NorCal Kidnap Victim's Husband Reveals Horrific Details Of Her Captivity
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – The husband of a woman abducted while jogging near Redding revealed the horrific details of her captivity and injuries for the first time since she was found chained, beaten and with a bag over head on the side of Highway I-5 Thanksgiving morning.
Keith Papini issued a lengthy statement to 'Good Morning America' Tuesday. In it he revealed the brutal details of the ordeal his wife endured during the weeks after her abduction on Nov. 2.
Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko said authorities were still searching for two Hispanic women armed with a handgun and driving a dark SUV who are wanted in connection with the kidnapping.
Keith Papini thanked the outpouring of public support for himself and the couple's two young children while Sherri was missing.
"Thank you to the many incredible humans that have never known Sherri that facilitated in sharing our heartbreak across the globe," he said in the statement. "Sherri has always captured my heart and it is no surprise that she has captured the hearts not only through the country, but throughout the world."
But he also angrily lashed out at those who questioned his possible role in the abduction and the validity of the crime.
Police had cleared Keith Papini as a possible suspect very early in their investigation.
"Rumors, assumptions, lies, and hate have been both exhausting and disgusting," he said in the statement released to the morning show. "We are not going to allow those people to take away our spirit, love, or rejoice in our girl found alive and home where she belongs."
"I understand people want the story, pictures, proof that this was not some sort of hoax, plan to gain money, or some fabricated race war. I do not see a purpose in addressing each preposterous lie."
He said when he went to the hospital to be reunited with his wife, he was not prepared for the condition her abductors left her in.
"Nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to see upon my arrival at the hospital, nor the details of the true hell I was about to hear," the statement read. "The mental prison I was in over the past three weeks was shattered when my questions of my wife's reality became known."
"The officers warned me to brace myself. My first sight was my wife in a hospital bed, her face covered in bruises ranging from yellow to black because of repeated beatings, the bridge of her nose broken."
During her captivity, Keith Papini said his wife's weight dropped to a mere 87 pounds and her body was covered "with multi colored bruises, severe burns, red rashes, and chain markings."
He revealed when Sherri Papini was tossed from the car she had "chain around her waist, attached to her wrists and a bag over her head."
Keith Papini reported Sherri missing after she didn't show up to pick their two children up from day care on Nov. 2. Her cellphone and headphones were found near where she was last seen. Family had feared an abduction and described Papini as a "super mom" who would never abandon her children.
Police have received more than 400 tips in the case, but Papini's release was not the result of a $100,000 reward that was offered.
Anyone with information can call 530-245-6540 or the Major Crimes Unit 530-245-6135. Tips can also be submitted at mcu@co.shasta.ca.us.
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