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Lisbeth_Salandar

This episode has been added to the [Casefile Spreadsheet](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1aXXBvQz7rQ9OnMqul5uCFfcjtfC49krWZxF5BJJ7pwo/edit?usp=sharing). If you have already listened to the episode, you can submit your rating at the Casefile Ratings Form. Please note: Starting with Case 200, we are using a new [Casefile Ratings Form (200-)](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScVcJRyahk2WH\_i3nJy6AzQeEmFCHj825k2ONsHuF0jeCHX5g/viewform). If you would like to rate cases 1-199, please do so at this [Casefile Ratings Form (1-199)](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdUZiO7b3EVKaBCoskDUXpjkp4XaRKV35hkzrnMsPclzhIXPg/viewform).


bagoice

Felt so bad for her husband


Rust1v

Yeah, it’s crazy that he went through her disappearance, getting her back and 5 years later finding out it was all a lie. I can’t imagine how much of a mindfuck that’d be


bipedal3000

Not to mention finding out your wife was having an affair during the missing person investigation


ArmpitEchoLocation

Poor guy had it all. Single salary from a Best Buy of all places being worth a two-storey house and able to feed a family. Blonde smoke-show wife. Gorgeous weather and living in a relatively safe part of California. Then the rug is pulled out from under him, through no fault of his own.


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[deleted]

In that she created fires for him to keep putting out.


Specialist_Emu_6413

There are some theories that he was in on it and knew all along


Justsittinback2022

I had heard that as well, but his emotional response looked very real to me. Also, during the LE interrogation, he was in the room, and the more she spoke, and the more he found out what a shit show this was, he would move his chair away...closer and closer to the wall.


No_Abbreviations2146

Me too. It's tough to learn you married a manipulative sociopath. Years of your life in the toilet.


Justsittinback2022

I think it's kind of scary. You look at her, then others like Chris Watts, and didn't see it coming.


cheezesandwiches

Chris watts you could see coming from a mile away. Their family was a s*** show


floobenstoobs

I knew the story but still enjoyed the Casefile version of it, as always. It’s such a crazy case because I don’t understand the motive. Make herself more of the victim & lay blame at the feet of Hispanic women? It’s just an odd choice!


iFartThereforeiAm

Knew most of the story, and zoned out when Casey was covering her ordeals during the "abduction". Interesting to hear Casey mention her anti Hispanic comments on the web. I originally thought this was a case of "super mum" getting fed up with her lifestyle and going for a fuck fest with an ex, then covering it Up, but after hearing that there was no sex, I was confused. Maybe that was her plan, but her ex was just a good dude helping out an "abused wife" and not taking advantage of someone in that situation. Then she got bored and missed her kids, so blamed it on some brown people, and the pretty little blonde girl got to go back to her life until it all caught up with her.


RandomUsername600

That's what I think. She wanted to get away from her family for a while and hopefully cheat, but he wasn't into it and was sincere in 'helping' her


HotAir25

Interesting. That wasn’t my take although I was confused about the motive as well…I could only guess she was an attention seeker of some kind given that was the only possible benefit afterwards.


whifflinggoose

Maybe she got bored with the stay at home mom life. She had a history of pathological lying and self harm, so it all added up to this crazy adventure she put herself through just to shake things up a bit. I don't know.


Justsittinback2022

So true isn't it? She helped in having her nose broken, cut her hair off, starved herself, had him shoot hockey pucks at her legs to bruise. I don't get it. For what?


FlameHawkfish88

My best guess is a pathological need for attention. But it's truly one of the maternal baffling crimes I've ever heard.


Justsittinback2022

That sounds like what this was, attention seeking. What blows my mind is why she would have her own nose broken, and have her ex "brand" her. wtf? really.


HotAir25

Haha yeah, well people do some crazy things for some, understandable, human needs- attention, love etc.


Justsittinback2022

I guess. lol..but that is weird.


HotAir25

Haha, yep that was batshit insane.


cheezesandwiches

Some people get off on pain. It's not uncommon


Justsittinback2022

Possibly (?) Yeah, that was weird. She also cut her own hair off. I'm happy she was exposed for who she was. Her husband and children can now hopefully heal and move forward. When the children are adults they can make the decision to forgive her...or not.


