Woman Who Fabricated Kidnapping Story to Spend Time with Ex-Boyfriend Will Plead Guilty

A California woman accused of faking her own kidnapping in 2016, has signed a plea deal and will confess she made up the entire plan.

Sherri Papini, 39, was reported missing by her husband in November 2016. Three weeks later, she was found alone on the side of a highway, 140 miles from home.

Papini told police she was abducted and branded by two women who kept her chained in a closet. She gave an elaborate story of two spanish-speaking women who held her at gunpoint and wore masks.

According to the Department of Justice, Papini was actually with an ex-boyfriend during the three weeks she was reportedly missing.

Papini’s alleged staged kidnapping cost the California Victim’s Compensation Board over $30,000 in therapy visits and an ambulance trip.

The 22-day search for sheriffs and subsequent five-year search into who reportedly abducted her also inflicted fear in the public.

Papini was arrested by federal authorities on March 3. She was charged with making false statements to a federal law enforcement officer and mail fraud.

Her attorney, William Portanova, has confirmed that she will sign the plea agreement and confess to the hoax.