Before Hulu’s Perfect Wife premiere, Sherri Papini’s ex-husband, Keith Papini, opened up about the kidnapping hoax. Sherri, the woman who faked her kidnapping, went missing in November 2016. After an investigation, detectives proved that her disappearance was a hoax. They found evidence proving she lived in her ex-boyfriend James Reyes’ house during the disappearance. Sherri was a married mother of two at the time.
In 2022, Sherri faced charges stemming from the supposed kidnapping hoax. She pleaded guilty to two counts of mail fraud and lying to a law enforcement officer. Although she never admitted to the kidnapping hoax, Sherri served nearly a year in federal prison before her release in August 2023. Her ex-boyfriend, James Reyes, never faced charges in the case.
After the revelations surfaced, Sherri Papini’s now ex-husband, Keith Papini, filed for divorce and took sole custody of their two children. Keith, who appeared in Hulu’s Perfect Wife, has opened up about the kidnapping hoax for the first time. Now divorced, he talks about the family’s harrowing experience and reveals why Sherri faked her own kidnapping.
Sherri Papini’s ex-husband Keith reveals reason behind kidnapping hoax
Keith Papini broke his silence seven years after Sherri Papini’s kidnapping hoax. In an interview with Good Morning America, he claimed that Sherri never disclosed her real motive behind the hoax.
Keith stated that Sherri faked her own kidnapping because she wanted “me to be her knight in shining armor and run to her.” He alleged that she “wanted to plan a fake kidnapping, but in her version, she wanted me to find her.” The single dad believes the hoax will always “be there” despite their attempts to move past it.
During the interview, Keith claimed he was finally speaking out because he wanted the truth to get out. The father-of-two hoped to tell people that he did not know what Sherri had been planning and that he and his family were the “biggest victims of that hoax.” Keith said, “She made us all believe that her story was true. Every single day she committed to the lie.”
Reportedly, Sherri Papini disappeared on the morning of November 2, 2016, while on a jogging trail. The incident occurred in Redding, California. An extensive search ensued following her vanishing and continued for 22 days. Three weeks later, on Thanksgiving Day, she finally reappeared near Interstate 5 with a chain bound to her waist. She was also covered with injuries and branded. After returning to her family, Sherri told authorities that two Hispanic women had kidnapped her.
Nearly six years later, detectives made a shocking discovery. NBC News reported that male DNA evidence they found on her clothes led them to Sherri’s ex-boyfriend, James Reyes. They soon learned that the kidnapping was a hoax and that during her disappearance, she had been staying at Reyes’ home in Costa Mesa, California.
In the GMA interview, Keith Papini claimed that he recalls the years-long ordeal in Hulu’s Perfect Wife documentary to “get the truth out there.” He claimed he “really wanted to let everybody know, like, how convincing Sherri was all those years and how I believed everything that she was telling me.”
During the initial investigation into Sherri Papini’s disappearance, authorities had also suspected Keith’s involvement. However, he passed a polygraph test. Subsequent discoveries revealed that Sherri had been telling friends her husband was abusive and had even threatened to kill her. Addressing these allegations, the ex-husband claimed that those allegations were untrue and hurtful. He also denied physically or mentally abusing her.
Keith Papini revealed that he doubted Sherri’s story from the beginning. He said, “When I pulled back the curtain and I saw her and I saw the look in her eyes, I felt in that moment that she was lying.” He claimed that he later felt “horrible” for evening thinking that “she could’ve done this to herself.” The father-of-two claimed he was shocked after seeing the amount of bruises, burns, and injuries to Sherri’s body.
People Magazine stated that Sherri Papini’s ex-boyfriend, James Reyes, had told authorities that she had asked him to inflict injuries on her. Sherri planned to make it seem like her kidnappers tortured her while keeping her captive. Reyes admitted to pelting her with hockey pucks and holding a hockey stick so she could run into it. Despite helping Sherri orchestrate the kidnapping hoax, Reyes never faced any changes.
During the interview, Keith Papini mentioned that Sherri has never apologized to him or their children. He believes, “She has no remorse that I have ever witnessed or seen” and claims he is no longer in contact with her. Keith filed for divorce around the time Sherri pleaded guilty to two counts of mail fraud and lying to a law enforcement officer. She received an 18-month prison sentence.
Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini is now streaming on Hulu.
