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How Sherri Papini Struggled to Find Help After Making It to a Church

More details have been released surrounding Sherri Papini’s safe return after the mother of two was allegedly abducted while on a routine jog earlier this month. Shasta County Sheriff’s deputies told USA Today that after being released Papini — who was extremely thin and covered in bruises — was able to make her way to a church before flagging down help along a highway. 

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As previously reported, Papini’s husband, Keith Papini, reported her missing on November 2 after she went for a run but later failed to pick up their two young children at daycare or return home. Get a full rundown of Papini’s frightening disappearance in the video above. Shasta County Sheriff’s deputies said Sherri was abducted while on the run in her neighborhood just northeast of Redding, California. Sherri was bound with restraints, but authorities are unclear on details. 

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“We weren’t specific on how she was restrained,” Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko told USA Today on Tuesday, November 29, after confirming Sherri’s return. “After being released, dropped off, however you want to refer to it, she walked to a nearby church, and then nobody was there, and then walked to I-5 near Road 17, where she flagged down a motorist.” Bosenko also confirmed that Sherri was “heavily battered.”

In an interview on Tuesday with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, Bosenko confirmed that they’re continuing to interview Sherri, who claimed she was abducted by two Hispanic women with a gun. Bosenko told Stephanopoulos that a motive remains unclear. He also acknowledged a since-deleted, allegedly racist post that was published to Skinheadz.com, which was reportedly signed by “Sherri Graeff,” Sherri’s maiden name.

According to the Sacramento Bee, the post’s writer recalls growing up in Shasta Lake and getting into fights with Latinos who targeted her because she was “drug-free, white and proud of [her] blood and heritage.”

Sherri Papini
Sherri Papini

“We are familiar with that posting,” Bosenko told ABC News. “That is about 13 years old, and our investigators are looking into that as well.”

Both Sherri’s ex-husband, David Dreyfus, and her sister, Sheila Koester, however, have denied Sherri wrote the post.

“[The Papini’s] are very private people and they do not post things on the internet,” Koester told the Bee.

As previously reported, Sherri’s husband Keith issued a statement to GMA on Monday thanking supporters and authorities while detailing Sherri’s fragile state, revealing she was found “emaciated” and “covered in bruises” with a broken nose. 

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