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c a e f l e zip recruiter the smartest way to hire during the winter of 1993 the
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Melbourne suburb of Frankston was terrorized by a vicious serial killer named Paul Dena three decades later Dena
00:01:50
has applied for parole to coincide with danya's bid for parole case File presents is launching a long form series
00:01:58
about the case as a reminder that daa must never be released researched written and hosted by award-winning
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crime writer Vicky Petrus the Frankston murders podcast uncovers new material and new victims stalked by daa in the
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leadup to the killings all 11 episodes of the Frankston murders are available to listen to right now be sure to follow
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the Frankston murders wherever you get your podcasts stay tuned until the end of
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today's episode to hear the trailer and be sure to follow the Frankston murders wherever you get your
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[Music] podcasts our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you
00:02:53
feel at any time you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential
00:02:59
support please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our [Music]
00:03:11
website 34-year-old Sher Pini knew the lyrics to everything by pop singer Michael bé well not only had she chosen
00:03:20
it as her wedding song when marrying the love of her life Keith it was also a great Peacekeeper when
00:03:27
exercising in November 20 16 the Californian mother of two had almost fully healed from a recent breast
00:03:35
augmentation procedure finally feeling well enough to start jogging again Sherry had started
00:03:41
training For an upcoming 5K race still a bit Rusty she was using an app to track
00:03:48
her progress Wednesday November 2 was a clear day with her two young children in
00:03:57
daycare and her husband at work Cherry got dressed in black leggings a pink Nike hoodie and checkered tennis
00:04:05
shoes she had it outside the Pini family lived in reading a small City in Northern
00:04:14
California their home in the rural mountain gate area was surrounded by flat treelined roads and Wide Open
00:04:21
Spaces that provided a pleasant backdrop for a run Sherry connected her earbuds to her
00:04:28
iPhone and opened open her fitness app she pressed play on her wedding song and started jogging down her driveway
00:04:36
[Music] [Music] [Music] later that evening an emergency services operator received a call from sher's
00:05:06
husband Keith pepini he'd just returned home from work and said he was freaking out because his
00:05:13
wife wasn't there officers from the Shasta County Sheriff's Office quickly arrived at the couple's
00:05:21
home Keith explained that it was just after 5:00 p.m. when he pulled into the driveway of his family's two-story home
00:05:29
it was the same house that Keith himself had been raised in with its sprawling backyard leafy
00:05:36
surrounds and a basketball ring in the driveway it was the ideal place to raise a
00:05:42
family Keith approached the front door prepared for the usual warm welcome from his boisterous 4-year-old son and
00:05:49
2-year-old daughter but as he stepped inside it was oddly quiet Sher Pini typically kept the
00:05:59
family on a tight schedule and always let her husband know if anything unexpected had
00:06:04
Arisen but Keith said the last he'd heard from Sherry was around 11:00 a.m. when she texted asking if he was going
00:06:11
to be home for lunch it had been a busy day for Keith who worked at a Best Buy Electronic
00:06:17
store and he'd responded that he wouldn't be able to make it Keith walked through their home
00:06:25
everything appeared as normal except for a half-wrapped present addressed to him
00:06:30
from Sherry and the kids inside was a handmade American flag pillow Ki looked outside sher's car was in the driveway
00:06:42
but there was no sign of her or the kids anywhere he sent Sherry a text but there
00:06:47
was no response he called the children's daycare provider and asked what time Sherry had stopped
00:06:55
by the daycare worker was taken aback Sherry hadn't picked the kids up they were still
00:07:04
there Keith's initial confusion quickly turned to concern he logged in to his find my
00:07:12
iPhone app which was also configured to recognize the location of his wife's device the icon confirmed that sher's
00:07:20
phone was located less than one mile away at the corner of old Oregon Trail and Sunrise
00:07:27
Drive thinking Sherry might have gone for a walk Keith drove to the specified location there was no one
00:07:37
there he called his mother to see if she had spoken to Sher she hadn't Keith tried to remain
00:07:47
calm he told himself that Sherry might have accidentally left her phone on the roof of her car and it had fallen off
00:07:54
during the drive but that didn't explain why she hadn't picked up their kids Sherry was an incredibly dedicated
00:08:04
mother who doed on her children and it was completely out of character for her to leave them in daycare this
00:08:11
late nor did she have any health conditions that could explain a sudden absence Keith got out of the car and
