A woman who was kidnapped and held captive for three weeks after leaving her northern California home to jog was found safe on the side of a rural road bound in restraints, a local sheriff said Friday.
Authorities were looking for two armed women they believe abducted Sherri Papini (34) on 2nd November, Shasta County sheriff Tom Bosenko said in an interview on Good Morning America.
Ms Papini was found around 4.30am on Thanksgiving morning near Interstate 5 and was able to flag down a driver, Mr Bosenko said.
The driver called authorities, who connected the mother of two to her husband by cellphone.
“She was very emotional to be released and hear her husband’s voice and then a few hours later to be reunited with him,” the sheriff said.
Ms Papini was treated at a Sacramento-area hospital for unspecified injuries and released. Officials said they were not aware of a motive for the kidnapping and did not know if Ms Papini knew the women who kidnapped her. She was found about 150 miles south of where she disappeared in Redding.
Investigators have spoken with Ms Papini but hoped to get more information soon in the effort to uncover what had happened over the last three weeks, Mr Bosenko said. They did not have information on where she was kept or if the abduction was planned or impulsive.
“Obviously she was emotional and quite upset, but elated to be freed, and so we were able to get some information from her,” Mr Bosenko said. “Then, in the days following this, we will be following up with her.”
Family members previously called her a “super mom” who would never abandon her family. Her husband reported her missing when she failed to pick up their two young children from daycare, something her family members said was completely out of character, according to the Sacramento Bee.
Her cellphone, headphones and a few strands of hair were found near where she was last seen.
Her husband was cleared as a suspect after passing a polygraph test and allowing the sheriff’s office to search the family’s computers and property with a warrant. Before she was found, he said he was “getting very angry and frustrated” and “scared for my wife”.
Rod Rodriguez III, who identified himself on Facebook as the father-in-law of both Sherri and Keith Ms Papini, her husband, posted a message of gratitude to a local crime watching group on Facebook on Thursday afternoon.
“On behalf of Sherri’s family I want to thank all of you so much for your support and prayers which were answered this morning,” he wrote. “The way the community came together and assisted us is simply astonishing and so appreciated by all of us. I don’t know how we can repay our debt of gratitude to all of you.”
Rodriguez went on to thank law enforcement for working “tirelessly” on the case and said that while the family had no details on the case, they were “joyous” Ms Papini was found alive. “This is a Thanksgiving beyond belief for all of us,” he said.
Police had received more than 400 tips in the case, but Ms Papini’s release was not the result of a $100,000 reward that was offered, Mr Bosenko said.
Ms Papini’s disappearance happened months after three women were murdered in a nine-day period while jogging in broad daylight.
The women's murders happened in Michigan, New York City and Massachusetts and are probably unrelated - but their deaths in typically safe circumstances renewed a conversation about women's safety while running.
A survey released by Runner’s World magazine last week showed that 54 per cent of women at least “sometimes” are concerned they could be physically assaulted or receive unwanted physical contact on a run, compared to 7 per cent of men.
The Guardian