THE STRANGE SHERRI PAPINI DISAPPEARANCE CASE

Keith Papini issues statement on latest details of wife’s case

By Alayna Shulman

Record Searchlight
October 25, 2017

Detectives still can't piece together who abducted Sherri Papini or why, but texts with a man in Detroit, male DNA that didn't come from her husband and a brawl Papini described between her and one of her captors have all been part of the investigation, officials said Wednesday.

Papini, then 34, was found alive on Thanksgiving 2016 after being reported missing by her husband Nov. 2. Sgt. Brian Jackson said Papini told investigators two women abducted her and are the only people she had contact with during the 22 days she was missing.

Jackson said one of the angles detectives have pursued is Papini's alleged relationship with a "male acquaintance from Michigan." Jackson said Papini planned to meet the man days before she disappeared because he was coming to California for business, but investigators later determined he wasn't involved in her disappearance.

Jackson also shed more light on the condition Papini was in when she was found on the side of the road in Yolo County, and what happened while she was gone — including a fight Papini said she had with one of the captors.

Papini told a forensic interviewer that she slammed her younger captor's head into a toilet when she was allowed to leave her captivity room for a shower, Jackson said. He said Papini told the interviewer that she got a cut on the side of her right foot in the fight, but "when she was being processed at the hospital ... no evidence of a cut was seen in the photographs."

Papini told investigators that she otherwise avoided looking the women in the face so that they wouldn't beat her, Jackson said.

Papini also told investigators that right before she was released, the two captors were arguing and then she heard a gunshot, Jackson said. The younger of the women then escorted Papini out of a room, put her in a vehicle and drove along a winding road, eventually dropping her on the side of the road, Jackson said Papini told investigators.

Jackson detailed more of Papini's physical condition when she was found, too.

He said officials found DNA from two people on Papini — that of a man and a woman. Jackson said authorities collected the woman's DNA from Papini's body, while the man's was found on the clothes she wore when found.

He said the male DNA was not that of her husband, Keith Papini.

The DNA also didn't match any known offenders who came up in the FBI's database, Jackson said.

The FBI sketches of the suspects Sherri Papini described also didn't ring any bells for investigators, Jackson said.

"Once the sketches were finalized, detectives and investigators reviewed the sketches and compared the sketches with known witnesses or contacts identified during the investigation to see if the sketches matched any known parties. No matches were made with case file information," Jackson said.

Sherri Papini was found branded on the back of her right shoulder and "appeared battered and bruised," but Jackson said there is no evidence she was sexually assaulted, and she said she wasn't. But the bruises indicated Sherri Papini "had been physically assaulted multiple times over a period of time," Jackson said.

As for the brand, Jackson said the message is still unclear because of "obscure letters."

"The quality of the brand is poor," Jackson said.

Either way, Jackson said investigators won't reveal what they do know about the brand "for the integrity of the investigation."

Jackson also said Sherri Papini's hair was cut to shoulder-length. Officials initially said her hair was cut but did not reveal how much.

He said when she was found, Sherri Papini was wearing a dark gray sweatshirt, light gray sweatpants and had a chain around her waist with her left wrist tethered to it by a zip-tie. Jackson said Sherri Papini also had hose clamps around her ankles, apparently a form of "pain compliance restraints."

Surveillance footage from a church shows Sherri Papini running up to an onramp of Interstate 5 after being dropped off, per a sheriff's press release, but the video was not immediately available.

In a statement released Wednesday evening, Keith Papini said: "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."

The Papinis have been in "constant contact" with the Shasta County Sheriff's Office and FBI, Jackson said, but Sherri Papini "has not been able to provide a complete detailed statement due to poor recollection."

Jackson also noted the unprecedented nature of Sherri Papini's case.

While detectives have checked up on cases involving abductions and human-trafficking that some news outlets have likened to Sherri Papini's disappearance, Jackson said, "There have been no cases discovered that are similar in nature to this investigation concerning the pattern of operations by the suspect(s), treatment of the captured victim and release of the captured victim."

And despite over 600 tips, "none of the received tips have been able to generate a viable lead or information as to who is responsible for Sherri's abduction," Jackson said.

"At this time, there has not been any link connecting information discovered that would allow detectives and investigators to identify suspect(s)," Jackson said.

Sherri Papini's case spawned international attention, yet officials hadn't released any details since a news conference in late November where Sheriff Tom Bosenko described the alleged captors: two Hispanic women, one younger with dark, curly hair, pierced ears and thin eyebrows; and one older with thick eyebrows and straight black and gray hair.

Officials have said Keith Papini passed a lie-detector test they gave to see whether he had anything to do with her disappearance. They say he told them Sherri Papini had gone jogging near her Mountain Gate home before she disappeared, and she later told investigators the women abducted her in a dark SUV.

Investigators showed Sherri Papini pictures of SUVs that were in her neighborhood around the time of her disappearance, but they said she didn't recognize any of them.

The case is still under investigation, and anyone with information is asked to call the Sacramento FBI office at 916-746-7000, or by going to tips.fbi.gov.