Sherri Papini, the mother of two who was abducted in early November only to be found on Thanksgiving Day, was spotted at her home last week.
The New York Post, in a move derided by some commentators as sleazy, published photos of Papini, 34, and her husband returning to their home outside of Redding, California, last week.
She was “seen stepping outside her home Saturday in a white jacket with her husband, Keith, and two small children,” The Post reported. She and husband Keith walked inside the garage, and Sherri appeared with a red dish with water---likely for their pets.
Her head was concealed with a hat as she left the house. Reports said that Sherri’s hair was chopped off while she was in captivity.
The New York Post and the Daily Mail. which also posted images of Papini last week, were derided for treating the allegedly abused woman like a tabloid celebrity. “Leave them alone,” one person wrote. “For goodness sakes, leave this poor woman alone!” added another.
“They left their home to escape the media scrutiny. They moved to an undisclosed location for a reason. Not everyone wants to be famous. And yet the vapid, immoral, disgusting media keep following them around and stalking them for that ‘one good pic,’” added another.
Police said that Sherri has claimed she was held at gunpoint by two Hispanic women in a dark SUV as she was jogging near her rural home on Nov. 2. After pleas to the public from various neighbors and others, she appeared on the side of a road about 150 miles south of where she was abducted three weeks later.
Shasta County Sheriff Bosenko said that Sherri Papani flagged down a passing motorist despite her hands being bound. Responding California Highway Patrol officers reported that she was chained to a heavy object, but authorities have not elaborated on the nature of her restraints, AP reported
Bosenko said that the mother was “very emotional” and battered when found. He said she was treated and released from an area hospital, where her husband was “at her side.”
The sheriff had declined to discuss details of Papani’s injuries.
Police said that she was tortured, starved, and branded. But other details about the case are not clear.
Since then, authorities have released few details of the case, citing the “critical and active investigation.”
