The true crime story of a California mother who pretended to be kidnapped is now on Netflix, getting attention from viewers all over again. Sherri Papini went missing in 2016, said two Hispanic women took her, and spent three weeks away from her family. The truth came out years later: she made the whole thing up. Now, a movie called Hoax: The Kidnapping of Sherri Papini started streaming on May 15, 2026, and people are asking the same question: Where is Sherri Papini today, and is she still married?
The Netflix movie gives a dramatized version of what happened. Jaime King plays Sherri, and Matt Hamilton plays her then-husband Keith Papini. The film was originally a Lifetime movie from 2023, but Netflix picked it up and introduced the strange case to a much bigger audience. For those who followed the news back in 2016, the story sounds unbelievable. For those watching for the first time, it sounds even crazier.
The Divorce Is Final: Sherri and Keith Papini Are No Longer Together
The short answer to whether Sherri is still married is no. Sherri and Keith Papini divorced in May 2023, ending their 13-year marriage. Keith filed for divorce back in April 2022, just weeks after Sherri got arrested and admitted to lying about the kidnapping. He did not wait long. In his court filing, he asked for emergency custody of their two children, a son and a daughter, who were 9 and 7 at the time.
Keith told the court he needed to protect the kids from their mother’s notoriety. The judge agreed. Keith received full custody of both children, and Sherri’s time with them became very limited. She is allowed one-hour visits each month, and those visits must be supervised by an agency the court picks.
The divorce did not end the fighting between them. As of early 2026, a child custody trial was still going on. Sherri has been asking the court to give her more time with the children. She wants reunification with one child and more visits with the other. Keith has said he does not talk to Sherri outside of court or mediation sessions.
From National Headlines to Federal Prison: What Sherri Did
To understand where Sherri is now, you have to go back to what she did. On November 2, 2016, Sherri left for a jog near her home in Redding, California. Her husband found her phone and earbuds on the ground and called police. For 22 days, the FBI and local authorities searched for her. The case made national news. People worried about the young mother of two.
Then on Thanksgiving Day, she showed up. She was found walking along a highway in Yolo County, about 150 miles south of her home. She had a chain around her waist, a brand on her shoulder, a broken nose, and chopped hair. She weighed only 87 pounds. She told police two Hispanic women kidnapped her at gunpoint, held her captive, beat her, and tortured her.
For years, detectives worked on the case. They looked for the two women. They found nothing. In 2020, DNA testing on her clothes led to an ex-boyfriend named James Reyes. Investigators learned that Sherri had actually stayed with him in Costa Mesa during those three weeks. There was no kidnapping. She faked everything.
In March 2022, the FBI arrested her. She pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and one count of making false statements to federal officers. In September 2022, a judge sentenced her to 18 months in prison. The court also ordered her to pay $309,902 in restitution to cover the cost of the search and other agencies she defrauded.
Early Release and Life After Prison
Sherri did not serve her full sentence. She got out early in August 2023, after serving only 11 months. She was moved to a halfway house in Sacramento County and released from there on September 29, 2023. She is still on supervised release, which will continue until some time in 2026.
Even after getting out, the money problems did not go away. By June 2025, court records showed Sherri had paid back less than $10,000 of the $148,866 she owes to the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office alone. She still owes money to the FBI, the Social Security Administration, and the California Victim Compensation Board.
Sherri Changed Her Story Again in 2025
Things got stranger in 2025. Sherri appeared in a four-part docuseries called Caught in the Lie on Investigation Discovery. In it, she changed her story. She said the kidnapping was actually real. She claimed her ex-boyfriend James Reyes abducted her after she tried to end their affair. She said the injuries were not her choice.
“The injuries that occurred, the bites on my thigh, the footprint on my back, the brand, the melting of my skin, I am telling you there was no consent,” Sherri said in the docuseries.
Reyes told investigators a very different story years ago. He said Sherri asked him to hurt her so the fake kidnapping would look real. He has never been charged with any crime.
During a supervised visit with her children in early 2024, Sherri told them she is writing books. “Mommy is an author now. She’s writing two books. I work lots of hours to write chapter books,” she said during the monitored session.
Also Read:
What the Netflix Movie Shows
Hoax: The Kidnapping of Sherri Papini sticks to the facts that were proven in court. The movie runs about 90 minutes and shows how Sherri’s story fell apart over four years of investigation. Besides Netflix, the movie is also available to rent on Amazon Prime Video and Fandango for $2.99 to $3.99.
The real Keith Papini spoke about the case in the 2024 Hulu documentary Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini. He also talked to ABC News about how convincing his ex-wife was. “She made us all believe that her story was true. Every single day she committed to the lie,” he said.
Keep up with the latest true crime stories and streaming releases only on VvipTimes.
