Sherri Papini invented a wild kidnapping hoax. The true story is even stranger

Sherri Papini disappeared from her Northern California neighborhood in November 2016, but she made it home in time for Thanksgiving.

Missing for 22 days, Papini reappeared bruised, branded and emaciated. Her blond hair was sloppily cut. She claimed two Latinas had kidnapped her at gunpoint and held her captive before having a sudden change of heart and releasing her.

Papini could not immediately recall many details from the ordeal and initially refused to talk with police. But less than a year after his wife returned home, Keith Papini contacted a federal agent. It was March 2017. His wife had had a breakthrough; she remembered that the room where she was held had orange carpet.

More details about her ordeal came about during therapy sessions. Her husband relayed the information to investigators, according to court documents that were filed during the race to find Papini's kidnappers.

But nearly six years after she disappeared, federal prosecutors said none of it was real. They said Papini had fabricated the entire crime, down to the minute details of the room where she had allegedly been held.

She continued to lie about the incident even when confronted with the evidence by investigators. Until finally, in April, Papini pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents and mail fraud.