thin eyebrows; and an older one with thick eyebrows and straight black and gray hair. Sherri told police that the women abducted her in a dark-colored SUV.
In the year since the alleged abduction, no suspects have ever been found, despite police receiving over 600 tips. The case remains a mystery, keeping law enforcement officials baffled. Shasta County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Brian Jackson, speaking with PEOPLE, asked, “What was the purpose? Why was she released? It is hard to keep somebody in captivity for 22 days. Why would somebody go to that length? Those are all types of questions we all have.”
Last week, sketches of the alleged captors were released and a $10,000 reward was announced for any information leading to arrests in the case. According to Joe Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant and professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, “The police have a very tough job on this case. There might never be any closure. The police are stuck with a case right now that looks unsolvable.”
And, while police are baffled, Sherri’s family is also still looking for answers. Sherri’s husband, Keith Papini, released a statement on Wednesday, which said, in part:
”We want to express our immense gratitude to all of the many people who have publicly and privately supported us over the last year. Your well-wishes have helped beyond measure. We are hopeful that the release of additional information by law enforcement will expedite the capture of Sherri’s abductors. This has been an extraordinarily difficult time for our entire family. We ask that the media please respect our need for privacy as Sherri continues to heal and we work towards putting our lives back together.”
Amateur detectives (a/k/a people like me who watch shows like Making a Murderer) have been on the case, theorizing that Sherri pulled a “Gone Girl” and that the disappearance was a hoax. Back in March, some incident reports were uncovered, which may have lent a little bit more fuel to the hoax fire. One of these reports was called in from Sherri’s mother, Loretta Graeff, in December of 2003. She reported that her daughter was “harming herself and blaming the injuries on [her].” At the time, Sheriff Bosenko said that law enforcement had no reason “not to believe” Sherri’s abduction story and said the reports cases didn’t “have anything to do” with the investigation surrounding the disappearance.
To add to the intrigue, Keith Papini passed a lie detector test and is not a person of interest in the disappearance. A “male acquaintance from Michigan” that Sherri was supposed to meet up with before her disappearance was also ruled out as a potential suspect.
This is indeed a curious case. It sounds a bit sketchy, but I don’t know all of the facts. However, I would sure love to know what really happened. Might I request that someone make a documentary series of this? I would definitely tune in.
Photos: WENN.com
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