Where Is Sherri Papini Now, 9 Years After Kidnapping Hoax? Inside Her Life Today

Sherri Papini, who was originally called “the new Gone Girl” when she went missing in 2016, changed her story in May 2025 and claimed that she did not fake her kidnapping after pleading guilty to doing so. Instead, she alleged that her then-boyfriend, James Reyes, had “abducted” her. He has declined to comment on the claims.

Sherri went missing in November 2016 while on a run in Redding, Calif. After investigators spent weeks searching for her, Sherri suddenly reappeared three weeks later and claimed that two Hispanic women kidnapped her at gunpoint.

However, four years after she resurfaced, police discovered new DNA evidence that tied only her and Reyes to the disappearance. In August 2020, he told authorities that Sherri planned “everything” and had asked him to help her to “get away from her husband,” Keith Papini.

Sherri was subsequently arrested in March 2022 for allegedly faking her own kidnapping. She was charged with — and later pleaded guilty to — making false statements to a federal law enforcement officer and engaging in mail fraud and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. She began her prison sentence in November 2022 and was released in August 2023.

Less than two years after her prison release, Sherri is telling a new story and has placed the blame on Reyes. In the four-part docuseries, Sherri Papini: Caught in the Lie, premiering May 26, she claimed that she made up the story about the Hispanic women abducting her because she wanted to hide her affair with Reyes.

However, she alleged that her former boyfriend kidnapped her after she asked him to come visit her in order to end their relationship. Reyes has denied to comment on these claims.

Here’s everything to know about Sherri Papini’s kidnapping hoax, her new claims and where she is today.

Who is Sherri Papini?

Sherri first made headlines in November 2016 when she went missing after going for a jog.

When her husband Keith arrived back at the Redding home they shared that evening, neither Sherri nor their then-4-year-old son Tyler and then-2-year-old daughter Violet were there. He called the kids’ daycare to see if Sherri had picked them up for the day, but the children were still there. It was then, Keith told ABC News’ 20/20 in 2016, that he knew something was wrong.

Keith then dialed 911 to open a missing persons case, and over the course of several days, more than 100 volunteers helped search for his wife. On Thanksgiving morning — 22 days after her disappearance — a motorist spotted Sherri walking along the side of the road in Yolo County, Calif., about 150 miles from Redding, and alerted authorities.

Sheriff Bosenko told PEOPLE that Sherri had been beaten and was hospitalized for her injuries. She told police that she was abducted at gunpoint by two Hispanic women in a dark SUV and that the women tortured her and branded her skin. Sherri alleged that the women held her hostage and chained her in a bedroom for weeks until one of the women released her.

Bosenko said that investigators didn’t get much information from Sherri at first, but that it wasn’t necessarily unusual for the situation.

No motive was given for the abduction, and despite receiving more than 600 tips, offering a $10,000 reward for information and releasing sketches of the alleged kidnappers, police were still unable to solve the case after a year. Three years later, authorities still hadn’t progressed in their search for suspects.

What happened in the investigation of Sherri Papini’s disappearance?

Police had a breakthrough in the case in March 2020, when they matched the DNA on Sherri to a relative of her ex-boyfriend Reyes. That June, they compared it with DNA from a bottle of green tea found outside of his apartment and it was a match.

In August 2020, police questioned Reyes, and he claimed to authorities that Sherri was hiding out with him in Costa Mesa, Calif., from Keith, whom she had alleged was sexually and physically abusive (which Keith later denied in an interview with Good Morning America).

Reyes told authorities that he and Sherri had been communicating with prepaid cell phones, SFGate reported, and that Sherri harmed herself to create her own injuries during the disappearance. According to The Sacramento Bee, Sherri’s mother filed a police report in 2003 accusing Sherri of doing the same and blaming her for it in 2003; her parents reportedly had also accused her of burglary and making unauthorized withdrawals from their checking accounts.

On March 3, 2022, more than five years after her alleged abduction, police arrested Sherri at her children’s piano lesson for faking her kidnapping. She was charged with making false statements to a federal law enforcement officer and engaging in mail fraud, the latter stemming from the $30,000 she received from the California Victims’ Compensation Board.

What was Sherri Papini’s sentence?

In April 2022, weeks after her arrest, Sherri pleaded guilty to one count each of lying to a federal officer and mail fraud. She said in a statement through her attorney that she was “deeply ashamed” of what she did, adding, “[I am] so sorry for the pain I’ve caused my family, my friends, all the good people who needlessly suffered because of my story and those who worked so hard to try to help me. I will work the rest of my life to make amends for what I have done.”

