Keith Papini biography: 13 things about Redding, California man

Keith A. Papini is an American man from Redding, Shasta County, California, United States. He is Suzanne Papini‘s brother and Rod Rodriguez‘s stepson.

Keith earned his associate’s degree in administration of justice from Shasta College in Redding. He and his former wife Sherri Papini have a son and a daughter together.

Aside from Redding, Keith has lived in other parts of California including Crescent City and Shasta Lake. Here are 13 more things about him

1. In October 2005, he started working at Best Buy as an elite services specialist.
2. In 2009, he and Sherri got married.
3. In 2012, Sherri gave birth to their son.
4. In 2014, Sherri gave birth to their daughter.
5. On November 2, 2016, he became concerned when he returned from his job at Best Buy and could not find Sherri at their Redding residence. When she went missing from November 2, 2016 to November 13, 2016, their two children were attending daycare. During those days, she was voluntarily with her former boyfriend James Reyes in Costa Mesa, Orange County, California where she systematically harmed herself to make her kidnapping story convincing.
6. On November 9, 2016, Shasta County Sheriff’s Office lieutenant Anthony Bertain announced that he was not a person of interest in the disappearance of Sherri. He passed a lie-detector test and no physical evidence linked him to her disappearance. On November 15, 2016, he and his sister-in-law Sheila Koester attended the Redding City Council meeting to thank supporters.
7. On November 24, 2016, Sherri reappeared on the side of County Road 17 near Interstate 5 in Yolo County, California and claimed that she was freed by her captors, who were two Hispanic women. When Sherri was hospitalized in Woodland, Yolo County, investigators collected male deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) from her underwear and sweatpants that did not match his. It was later found that it belonged to Reyes. On November 29, 2016, he issued a statement to “Good Morning America” that Sherri was branded, covered in bruises from repeated beatings and starved down to 87 pounds. 
8. On December 2, 2016, he spoke to the ABC News show “20/20“, which was his first on-air interview since Sherri reappeared on November 14, 2016.
9. On August 13, 2020, he was with Sherri in a room at the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office where two detectives told them that Reyes revealed to investigators details about how she faked her kidnapping in November 2016 and they have DNA and polygraph test results that corroborate Reyes’s statements. She still maintained her fake kidnapping story.
10. On March 3, 2022, Sherri was arrested. On the same day, they separated.
11. On April 18, 2022, Sherri pleaded guilty to one count each of making false statements to federal law enforcement officers and mail fraud. On April 20, 2022, he filed for divorce from her. On September 19, 2022, she was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
12. In December 2023, he and Sherri were officially divorced. In the same month, he turned 40.
13. In January 2024, Sherri told their daughter during a supervised visit, “Mommy is an author now. She’s writing two books. I work lots of hours to write chapter books so when I tell you I’m working remotely, that means I’m at home writing chapters on my laptop.”