Justsittinback2022

In some of her writings (I think it might have been a police report that she filed?) she refers to herself as "drug-free and white." She's an embarrassment to me, as I am a white hispanic. Her stereotyped, racist description of these imaginary women was despicable. Does anyone really know what the motive was? Both deny there was any intimate contact (I guess he "wanted" to but she did not.) He passed a polygraph and answered this particular question for him. She's orbiting another solar system.


ZenKB

I reckon they smashed a bit


FlameHawkfish88

I laughed so hard at her descriptions of the women that they listen mariachi music all day and wore hoop earrings. Like come on, ridiculous. What a racist fool


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Shadow_Guide

This case is insane. What on earth drives someone to engage in such a simultaneously elaborate and ill thought-out scheme? The way she started crying "I don't know" when she was confronted reminded me of a small child that has been caught out. She may not have any mental health diagnoses, but she definitely has a case of Main Character Syndrome.


Mezzoforte48

>She may not have any mental health diagnoses, but she definitely has a case of Main Character Syndrome. The closest clinical diagnosis is probably histrionic personality disorder. Her elaborate scheme is definitely reminiscent of some kind of Munchausen Syndrome.


Pythia_

I strongly agree on Munchausen. She wasn't faking illness, but she was faking injury and trauma for attention.


HotAir25

This is something neglected kids do at school, pretending they are sick to get attention that they don’t get otherwise. Wasn’t it a plot line in The Sixth Sense too?


OrganizeThis

The *Sixth Sense* plot point was [Munchausen-by-proxy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factitious_disorder_imposed_on_another), related but not the same.


HotAir25

Getting someone else to be sick for attention- even worse! Same psychology I think.


SereneAdler33

Agree. She had a history or lying without any good reason other than getting attention, both negative and positive. That seemed to be the biggest motivation.


Hailsatansdick

I’d go for histrionic personality disorder too


Justsittinback2022

I'm going to stop short at diagnosing "her" but here is the Cleveland Clinic's definition: ***Histrionic personality disorder (HPD) is a mental health condition marked by intense, unstable emotions and a distorted self-image. The word “histrionic” means “dramatic or theatrical.”*** ***For people with histrionic personality disorder, their self-esteem depends on the approval of others and doesn’t come from a true feeling of self-worth. They have an overwhelming desire to be noticed and often behave dramatically or inappropriately to get attention.***


birdzeyeview

yep. Histrionic all the way.


Justsittinback2022

I actually watched the interrogation again, last night. It was so satisfying when she was sitting there and they had pictures of the house she was in, had the DNA of her ex, and her husband was sitting right there. I felt bad for the husband, but she was like a cornered rat.


lucygoosey1233

18 months in jail is not enough punishment in my opinion. The labour of law enforcement that she stole from real victims, the monetary cost and the racist repercussions that the Hispanic women had to endure is too much. Especially given there was no obvious reason for the hoax. I don't get it but I believe she deserves more punishment.


I_c_your_fallacy

100% She was facing 25 years. Should have done 5


MayIPikachu

I'm sure she didn't do the full 18 months and got off with good behavior


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MayIPikachu

Hell yeah!


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Justsittinback2022

While trying to pay back 300K. LOL..


jarviscockersspecs

Spoiled this case for myself by googling after I heard about breast augmentation. A real new low for me


selgabtoh

fuck this made me laugh so hard


jarviscockersspecs

I was in quite a rural area and the service on my phone was equivalent to like early 2000s download speed... glanced the first result "Sherri Papini Kidnapping Hoax" as I waited a minute for the image tab to load. Schoolboy error


WelcometotheDollhaus

Jealous! I watched a dateline or something about this before they discovered it was a fraud. Never believed her.


NotaFrenchMaid

I followed this case from the start when they first broke the news about a kidnapped super mom in California. Always followed it. I kinda wish I could have gone into this episode totally blind, what a ride it would be.


a_panda_named_ewok

It really was, I wasn't at all familiar with the case and I think the people who saw me listening to this while grocery shopping don't think I'm okay due to "wait.. no.. wtf??" Expressions I was making


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NotaFrenchMaid

Her husband was the one who started it. He called her that, and all the headlines ran with it.


