13 things about Redding, California fraudster Sherri Papini

Sherri Louise Graeff Papini is an American fraudster from Redding, Shasta County, California, United States. She made headlines in 2016 due to her purported kidnapping then in 2020 when it was revealed it was fake.

BIOGRAPHY

Both Papini and her former husband Keith Papini were born in Redding. They have a son and a daughter together.

Sheila Graeff Koesta is Sherri’s only sister. Their parents are Richard Graeff and Loretta Graeff.

Sherri is 1 year older than Keith. Here are 13 more things about her:

1. In 2000, her father accused her of burglarizing his residence and her sister accused her of kicking in her back door.
2. In 2002, she dated Shauhin Davari, who was 5 years younger than her, while she was working as as a youth counselor.
3. In 2003, her father accused her of making unauthorized withdrawals from his checking account and the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office received a report from her mother that she had been hurting herself and blaming the injuries on her mother.
4. In 2006, she married David Dreyfus, who is 3 years younger than her, and dated James Reyes, who is 2 years younger than her.
5. In September 2008, she and Dreyfus divorced.
6. In 2009, she married Keith.
7. In 2012, she gave birth to Tyler Papini.
8. In 2014, she gave birth to Violet Papini.
9. In December 2015, she started being in contact with Reyes and she asked him to pick her up on November 2, 2016.
10. In November 2016, she made headlines because of her disappearance, which her family and the authorities at the time did know was fake kidnapping.
11. From 2017 to 2021, she received more than $30,000 from the California Victim’s Compensation Board.
12. In 2022, Keith filed a petition asking the court for legal and physical custody of their two children.
13. On June 11, 2024, she turned 42.

TIMELINE

Sherri is 5’3″ tall. Before her fake kidnapping in 2016, she and Reyes shared a joint AOL email account and he conducted financial transactions with her. 

2016

• On November 2, 2016, Keith became concerned when he returned from his job at Best Buy and could not find her at their Redding residence.
• From November 2, 2016 to November 23, 2016, her two children were attending daycare while she was voluntarily with Reyes in Costa Mesa, Orange County, California where she systematically harmed herself to make her kidnapping story convincing.
• On November 24, 2016, she reappeared on the side of County Road 17 near Interstate 5 in Yolo County, California. Bruised and bound by restraints, she claimed that she was freed by her captors, who were two Hispanic women. When she was hospitalized in Woodland, Yolo County, investigators collected male deoxyribonucleic acid from her underwear and sweatpants that did not match Keith’s.

2017

• On June 5, 2017, she started paying for fraudulent treatment for anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder from her fake kidnapping.

2018

• On March 16, 2018, she contacted Federal Bureau of Investigation agents and gave them false information about her fake kidnapping in 2016, which she claimed she recalled during a session with a therapist.
• On May 7, 2018, Keith contacted FBI agents and told them that during a therapy session, she remembered that one of the women who held her captive in 2016 tried to pour a sticky substance down her mouth and she wiped her mouth off with her underwear, leaving a sticky substance on the underwear, and then fell asleep.

2019

• Nic Edwards and Patrick Edwards podcast “True Crime Garage” Season 1 episode 335 “Sherri Papini: Part 1” was released on September 17, 2019.
• On September 26, 2019, SCSO detectives requested a familial DNA search for the unknown male DNA contributor identified on her underwear during her fake kidnapping.

2020

• On March 19, 2020, the California Department of Justice’s Familial Search Committee voted to release to investigators the results of a DNA search using the sample taken from her clothes on November 24, 2016. The search led to Reyes in Costa Mesa.
• On August 13, 2020, she was with Keith 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 maintained her claim after being advised that it was a crime to lie to a federal agent.

2021

• On March 8, 2021, she paid for fraudulent treatment for anxiety and PTSD from her fake kidnapping for the last time.

2022

• She was arrested on March 3, 2022, the same day she and Keith separated. Represented by William Portanova, she was charged with making false statements to federal law enforcement officers and 34 counts of mail fraud.
• On April 12, 2022, she signed a plea deal, confirming that she faked her kidnapping in November 2016.
• On April 18, 2022, she pleaded guilty to one count each of making false statements to federal law enforcement officers and mail fraud.
• On April 20, 2022, Keith filed for divorce from her.
• The Bible verse Exodus 21:16 was tattooed on her shoulder, Roman Catholic Deacon and news anchor Mike Mangas revealed in the investigation documentary “Runaway Mom: The Sherri Papini Story“, which premiered on HLN on September 18, 2022.
• On September 19, 2022, she was ordered to pay back $309,902 in restitution to the FBI, the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office, the California Victim Compensation Board and the Social Security Administration for losses incurred because of her lies. Judge William B. Shubb sentenced her to 18 months in prison, which she serve at the Federal Correctional Institution, Victorville in Victorville, California.

2023

• Jaime King and Matt Hamilton played her and Keith, respectively, in the film “Hoax: The Kidnapping of Sherri Papini”, which was released in the U.S. On January 28, 2023.
• In September 2023, she was transferred from FCI Victorville to a halfway house in San Francisco Bay Area, California.
• In December 2023, she and Keith were officially divorced.

2024

• In January 2024, she told her 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.”
• Eminem references her kidnapping hoax in his song “Houdini”, which was released on May 31, 2024.
• On June 19, 2024, Hulu released the documentary series “Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini”.

2025

• On March 21, 2025, she appeared at the Shasta County Superior Court in Redding for a custody hearing to seek visitation rights with her children. She is represented by the Kinney & Kinney law firm.