Sherry Papini Vanishes While Jogging
Sherri Papini, a married mother of two in northern California, went out for her usual afternoon jog around 2 p.m. last Wednesday. The 34-year-old had a routine: She’d run and then pick up her kids from daycare. They would spend the rest of the afternoon gardening or doing other projects. Friends and family call her a "super mom."
But Sherri didn’t pick up her kids on Wednesday. Shortly before 6 p.m., after no one had heard from her for 3 1/2 hours, Sherri’s husband, Keith Papini, reported her missing. He believes she was abducted.
“Everybody who knows my wife knows that there's no reason for her to leave ... She was definitely taken against her will,” he told ABC News.
The only sign of Sherri since her unexplained disappearance is the discovery of her phone, which Keith found using the Find My Phone app about a mile from their home, according to the Ventura County Star. Search teams of about two dozen people have scoured the area where her phone was found, but have not turned up any other clues.
“She wouldn’t just drop her phone if she was running away,” Suzanne Papini said. “So, at least it’s giving us some kind of information, but it’s pretty - we’re sick. This is a pretty sickening situation.”
The area where Sherri was jogging is a rural neighborhood in Shasta County, California, not far from Redding. Local authorities say Sherri is “considered at risk due to the suspicious circumstances,” according to the Ventura County Star.
Keith said he received a text message from Sherri at 10:37 a.m. on the day of her disappearance asking if he was coming home for lunch. “I usually don't bring my personal phone in on my job,” he told ABC News. “So I didn't respond to that message until 1:39 p.m. that day."
When Keith returned from work around 5 p.m., Sherri wasn’t home. He called the police immediately, authorities said. "Knowing that she didn't pick up our kids - there is no way that ever happens ... she would never in a million years not pick up our children on a time that she normally would have,” he said.
Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko said Sherri doesn’t have any known physical or mental conditions that could be the reason for her disappearance, according to the Ventura County Star. There’s also no history of calls reporting major incidents to the Papini’s house, he added.
There are four registered sex offenders who live within roughly a mile of where the phone was found, but authorities wouldn’t say whether they had been cleared or implicated in the case.
So far authorities have not identified any suspects, the Ventura County Star said.
Sherri was last seen wearing a pink jogging top, according to ABC News. Her family is offering a $50,000 reward for information, and a GoFund Me page has been established to raise money to support the search efforts.
“She has a family that loves her,” her sister, Sheila Koester, said. “Please just bring her home.”
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