Keith Papini, the husband of Sherri Papini, the California mom who was allegedly abducted earlier this month and was held in captivity for three weeks, came forward to reveal the brutal condition his beloved wife was in the first time he saw her after her release by her captors on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 24. And while Sherri is indeed alive, she’s apparently still suffering due to what her captors did to her.
WATCH: @ABC News Exclusive: Husband of abducted supermom Sherri Papini speaks out: https://t.co/5HnB6uOZ9K https://t.co/MEQmD07ISw
— Good Morning America (@GMA) November 29, 2016
“Nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to see upon my arrival at the hospital, nor the details of the true hell I was about to hear,” Keith said in a statement to Good Morning America on Nov. 29. “My first sight was my wife in a hospital bed, her face covered in bruises ranging from yellow to black because of repeated beatings, the bridge of her nose broken.”
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Keith continued, “She has been branded and I could feel the rise of her scabs under my fingers.” So awful. The father also added that Sherri only weighed 87 pounds when he was first reunited with her — her signature blonde locks had been cut off completely. She was also badly burned, had been branded all over her body, and suffered from intense rashes.
Keith even revealed to GMA that Sherri had been thrown from a vehicle with a chain around her waist that was also attached to her wrists, and a bag over her head. And just one day after Sherri’s return, authorities told ABC News that there was “no reason to disbelieve” her story.
“Sherri was taken from us for 22 days, and suffered incredibly through both intense physical agony and severe mental torture. My reaction was one of extreme happiness and overwhelming nausea as my eyes and hands scanned her body,” he told GMA. “I was filled with so much relief and revulsion at once. My Sherri suffered tremendously and all the visions swirling in your heads of her appearance, I assure you, are not as graphic and gruesome as the reality.”
But despite the police believing the family’s story, some people speculate that the abduction was staged. Keith acknowledged the hoax rumors in his statement, referring to them as “exhausting and disgusting.” “We are not going to allow those people to take away our spirit, love, or rejoice in our girl found alive and home where she belongs. I understand people want the story, pictures, proof that this was not some sort of hoax, plan to gain money, or some fabricated race war. I do not see a purpose in addressing each preposterous lie,” Keith said.
Sherri was first reported missing by Keith on Nov. 2 when she failed to return to their Northern California home after a jog. When she didn’t pick up their children, ages 2 and 4, from daycare that day, Keith began to panic. Twenty-two days later, the blonde mom was discovered beaten and chained on the side of a road in Yolo County, California. It was 4:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day. Authorities are currently searching for two armed Hispanic women as the investigation continues.
While some people fail to see legitimacy in Sherri and Keith’s story, many have shown the couple incredible support and love throughout their trying time. Keith made sure to thank them in his statement. “Thank you to the many incredible humans that have never known Sherri that facilitated in sharing our heartbreak across the globe,” Keith said. “Sherri has always captured my heart and it is no surprise that she has captured the hearts not only through the country, but throughout the world.”
Tell us, HollywoodLifers — are you shocked by what happened to Sherri? Do you think it’s a miracle that she made it back to her family?