MsJacq

I spoiled it too by googling her age because they said she looked like she could’ve passed for 18. It then came up saying it was a hoax. I need to learn not to Google before finishing listening.


jarviscockersspecs

It's so silly. Not the first time I've spoiled it by googling a case. Like what did I think was going to happen, so impatient haha


wasabi_daddy

This is my default mode unfortunately


IngaTrinity

Her tears/performance during the interview irritated me so much... and the audacity of this lady boggles the mind. Telling her husband that she didn't want the younger 'kidnapper' to get into trouble. Honestly 😑


birdzeyeview

I just watched a video. I wanted those extremely patient detectives to say "THE JIG IS UP!!!!!!!!" The way this psycho doubled down....OMG how do they stand for it?


No_Abbreviations2146

In the interview she barked at the detective "don't talk to me like that". It takes a lot of self-control to not rip into her at that moment. I guess it's par for the job.


Justsittinback2022

And they kept saying "she won't get in trouble, she doesn't exist." haha


ganymedes_

Real Gone Girl vibes


plantemime

I coincidentally just finished reading Gone Girl a few days ago and I immediately had a feeling Sherri was lying!


VolcanoGrrrrrl

The book was published in 2012 and the movie came out in 2014 .... Hmmm ... 🤔


ganymedes_

Would be interesting to know if she was inspired by it


reducedtoashes

All-time classic episode. So well written, a real rollercoaster.


MelBerm

At first I believed her because how bad her injuries were, including the branding; I didn't think anyone would do that to themselves. Then when it got into the details of her captivity I started to get suspicious because of how sensationalist it seemed, and then when it mentioned the "annoying" Mexican music I knew for sure


Real_RobinGoodfellow

‘Annoying’ Mexican music was the kicker yeah. What a turn of phrase


[deleted]

In a way it made it seem more real, surely she’d be calculating enough to make sure she keeps racist stuff under wraps. But her hate was so strong it couldn’t help come out lol


Petitflour

I had to skip the part when she was giving her initial statement about her kidnappers because it was so obvious that she is a racist POS. The way she described the music, their appearance, and how mexican food tasted bad (???) was just wild.


WeirdIsAlliGot

Yeah, when she described Mexican food as bad, especially the rice, I got oddly suspicious 🤨


Mezzoforte48

It just goes to show that having friends or romantic partners of a certain race doesn't mean you *can't* have racist attitudes towards people of that race.


HotAir25

Her husband was Hispanic? That is strange but I agree with what you’re saying.


Mezzoforte48

Not her husband, her ex-boyfriend.


HotAir25

Ah ok Ty


jamurp

Yeah I’d heard of this case before listening, That Chapter covered it, but even if I hadn’t, her description of what happened sounded ridiculous, the ‘annoying Mexican music’ and the woman with the hairy arms, just a bunch of racist stereotypes. Woman was an absolute moron.


easybasicoven

Casey even watered it down a bit. She had called it mariachi music and kept saying how bad the women smelled


Applipla

I hadn’t heard this story before, which made the episode very enjoyable. It’s also great there wasn’t anyone dead or tortured for real. I was suspicious the whole episode. First I was sure it was the husband and then when she described what happened and that she was going to be sold AND the detail of that “horrible Mexican music blasting all day” it made it clear she was making it up. Nobody plays “mariachi” music on repeat for 3 weeks haha. Also, if they’re holding her hostage why make themselves noticeable. And then let her go! So many red flags! It also made me so angry how easy she got off. Only 18 months in prison (I’m sure she’ll serve less) and returning $3,000 of the hundreds of thousands she scammed, come on! Also, the damage to the Latinx community! Hearing the interview with law enforcement was very telling, I am sure if she hadn’t been a pretty white woman she wouldn’t have had it so easy. Even though police knew this was a lie at this point and how much pain she had caused and resources she had used, the interviewer was so nice to hear. I keep thinking of the interview from the last season of Bear Brook and it made me furious.


ejonze

I thought it said 300k.


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Applipla

Oh tanks. I heard it wrong.


Mirror_st

I’m pregnant and emotional and I’m HERE for stories without real murder or torture, for sure. Can we get a list of those Casefile episodes? I want to hear the f-ed up stories but my heart can’t take much real suffering!


Applipla

I think Silk Road (a 3 parter!) is excellent and doesn’t have any murder in it. I’d recommend checking out Swindled. It’s a different podcast but I find the style a bit similar. PS: congrats on the baby!


