Sherri Papini – the mother-of-two who was starved, beaten and “branded” after an alleged abduction by two Hispanic women – was previously reported to police on several occasions by her relatives, according to newly released documents first published by the Sacramento Bee.
The documents show that Papini’s immediate family made several calls to law enforcement about her between 2000 and 2003.
In October 2000, the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call from Sheila Graeff, who said her sister, Sherri, had kicked down her back door while allegedly trying to break into her home.
In the same year, Sherri’s father, Richard Graeff, alleged his daughter “burglarised his residence”.
Mr Graeff has also accused his daughter of making a series of unauthorised withdrawals from his checking account.
While in 2003, Sherri’s mother, Loretta Graeff, called authorities to seek advice because her then-21-year-old daughter was “harming herself and blaming the injuries on [her]”.
Another set of documents show that in the days after Sherri’s disappearance, two officers from the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office travelled to Detroit, Michigan for “investigative purposes”.
“It definitely hurts her credibility,” defence lawyer Mark Reichel told Fox News.
“There’s no drama like family drama, and she may have had some serious drama with her family 13 years earlier.”
He added: “This is very far from over, and it is going to get even more interesting, how can it not?”
Investigators say they were aware of these previous law enforcement calls during their work on the 34-year-old’s kidnapping case.
“This really doesn’t have any bearing on her case,” Lt. Kropholler explained to People, adding, “There is no evidence here that shows this is a hoax or this didn’t occur.”
Sherri is pictured with her husband, Keith. Image via Facebook.
The Papini Family have since slammed the Sacramento Bee for it’s “shameful reporting”, in a statement to ABC News.
“Sherri Papini and her family are the very recent victims of an extremely violent crime that has painfully and dramatically changed the course of their lives forever,” the statement began. “It is shameful that a media outlet [the Sacramento Bee] would intentionally exploit Sherri and Keith Papini and their young children’s trauma for the sole purpose of clickbait and selling papers.”
WATCH: Sherri’s husband has previously spoken out about his wife’s kidnapping. Post continues…
Sherri was out jogging near her home in northern California when she was reportedly snatched. She returned 22 days later, her husband Keith recounting the horrors she’d faced.
Sherri was reportedly held captive in a cell, starved and beaten. She allegedly had broken bones on her face and her head had been shaved.
“My first sight was my wife in a hospital bed. Her face covered in bruises ranging from yellow to black because of her repeated beatings. The bridge of her nose broken,” Keith Papini told Good Morning America in a statement. “She has been branded and I could feel the rise of her scabs under my fingers.”
The story unsurprisingly attracted worldwide attention – with many speculating that it might have been some sort of cult kidnapping, while others believed the entire event to be staged.
