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True crime docuseries on Sherri Papini details her story, but was she really kidnapped?


Papini maintains she did not orchestrate a hoax kidnapping. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Papini maintains she did not orchestrate a hoax kidnapping. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
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Sherri Papini, dubbed the real life “Gone Girl” for her mysterious decision to lie about her alleged kidnapping, is finally telling her side of the story.

But her versions of events may leave viewers with even more questions than answers in Investigation Discovery’s “Sherri Papini: Caught in the Lie.”

CALIFORNIA WOMAN WHO FAKED HER OWN KIDNAPPING FIGHTS FOR CUSTODY OF HER CHILDREN

The four-part series breaks down multiple angles of Papini’s alleged kidnapping and the reasons she lied about it, the most important of course being Papini’s own.

The first episode focuses on the initial details that came out after Papini was reported missing in early November 2016. The mother of two had been out for a run when she claims two Hispanic women abducted her, then held her hostage for 22 days, abusing her and branding her with what looked like a reference to the Biblical Book of Exodus.

Law enforcement and the FBI became suspicious of Papini’s claims, and evidence emerged years after the incident that male DNA was found on Papini’s underwear from the time of the incident that was linked back to her former boyfriend, James Reyes.

Papini was later arrested by the FBI in 2022, accused of lying to federal agents, faking the kidnapping, and committing fraud. She pleaded guilty to one count of making false statements and one count of mail fraud as part of a plea agreement, and was sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay $300,000 for taking social security disability and for the police investigation.

Throughout the remaining episodes of the series, Papini insists that she never orchestrated a hoax kidnapping but is instead the victim of two abusive men.

The first is her husband, Keith Papini, who she alleges was emotionally abusive and threatened to take everything, including their children, if she was caught in an affair.

The second is her former boyfriend and, she alleges, abductor, James Reyes. According to Papini, she and Reyes only had an emotional affair until he kidnapped her on that now infamous November day and held her captive for 22 days until she promised to not tell police who really had taken her.

While the series is very sympathetic to Papini and features interviews from her personal psychologist, criminal and divorce attorneys, and even Keith’s sister-in-law, who appears to support Sherri over her brother, she is taken to task about her conflicting pieces of information and allegations.

Producers ask several times, especially in the third and fourth episodes, about her differing versions of events, doing their best to get a real and clear answer from Papini.

But viewers may have to decide for themselves how they feel about the petite blonde who captivated a nation with a harrowing tale of survival that may not be entirely true.

The four-part docuseries “Sherri Papini: Caught in the Lie,” airs on ID and is available to stream on HBO Max.

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