00:08:19
started looking around the intersection housed all the letter boxes for the neighborhood and it
00:08:25
was just 1 and 1/2 miles from the nearest highway other than that it was fairly remote no houses were in the immediate
00:08:35
vicinity and traffic wasn't busy just off the road Keith found sher's iPhone in the
00:08:44
grass it had a crack on the front screen but was still functioning sher's headphones were still
00:08:51
connected and Michael baz everything was playing on repeat wrapped around the headphones
00:08:59
were several strands of long blonde hairir the same color and length as [Music] Sherry's officers visited the location
00:09:12
where sher's phone was found they found no signs that a struggle had taken place similarly a search of the pepin's
00:09:21
home revealed that everything was in order and nothing appeared to have been stolen but there was no evidence to
00:09:28
support the possibility that Sherry had taken off voluntarily her purse and belongings
00:09:34
were all accounted for and she hadn't made any significant withdrawals from her bank
00:09:41
account police questioned whether Sherry could have run away to start a fresh elsewhere Keith vly denied this
00:09:50
possibility he had known Sherry since middle school the two had shared a kiss as teenagers but it wasn't until years
00:09:57
later that they reconnected and a romance blossomed Keith was immediately smitten
00:10:04
with the Sherry a bubbly blue-eyed blonde with a luminous smile they married in 2009 and Sherry
00:10:12
soon left her job as a telecommunications account executive to be a stay-at-home mom it was a position
00:10:19
she thrived in Sherry organized all kinds of projects and activities for her children
00:10:26
while also being a doting wife and homemaker she put great care and attention into
00:10:32
everything she did be it decorating a homemade pie planning a birthday party for her children or maintaining her
00:10:39
physical appearance according to Keith the couple had a very happy marriage they fought
00:10:47
occasionally but no more than any other couple their last argument had been a month prior over something as trivial as
00:10:55
a messy room Keith said there was no way that Sherry would ever voluntarily leave her
00:11:02
children it was a sentiment shared by others who described Sher Pini as a super mom in the leadup to her disappearance
00:11:13
everything had been completely normal Sherry had given no indication that she was making plans to leave or wanted to
00:11:20
escape her responsibilities she had recently taken her children out trick or-treating for
00:11:26
Halloween and was already planning what to cook For an upcoming Thanksgiving dinner a background check revealed no
00:11:35
known history of domestic abuse or any police callouts to the Pen's property in fact Keith's record was
00:11:43
squeaky clean still police had to consider the possibility that Keith was involved with
00:11:50
his wife's disappearance what if he had killed her and then staged a kidnapping to deflect
00:11:57
attention from himself police looked into Keith's movements from Wednesday November 2 and confirmed
00:12:05
that he was at work all day the last reported sighting of Sher Pini occurred around 2: p.m. when a
00:12:15
neighbor saw her jogging there had been no suspicious Vehicles sighted in the area nor had
00:12:21
anyone heard cries for help Sherry was considered to be an alert aware person had someone
00:12:29
approached her sher's loved ones believed she would have put up a fight it therefore seemed more likely
00:12:36
that whoever took her had snuck up unsuspectingly either that or more than one person was
00:12:45
involved a team searched overnight covering a half mile radius from the corner of old Oregon Trail and Sunrise
00:12:52
Drive where sher's phone was found an aerial search was also conducted but nothing of interest was
00:13:01
found the discarded iPhone was the only clue police had to go by the following Day sher's
00:13:10
sister-in-law Suzanne discussed its significance in the Press saying that while it was good to have some sort of
00:13:16
clue it indicated that Sherry had been taken Suzanne said she wouldn't just drop her phone if
00:13:26
she was running away at least it's giving her us some kind of information but we're sick this is a pretty
00:13:33
sickening situation the reading Community was in shock Sherry had no known enemies Keith Pini said there had been
00:13:47
no strange activity such as suspicious calls or emails in the leadup to his wife's
00:13:53
disappearance so who would abduct an innocent mother of two so brazenly in Broad days light just 1 mile from her
00:14:02
home the mountain gate area was considered a safe place to live but like any other Town Reading had skeletons in
00:14:10
its closet back in August 1998 16-year-old terara Smith set out for a jog down old
00:14:18
Oregon Trail and was never seen again while tera's case remained unsolved the people of Reading had never
00:14:27
forgotten it some were quick to point out an eerie coincidence Tera Smith and Sher Pini had
00:14:35
attended the same high school at the same time they also shared a similar look with some noting they could easily
00:14:43
pass for sisters although the pair weren't known to be France and despite 18 years
00:14:51
passing between the two disappearances it did spark some questions was it possible the same