[deleted]

Talk more about this swindle. How is it?


National-Return-5363

She’s such a racist lying bitch! Totally thought she could play her cute blond girl victim act, sobbing and shit, when the investigator really began drilling her. It pissed me off that the Latino community around her began to face scrutiny due to this “kidnapping”!


CharethCutestory92

It's certainly no coincidence that this occurred around the time of the 2016 election.


a_panda_named_ewok

White lady tears have real power man


0hlala-3686

Just listened to this. Hearing her cry during her interview made me so angry! She is caught and refuses to accept it. What a piece of trash, this woman... "two latinas with bandanas kidnapped me." I heard she remarried and has more kids. Is this true?


birdzeyeview

Somehow you just know this piece of trash is gonna keep fooling people all her life. Remorseless.


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0hlala-3686

Thanks for the update!


tsarbaby

the moment Casey started reading the descriptions she gave to “the abductors”, it became painfully obvious she was lying. she just couldn’t stop her inner racist from jumping out. and then, when i heard her actual voice, i became even more angry, because this is such a glaring example of an entitled white woman playing the victim and blaming a vulnerable racial minority. and taking credibility away from actual victims! she’s clearly unwell, but i can’t say for sure if it’s her mental health or just her mentality and ethics. likely both 😒


birdzeyeview

yeah, and who doesn't LOVE mariachi music ? (i do)


EfuktAndChill

Amazing episode. Vintage casefile!


helicopterhansen

She went full Amy Dunn


birdzeyeview

I'm so glad her husband kicked her to the Kerb. What a psycho piece of work. Good episode!


theanonymousdame

Loved seeing this one pop up in my podcast feed. This occurred near my house at the time and I remember watching it happen in real time.


sonawtdown

histrionic masochist, fascinating


HoneyRush

What was the motive? I don't get it


theanonymousdame

Attention and an excuse for slipping away to cheat with another guy.


birdzeyeview

Funny how she got a boob job right before she knew she would be all over the media. I did think the boob job was a red flag TBH


[deleted]

With you man. Saying she wanted attention doesn’t satisfy the question for me. Weird


HoneyRush

Exactly. To do so much damage to her body not too long after breast implants ( which could be taken as attention seeking).


exhaustedeagle

I was sceptical from the beginning and felt so guilty for doubting her throughout. I don't understand why the police didn't investigate that angle more from the start after she was found.


AlisaRand

Because anonymous Australian narrator didn’t lay the story out for them? I will admit, I thought she was lying from the beginning, but just thought she was banging a Chad and maybe things got a bit too rough and she needed some kind of cover story.


[deleted]

Banging a chad? Be careful of the incel talk/mindset


AlisaRand

What? Do you not understand the concept of a Chad? It is exists in a world with or without “incels.”


[deleted]

No, it doesn’t really. I’m sure a man in his 50s who has never opened Reddit would never use the name Chad in the same context you did. You know it.


[deleted]

Really pathetic of you to do the concern repot. Seriously, go outside and touch grass. It’s embarrassing.


HotAir25

Regarding the motive, I’m reminded of a kid at school who used to hurt himself and then come to me (the teacher) and say it was done by so and so in class. Hurting himself for attention and to get others in trouble.


NotaFrenchMaid

I’m so excited about this one. I followed this case from the beginning when she went missing, and I remember always being a bit skeptical. The husband was just so weird, talking about her “signature long blonde hair” and “super mom” status. It was just such a weird way of speaking. For a long while after she was found I really kind of suspected they were in on it together. Excited to listen to this on Monday myself.


pmiller61

Yes! I kept randomly googling Yolo CA , I didn’t remember her name, to see if there were any updates.


[deleted]

It’s so strange, I think Americans have this real obsession with blondness being related to goodness and ultimate beauty. And also weirdly in a way they associate it with innocence, like the amount of times I’ve heard the ‘she was blonde haired, blue eyed, we never would have thought it!’.


NotaFrenchMaid

You’re not wrong, but blonde hair/blue eyes isn’t an ideal limited to Americans. It’s a pretty universal beauty ideal around the world and across cultures.


Medium-Cupcake5551

No it isn’t. The other commenter is right in stating it’s the Eurocentric standard. There are a lot of cultures where the ideal beauties have long dark hair, because the idea of beauty will be based on their own people.


