According to her Ex-wife Keith Papini, Sherri Papini started with little white lies. She told him she went to college in Orange County, and he believed her. She had told him about a previous hip injury from when she was dancing ballet, and he believed her. Nothing could have prepared Keith Papini for Sherri's next act: a staged fake kidnapping.
“Well, it wasn't until later that I found out those things weren't true,” says Keith Papini. Rolling rock.
The developments surrounding the November 2, 2016, abduction and three-week disappearance of Redding, California, mother Sherri Papini made national headlines, sparking a search frenzy in California and surrounding states. Twenty-two days later, in what was billed as the “Thanksgiving Miracle,” Sherri Papini was discovered in chains with bruises, a broken nose, multiple rashes, and a brand on her shoulder. After making false claims that she was kidnapped by two Hispanic women, authorities discovered that she had lied and was instead staying at her ex-boyfriend James Reyes' home, injuring herself (with Reyes' help) to support her story.
A missing sign for Sherri Papini as of November 10, 2016.
Andrew Seng/The Sacramento Bee/AP, File
Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini, a three-part documentary now streaming on Hulu, collects where the Gone Girl-esque The story ends, revealing investigative video recordings, photos, and conversations with friends and family about Sherri Papini's kidnapping plan. The documentary also highlights Papini's discriminatory past. In high school, she reportedly wrote a blog post about fighting Latina girls, claiming, “Being white is my family, my roots, my way of life,” and later, as authorities searched for her Hispanic captors who played mariachi, many Latina women were afraid to leave their homes by two.
In April 2022, Sherri pleaded guilty to mail fraud and making false statements, and Keith filed for divorce shortly thereafter. That September, he received an 18-month sentence and was released in early October 2023 for good behavior. Rolling rock spoke with Keith, who also appears in the documentary, about the initiation of Sherri Papini's cheating, how he explains the kidnapping to his children and whether he is still in contact with his ex-wife.
With all you've been through, how are you?
What I'm going through now, what I've been through recently, is hard. However, it all pales in comparison to how I felt in 2016 when she was gone. I'm looking for the love of my life, my bride, the mother of my children, thinking she's being tortured or I'll find her dead in a ditch somewhere — I mean the lows I went through, the anger, the doubt life at that time was so painful. The things I'm going through now, I'm not saying I'm happy about it, but it pales in comparison.
For a long time, you avoided the media. What made you finally want to share your side of the story?
The first six years, [I] he was just trying to help Sherry heal. I never sought media attention. We were just trying to help the family. After her arrest, it was a difficult time, obviously, for my family and me. We met [filmmaker] Allison Berkley, and when we talked about everything, I felt very comfortable with her. I really wanted to get the truth out. So many people helped during the 20 days and then over the years, such an amazing community, family and friends. I also wanted to say thank you to all those people, but for the truth to come out and for everyone to understand that it wasn't just a big lie and it came home. It's been five, six years of her constantly lying to make us all believe her prank was real.
How do you feel now watching this documentary?
It's very difficult to do it because at that time I don't eat, I don't sleep. All I can think about is trying to help and save my wife as best I can. To go back and watch the video to see all the people who were affected and knowing that he's lying — not just lying. she sees videos of everyone looking for her. All the signs, and knowing that her kids are home and she's okay with it? It's painful, and it's definitely breaking up, that's not just a lie. This was planned. That was something that he obviously had to sit there and make that choice like, “Okay, I'm going to do this.” It's just hard to think of it that way because I'm here trying to look it up [her] and I don't even know if she's alive or not. So it's very painful and really shows the level of manipulation and deception he put us through.
Sherri Papini in April 2022 court in Sacramento, California.
AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli
He was released from prison after 10 months and 21 days, in October 2023, and now lives in a halfway house. Do you think her sentence is long enough and how do you feel about her being released?
From what he's done, in my opinion, I don't think there was a proposal that was big enough. I assumed though that he would leave much earlier than 18 months due to good behaviour. If that's all he needs to do, he can act. She is an actress. I always felt like he was coming out earlier and I was glad to have such a long break without him constantly following us and the kids around from some court issues.
Did you get in touch with Sherri?
I haven't spoken to her is the answer. I really don't want to hear what he has to say right now. It was a good decision I made to cut off communication, so to answer your question, we don't interact.
Did you learn to trust again?
I like to assume that people make honest and truthful statements when you talk to them, that's just me. Obviously there's a second level to it now where I'm going to listen to somebody, but maybe I'd like to ask a little bit later. As for the love life, I haven't really put myself out there for the whole dating thing yet. My main, 100 percent focus was the kids and making sure we all got through this OK.
Have your children been in contact with her?
They get phone calls every month if they choose, and then they get a visit once a month, supervised by professionals, too, if they choose.
How do you explain the kidnapping prank and arrest to your 9 and 11 year old?
It's very PG. It is very limited. I won't go into too much detail. They haven't been in their lives that long now, two years basically, that it's not something they really ask too much about.
If someone at school says something, we've had this conversation where they'll politely say, “I don't feel comfortable talking about our family.” They just move on. So they know there's a chance someone will say something, whether it's excitement, like, “I saw you on TV,” or it could be the opposite, like, “Oh, I heard about your mom.” But they are such resilient children.
In the documentaries, you enter the home of Sherry's ex-boyfriend James Reiss, where she claimed she was abused. How was that?
It was more shocking to me when I got up to the house because I had already seen this house from the outside in 2016 when we had our men down there watching this house. We knew that was where James lived. So the fact that we were right there, and I saw these pictures, it was more shocking actually, seeing the outside of it.
Have you met James?
No.
So the house was empty when you got there?
I want to be clear about something. People have asked me, “Do you think he was manipulated?” And I say, “Of course he was manipulated.” I mean, that's what Sherri does. She used him for a purpose and was done with him. Can't say I feel bad for the guy. At the end of the day, he did some horrible things to a woman, whether she asked him to or not. In my opinion, he knows that everyone in the world is looking for this girl and he does some horrible things to a woman. [Editors note: James Reyes was not charged with any crimes.]
Something I couldn't wrap my head around is why Sherri would go to these lengths. Do you understand why?
No, I definitely didn't get it. I have some theories but nothing concrete and I've spent a lot of time on it. I've had many friends give me their versions and some things come close to what probably happened. But in the end, I have accepted that I will never know the answer. I feel like even if she did show up one day and tell her version of events, to be honest, I wouldn't even believe it. I just got to a point where I realized I'll never know the truth, and I'm okay with that.
from our partners at https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/sherri-papini-fake-kidnapping-true-crime-doc-1235044681/