Sherri Papini's family members say they love her and they are troubled by the way law enforcement officers arrested her in front of her children Thursday.
Late that night, Papini's family released the following statement through Intrepid, a public relations firm based in Salt Lake City:
"We love Sherri and are appalled by the way in which law enforcement ambushed her this afternoon in a dramatic and unnecessary manner in front of her children. If requested, Sherri would have fully complied and come to the police station, as she has done multiple times before, where this could have been handled in a more appropriate way. Sherri and Keith have cooperated with law enforcement's requests despite repeated attempts to unnecessarily pit them against each other, empty threats to publicly embarrass them and other conduct that was less than professional. We are confused by several aspects of the charges and hope to get clarification in the coming days."
Keith Papini is Sherri Papini's husband. The PR firm Papini's family hired is run by Chris Thomas, who handled media relations for the family of Elizabeth Smart, whose kidnapping at age 14 also became a massive national media story.
Papini — the 39-year-old Redding, California, mother of two who was described in the media at the time of her 2016 disappearance as a "super mom" and became a true-crime celebrity — is accused of lying to authorities in an August 2020 interview about her disappearance despite being warned in advance that it was a crime to lie to federal agents.
Instead of being kidnapped and held for nearly three weeks by two Hispanic women like she claimed, federal officials say Papini actually was staying with a former boyfriend in Costa Mesa.
The ex-boyfriend told investigators Papini cut her hair short while she was with him and hit and burned herself to cause injuries, and that she asked him to brand her, court papers say. Finally, just before Thanksgiving 2016, she told him she missed her children and asked to be taken back to Redding. He said he drove seven hours and dropped her off on a country road off the freeway, the documents say.
She's charged with wire fraud and lying to FBI agents about the abduction.
The Papini saga led to weeks of searching for her nationwide and rallies of support for her and her family in Shasta County.
A GoFundMe account opened after her disappearance raised more than $49,000, and court documents say Papini and her husband used some of the funds to pay off her credit cards.
The documents also say she applied for and received more than $30,000 from the California Victims Compensation Board for her ordeal, which led to the mail fraud charge.
Among the items for which she was compensated: therapy sessions for PTSD from the "kidnap," ambulance services and $1,000 for her to buy window blinds for her home, court filings say.
If convicted, Papini could face up to 20 years and fines of up to $500,000. Her first court appearance has not yet been scheduled.