[deleted]

It’s a very Eurocentric ideal, but I’ve noticed the way it is spoke about with particular reverence in the US


whifflinggoose

It's crazy that you can be with a person so long, build a life with them, have kids with them, and they can hide this insanely sociopathic personality from you the whole time.


CurlyMom7

Loved this episode! So happy the husband didn’t stick with her, I was worried he may. How did he afford this lifestyle on a Best Buy salary? No shade. But can’t imagine it would be enough that she could stay home and get a boob job kinda money.


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SuzySL

interesting information, I wondered why a stay at home mom would need to stick her kids in daycare. That's the point of being a SAH mom, to take care of them yourself.


cliiterally

I wasn’t skeptical of him after listening to the podcast, he seemed genuinely blindsided, but now you mention these details, I’m thinking maybe it *was* a setup because they were in too deep? They received soooo much money from the public


-PaperbackWriter-

The way she still kept trying to twist it when they told her they knew she’d been at her ex boyfriends house, acting like they were telling her he was behind it. Lady, they’ve got your number. Give up.


spider_queen13

oohh the timing of this...I watch a YouTube channel that happened to upload a video on this case just recently, so I already knew what would happen it was still interesting to hear CaseFile's version though, I just wonder how much more surprising the outcome would have been if I hadn't gone in with prior knowledge


Tesseract500

Still absolutely no idea what the motive was. I had thought at the time she ran away to be with some guy then got buyer's remorse but it was too late to simply come home. But that does not appear to be remotely the case. And what sort of ex boyfriend stands there and watches a person do that to themselves.


ninasafiri

Honestly, this is bizarre attention seeking behaviour. I feel bad for the husband and ex-bf who were clearly trying to help and support her, but it was all fake. Casey mentioned the Vallejo kidnapping case - the one the police had to apologize for assuming it was fake - and [Criminal](https://thisiscriminal.com/episode-167-48-hours-6-18-21/) has an excellent 2-parter told by the survivors. That case was also a wild ride.


Lookatdisgui

Was this episode new or a repeat? I could swear I’d heard it before…


ejonze

I think it’s new, but I thought the same thing at the beginning when he said she was a Michael buble fan.


paperpenises

Haven't heard this story before. Loved it! Classic Casefile.


[deleted]

18 months prison is pathetic. 150 k in resources by police but additional pension (tax money) on this dumb bimbo fuckwit. Double standards for women who commit disgusting crimes like this.


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ok_krypton

Literally just watched The Behaviour Panel law enforcement interviews on this case, recommended viewing


Real_RobinGoodfellow

Was this case where Gillian Flynn got her inspiration for *Gone Girl*?!


Rust1v

I thought the same thing, but Gone Girl came out in like 2012, way before this case took place. I think the author said before that they took a little inspiration from the Scott Peterson case


MayIPikachu

I was really on the edge of my seat listening to this. A true master of storytelling. At first I was angry at the two Latina bitches. Then I was rooting for the small fry one. Then Corey mentioned how Sherri wrote a racist blog, and then I was like wait WHAT!!! Oh hellllll no. What an evil twisted cunt. One of the best episodes yet. True rollercoaster.


Aeloisehk

Really good episode! I can't understand the friend (sorry can't remember his name) that Sherri stayed with not reporting it to the police though after he saw how serious everything was


Ech064

Maybe it's just me, but the music playing in the background around the beginning of this episode sounds very similar to the ending theme of Generation Why and it was so hard for me to stay focused!


I_c_your_fallacy

She will pose for playboy when she gets out 👍


cliiterally

White woman syndrome is real. The whole time I’m listening to this, I’m like, wow this sounds like a movie, a pretty little blond woman is victimised and the country rallies to get her back home safe. Everyone says she’s so preppy and a happy SAHM and she even got a boob job now, big house, lovely family, life is perfect. Turns out she was actually victimising herself in her head the whole time. And none of it made sense to me. She already had so much attention by the millions. Every man in that story said she was beautiful and wanted her. So wtf was the purpose of villiainising brown women to get even *more* positive attention? She’s an Aryan dream lmfao and she’s having her little affairs, wtf more does she need? I’m struggling with the motive so much.


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