Associated PressAssociated Press
FILE - In this Nov. 10, 2016, file photo, a "missing" sign for Mountain Gate, Calif., resident Sherri Papini, is seen along Sunrise Drive, near the location where the mom of two is believed to have gone missing while on an afternoon jog. Papini, whose disappearance and mysterious reappearance set off a frantic three-week search more than five years earlier, was arrested Thursday, March 3, 2022, on charges of lying to federal agents about being kidnapped and defrauding the state's victim compensation board of $30,000. (Andrew Seng/The Sacramento Bee via AP, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

California's capital city is called SACRAMENTO. A Northern California woman whose disappearance and mysterious reappearance set off a frantic three-week search more than five years ago was arrested Thursday on charges of lying to federal agents about being kidnapped and defrauding the state's victim compensation board of $30,000.

After weeks of searching in California and several nearby states, a woman with injuries including a broken nose and a brand name brand name brand on her right shoulder was found on Thanksgiving Day in 2016

She had been reported missing. She told authorities that she had been kidnapped at gun point by two Hispanic women and that she provided descriptions to an FBI sketch artist.

She was staying with a former boyfriend 600 miles away from her home in Orange County, and she hurt herself to back up her false statements.

When a young mother went missing in broad daylight, the community was filled with fear and concern.

Papini does not have an attorney yet because she was just arrested. Her first court appearance is not yet set.

She lied about the kidnapping when she was interviewed by a federal agent and a sheriff's detective. She was warned that it was a crime to lie to a federal agent after they showed her evidence that she had not been kidnapped.

She made false statements, according to the charges.

She was paid more than $30,000 by the California Victim's Compensation Board because of the false story. She received money for her therapist's visits and for the ambulance ride to the hospital after she surfaced.

She faces a mail fraud charge related to the reimbursement requests that carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, while lying to a federal officer has a maximum five-year sentence.

Everyone involved in the investigation wanted to find out who was responsible for the death of Papini.

He said that the 22-day search and five-year investigation caused the general public to be afraid of their own safety.

Before she vanished, Papini was jogging near her home. Her husband went searching for her after she failed to pick up their children from day care.

He passed a lie detector test. They cleared a Detroit man they said Papini had planned to meet.

Papini had a broken nose and was wearing a chain restraint around her waist when she was found. Her blonde hair had been cut to shoulder length and she had a burn on her right shoulder, authorities said at the time.

She had both male and female genetic material on her. According to a court filing, the former boyfriend was the result of the DNA.

She was a stay-at- home mom and her husband worked at Best Buy. The family was not wealthy and there was never a demand for a ransom.

Sean Ragan, special agent in charge of the FBI's Sacramento Field Office, said that they are relieved that the community is not at risk of being kidnapped.

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