What Happened After Hulu's 'Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini'? (2024)

The entire true crime genre has been obsessed with missing women for quite some time. Nothing captivates an audience more than the strange disappearance of a picture-perfect victim. Cases like Natalee Holloway, Elizabeth Smart, and Gabby Petito have all inspired an astonishing array of media coverage over the years. So, when Sherri Papini went missing after going for an afternoon jog in her Shasta County, California neighborhood in 2016, it was no surprise that the media jumped all over the case. The 34-year-old's face popped up on flyers all over the state, and news stations consistently blasted her image to motivate people to come forward and report anything they might know about her disappearance. Sherri's family members, especially her husband, Keith, appeared in interviews desperately pleading for the missing young mother to be returned safely. She seemed to be the ideal victim: pretty, white, and photogenic.

But the story of Sherri, which is explored in Hulu's new docuseries, Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini, only got more fascinating when she resurfaced 22 days after she vanished. Sherri claimed to have been kidnapped by two Hispanic women who held her captive until one woman dropped her off on the side of the highway. Sherri had obvious injuries, including numerous bruises, burns, and a brand on her back, and was reluctant to speak to police about her ordeal. Sherri and Keith eventually tried to move past the trauma, but the intriguing nature of her case was only just beginning. Perfect Wife follows the events of what happened once Sherri returned home. With interviews from Keith and the couple's friends and family, the series features an honest and unflinching look at Sherri's fate.

Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini (2024)

Documentary

Crime

Release Date

June 20, 2024

Main Genre

Documentary

Seasons

1

'Perfect Wife' Details What Actually Happened to Sherri Papini

As Keith and investigators tried to piece together what occurred during the 22 days of Sherri's abduction, some inconsistencies started to emerge. Investigators were unsure of the motive for why the two women would have taken Sherri or where they could have been holding her. Sherri was showing signs of trauma (such as nightmares and intense fears of everything from mariachi music to women with long, curly hair), but many people started to wonder about the veracity of her claims. Keith poured all of his energy into aiding Sherri's recovery, including helping her recall memories of her abduction, attending therapy sessions with her, and working with their young children to feel safe again. The family was also dodging the relentless media who all wanted to know more about Sherri's experiences.

Four years after Sherri returned, investigators got a break in the case; but the path they were now headed down was an unexpected one. They were able to match a DNA sample found on Sherri, which just so happened to belong to an ex-boyfriend of Sherri's named James Reyes. The story unraveled quickly after that; when police visited James (who lived in Costa Mesa, California), they discovered his bedroom was an exact match to what Sherri described as her captor's holding cell for her. But James informed investigators that he was no kidnapper. Sherri had reached out to him on a burner phone and asked him to come pick her up. She stayed in his house voluntarily, and even convinced him to cause injuries to her body so that she would end up looking like an abused victim. In a disgusting twist, Sherri even calmly watched the news footage of her friends and family pleading for her return from the safety of James' home. For 22 days, she allowed her loved ones to be in agony over her disappearance, all while she continued to hide out.

Where Is Sherri Papini From 'Perfect Wife' Now?

After gathering enough evidence against her, Sherri was arrested on March 3, 2022 (more than five years after her alleged abduction). She was charged with making false statements to police and engaging in mail fraud; the latter charge was because she had received more than $30,000 from the California Victim's Compensation Board. Several weeks after her arrest, Sherri pleaded guilty, saying she was "deeply ashamed" of what she had done. She was sentenced to 18 months in prison and was ordered to pay back more than $300,000 in restitution for government funds that were spent searching for her and her fake abductors. Sherri was released eight months early from prison in August 2023, but will continue to be on supervised release until 2026. As of the docuseries release, Sherri has not yet paid back the money she owes.

Several days after her plea, a shocked and hurt Keith filed for divorce from Sherri. She has supervised visits with her children, but Keith has retained sole custody of them. He has made it his mission to focus on his children's well-being and to help them fully heal from the entire debacle. Keith told Good Morning America that Sherri has a new boyfriend and appears to be working on writing a book. But the harm that Sherri wrought to those around her is ongoing. Her loved ones are still stunned by the reality that Sherri was never an innocent victim and that all the physical harm done to her was self-inflicted. The hundreds of people who formed search parties to look for her, and the entire Shasta County population, are left with the harsh, dismaying truth that their kind intentions were all for nothing. There's also the added element of racial bias that Sherri caused by claiming that her kidnappers were Hispanic. The toll this accusation took on the Hispanic community is also still weighing heavily on people's minds.

Perfect Wife is another solid entry in the true-crime documentary genre; even for viewers who were already familiar with Sherri's case, the show provides plenty of twists and turns to the story that will keep people captivated. The series does feature some creative storytelling, including the use of dolls to depict Sherri's version of events, and tries to delve into some possible motivations Sherri might have had to fake her own kidnapping. Although her family suspects her intense need for love and attention could have pushed her to take these drastic measures, unless Sherri does release a book in the future, it's possible no one will ever know what was really going through her mind when she decided to fake her abduction, abandon her children, and flee. As twisted as her actions were, they did lead to a fascinating and thrilling examination of her case.

Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini is now streaming on Hulu in the U.S.

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