Sherri Papini is set to tell Investigation Discovery her side of the story about a 2016 kidnapping hoax that touched off a media firestorm and landed her in prison.
Production is underway for the latest true-crime series unveiled by ID, which doesn’t yet have a title and is scheduled to debut sometime in 2025. The multi-parter is expected to have Papini for the first time explain her sudden vanishing while out for a morning run in her close-knit California community.
That triggered a three-week search by her family and local authorities that made global headlines, before Papini was found on the side of a road, bruised and distraught. Papini claimed she had been kidnapped and held captive at gunpoint by two abusive women, only to leave the authorities with questions around the eight-year saga.
In 2022, Papini was arrested and charged with orchestrating her kidnapping as an elaborate hoax. She eventually reached a plea agreement that sentenced her to 18 months in prison for lying to a federal officer.
ID insists the upcoming docuseries will present the untold story surrounding Papini’s case in her own words.
“Sherri Papini drew worldwide attention when she went missing and then again, when she returned. While many perspectives have been told, there is one point of view that the world hasn’t heard and that is from Sherri herself. Investigation Discovery will present a new side of Sherri Papini’s case — told by her in her own words,” Jason Sarlanis, President of ID, said in a statement on Monday.
The docuseries, produced by Asylum Entertainment Group and Lady Moon Entertainment, will present archival footage, legal documents and court filings, as well as extensive interviews with people close to Papini and the investigation.
Plans for the ID series come as high interest in Papini’s kidnapping hoax remains.
Sherri Papini’s husband Keith Papini took part in Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini, a docuseries from director Michael Beach Nichols that just premiered on Hulu.
Plans for an ID series about Papini follow the crime network having ratings success with Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, a four-part docuseries that made claims about toxic workplaces for child actors and crews on Nickelodeon series that prolific producer Dan Schneider created and ran, as well as with Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter centered on Nick and Aaron Carter.