Sherri’s hoax cost the California Victims’ Compensation Board more than $30,000 for her ambulance ride and therapy visits after her false abduction. The fake kidnapping also cost the United States Social Security Administration more than $127,000, the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office $148,866 and the FBI $2,558.

In September 2022, Sherri was sentenced to 18 months in prison for the hoax and ordered to pay back more than $300,000 in restitution for government funds expended on her after her self-inflicted disappearance. It was 10 months more than what even the prosecution recommended.

U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb called Sherri a “manipulator” during her sentencing hearing. “People don’t like to be conned,” he said, “and I don’t believe those people who were deceived would believe that one month or eight months is sufficient.”

Shubb added that his goal was to deter other would-be hoaxers from doing the same thing, expecting leniency.

“‘If I get away with it, I’ll get $49,000. If I don’t get away with it, I’ll spend one month or eight months,’ ” Shubb noted. “We have to send a message that crime doesn’t pay.”

Sherri began her sentence on Nov. 8, 2022, and was released in August 2023.

What happened to Sherri Papini’s husband Keith and their children?

After Sherri’s arrest, Keith told police he was “blindsided” and “in shock” at the fact that she faked her own disappearance. In April 2022, Keith filed for divorce from Sherri, requesting full custody of his and Sherri’s son and daughter because of the trauma she’d inflicted on the family.

“I wish to make it clear that my goal is to provide a loving, safe, stable environment for [his and Sherri’s children] and I believe the requested orders are consistent with that goal and the best interests of the children,” Keith told PEOPLE in a statement. “I do not want to say anything in the pleadings connected to this matter that would inflame the situation or attract media attention.”

Keith was awarded full custody, though Sherri now has visitation rights.

“They’re very happy kids,” Keith told PEOPLE of Tyler and Violet in 2024, who were then 11 and 9. “A lot of their childhood years were, in my opinion, stolen from them. So my biggest goal is giving them a happy and healthy life and surrounding them with loving people.”

Where is Sherri Papini now?

Sherri was released from prison in August 2023 and transferred to a residential reentry facility in Sacramento County, Calif. She left the home that October — eight months early — and will remain on supervised release until late 2026.

In March 2024, the U.S. Attorney’s office filed a writ of garnishment against Sherri, claiming that she still owed more than $300,000 in restitution from the case: $309,292.93, plus a 10% litigation surcharge ($30,929), bringing her grand total to $340,221.23.

“Upon information and belief, Debtor [Papini] has a substantial nonexempt interest in property, that is in the possession, custody, or control of Garnishee [law firm],” the writ read in part.

While Sherri hadn’t paid the sum, her lawyer said she intended to do so when she could. “Sherri Papini appreciates the significance of her financial obligations to the Court and to the Government and will continue to meet said obligations as she has promised,” her lawyer William Portanova told PEOPLE in a statement. “Nothing has changed.”

Keith told PEOPLE in 2024 that he and Sherri have not spoken outside of court or mediation. “I don’t make contact with her at all. And I don’t even allow it,” he said. “She’s tried but I just can’t. That is her power, her voice, and her manipulation.”

In addition to scheduled visitation with the children, Keith also told PEOPLE that Tyler and Violet speak with Sherri over the phone.

She lives in northern California, and notes from a visitation supervisor obtained by The Record Searchlight in June 2024 indicated that she was writing a book. Keith also told Good Morning America that month that Sherri had a new boyfriend, though his identity wasn’t revealed.

Sherri spoke about the kidnapping for the first time since being released from prison in the May 2025 docuseries, Sherri Papini: Caught in the Lie. In the doc, Sherri changed her story and claimed that Reyes abducted her without her consent and held her at his apartment in Costa Mesa, Calif.

“I wanted to leave,” Sherri claimed. “So I tried to pull one of the boards off the window and James came in and hit me in the face. And that’s the first bruise that I got … And after being knocked out and waking up, that’s when the chain was around my waist, secured with a padlock attached to a cable that was attached to a pole in the closet.”

Sherri claimed that he let her go on the condition that she would say two Hispanic women abducted her.

“James had let me off the chain,” she alleged. “I said, my husband’s going to find me. He’s never going to stop looking for you … You need to let me go. He was like, ‘Well, there’s too much has happened.’ So it all came down to me. It all came down to my coverup, and that’s [when] I agreed to … make up that someone else did it.” Reyes declined to comment on Sherri’s new claims.