00:14:58
perpetrator had struck again four known sex offenders lived within one mile of the location where
00:15:07
sher's phone was found 50 more lived in the 5 miles Beyond police began looking into each
00:15:15
individual but one by one they were all ruled out meanwhile Keith pinii agreed to
00:15:23
participate in a polygraph test it concluded he was telling the truth when he said he wasn't involved in
00:15:30
his wife's disappearance this along with Keith's confirmed Alibi and the lack of physical
00:15:38
evidence linking him to the crime scene gave police the confidence to conclusively rule him out as a
00:15:45
suspect being publicly cleared provided Keith with little relief he told People magazine that is not where my head has
00:15:56
been this whole time my head has been trying to find my wife police continue to explore all
00:16:05
avenues including the possibility that Sher might have voluntarily run away but as the days passed with no
00:16:13
breakthroughs local residents became consumed by fear they ried behind the Pini family
00:16:20
setting up a GoFundMe account to help with expenses missing person posters were plased around town urging ing people to
00:16:29
be on the lookout for the 34y old at a fence on the corner of old Oregon Trail and Sunrise Drive concerned citizens
00:16:38
hung a bunch of helium balloons with the words bring Sherry home written on them a $50,000 reward for information
00:16:48
was announced the Pini family hired a private investigator who began working on the possibility that Sherry had been
00:16:56
abducted as part of a human trafficking ring the pini's house was only a few miles from the interstate fire freeway
00:17:05
an area known to be used for criminal activity by Mexican cartels a trailer near their house was
00:17:13
also one known drug Den maybe someone frequenting the trailer had spotted Sherry and
00:17:20
recognized her as an easy target police were quick to dispel this Theory victims of sex trafficking are
00:17:29
typically young and childless but as others argued Sherry looked notably young for her
00:17:36
age at 5' 3 in tall with a petite 105 lb frame and long blonde hair some believed
00:17:44
Sherry could pass for 18 had she been targeted at random it was possible the perpetrator had
00:17:51
mistaken her for a much younger woman by November 17 Sher Pini had been missing for 15
00:18:04
days the FBI became involved as the local Rumor Mill swung into overdrive some theorized that Sherry
00:18:13
could have been taken by a stalker what if someone had been watching her movements closely and knew
00:18:20
exactly when she'd be alone on the remote running trail there was also talk of a possible
00:18:27
affair some speculated that Sher could have been involved with a married man whose scorned lover had abducted her as
00:18:34
part of a Revenge plot despite Keith Pini being publicly cleared many members of the public
00:18:43
continued to cast suspicion on [Music] him Keith Pini did his best to hold it together for the sake of his young
00:18:52
children he held on to hopes that Sherry was still alive and being held somewhere
00:18:58
making a teer appeal to his wife on television Keith said if Sherry is listening I want to
00:19:06
say that we are trying we're trying the best we can and I'm so sorry that I'm not there I love
00:19:15
you addressing the perpetrator directly Keith told People magazine I just want her back and I want
00:19:23
her back safe just bring her home please bring her back the sooner the better a wealthy businessman was passing
00:19:36
through Reading when he learned of sher's disappearance and heard Keith's heartfelt please for her safe
00:19:43
return something about the case struck a cord with the man even though he didn't know Sher or
00:19:50
the Pini family the pain they were experiencing seemed unimaginable he began thinking about
00:19:57
ways that he could help help out that's when the idea struck him what about a reverse
00:20:06
Ransom after reaching out to Keith Pini and getting the goahead the businessman who chose to remain anonymous created a
00:20:14
website titled Sherry pen.com he made a bizarre offer to whoever had abducted Sherry return her safely and
00:20:24
receive an undisclosed sixf figure reward with no questions asked the donor wrote I am willing to pay you in
00:20:34
whatever way you can creatively think about where you feel safe and where nothing can be tracked to you I will not
00:20:42
communicate with the police and Sheriff's Department regarding any details about this
00:20:49
offer law enforcement were firmly against this tactic for several reasons for one there still wasn't
00:20:58
enough evidence to unequivocally confirm that Sher Pini had been abducted if she had her kidnapper had
00:21:05
made no attempt to demand any kind of Ransom two releasing an offer like this left the Pini family vulnerable to scam
00:21:16
artists and thirdly financially rewarding someone for their criminal activity only served to encourage future
00:21:26
copycats the anonymous owner was undeterred he hired an independent hostage negotiator named Cameron gamble
00:21:34
to act as his spokesman and gave a deadline of 100 hours writing on his website once I leave town this offer is
00:21:44
off the table public reaction to the offer was mixed some viewed it as a novel way to
00:21:53
help solve missing person cases Skeptics believed it was nothing more than a publicity stunt for Cameron
00:22:00
gamble to promote his hostage negotiation business either way the 100 hour deadline came and went without anyone
00:22:09
coming forward the donor withdrew the controversial reverse Ransom offer but said the unclaimed money would be added
00:22:17
towards the existing $50,000 reward offered by law enforcement by November 23 Sher Pini had
00:22:30
been missing for 3 weeks investigators had chased over 400 leads and executed 20 search warrants to
00:22:38
obtain data relating to cell phone records social media accounts banking information and
00:22:45
emails a check of Sher pini's cell phone revealed she had recently deleted a text
00:22:51
message exchange with a female contact but when police looked into this contact they realized that wasn't a
00:22:58
woman at all Sherry had been conversing with a man from Michigan named Donovan but had
00:23:06
hidden his number under a woman's name the two had been texting between October 29 and November 1 the day before
00:23:16
Sher went missing Donovan had been in San Francisco for a work conference and the
00:23:22
two discussed the possibility of meeting up in Reading however it was a 5-hour Drive
00:23:29
between the two cities which Donovan deemed too far their runev vu didn't eventuate but
00:23:37
for investigators this was a solid lead what if Donovan had decided to swing by reading after
00:23:48
all they obtained Donovan's travel records and confirmed that he had returned to Michigan on November 2 the
00:23:55
day of sher's disappearance investigators flew to Michigan to visit Donovan's apartment while he was at
00:24:03
work they searched the premises but found no sign of Sherry Pini or anything else
00:24:11
incriminating when police arrived at Donovan's work for an interview he seemed shocked according to Donovan he had met
00:24:20
Sher Pini in 2011 when she was in Michigan for a work trip he later told the Sacramento be
00:24:28
that he found her to be quote drop dead gorgeous Donovan said there was something pretty magical about
00:24:37
her sherry made no mention of the fact that she was married and the two had spent the weekend
00:24:45
together over the years they continued to send the occasional flirty message but it never went beyond
00:24:52
that Donovan assumed the recent contact from Sher was due to her seeing his social media post about being in San
00:25:02
Francisco Donovan denied being anywhere near reading on the day Sherry went missing he had data on his cell phone to
00:25:11
prove he was in San Francisco at the time and others were able to confirm his Alibi for investigators this was a major
00:25:21
blow it was back to the drawing board Thursday November 24 was Thanksgiving Day what was typically a
00:25:33
day of celebration for the peni family was now a stark reminder that 22 days had passed with no sign of
00:25:42
Sherry before her disappearance she'd been enthusiastically making plans with her in-laws about the
00:25:49
day she'd intended on making sweet potatoes her children's favorite instead members of the reading
00:25:57
community planned together later in the afternoon to show support for sher's loved
00:26:04
ones Keith peni got up Before Dawn to begin his day he was in the bathroom shaving when
00:26:12
his phone rang on the other line was one of the detectives working on his wife's
00:26:19
case they finally had news Sher Pini had been found [Music] case File will be back shortly thank you
00:26:40
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deliver quality content by 4:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning traffic was already busy on the
00:30:19
Interstate 5 Highway in Yolo County a rural area 140 Mi south of reading as motorists made their way to
00:30:28
celebrate the holiday with friends and family several passes by noticed something strange on the side of the
00:30:35
road through the darkness a panicked looking woman was frantically waving a piece of fabric in the air as though
00:30:42
trying to attract attention unsure what to make of it many continued onwards one woman pulled over a little
00:30:52
further down the highway to call 911 while a truck driver pulled over and addressed the woman
00:30:59
directly in a state of distress she told him her name was Sher Pini and that she
00:31:05
needed an ambulance she was covered in bruises and said that her vision was blurry around her waist was a metal
00:31:15
[Music] chain First Responders arrived promptly and were shocked by what they saw the woman who stood before them was
00:31:25
a severe contrast to the vibrant smiling face that had been plastered on posters
00:31:30
and news bulletins Sher Pini was dressed in dirty gray sweatpants a sweatshirt and
00:31:38
socks her waistlength blonde hair had been crudely hacked to her shoulders and she looked
00:31:45
emaciated she was disoriented having no idea where she was or what day it was there were restraints around her
00:31:54
ankles and zip ties around her wrists one of which was tether to the chain around her
00:32:00
waist it was only upon being transferred to a nearby hospital that the full extent of sher's injuries became
00:32:07
clear her body was covered in bruises in various states of healing some yellow and others black and
00:32:15
blue the bridge of her nose was broken and there were rashes and burns all over her arms and
00:32:21
legs ligature marks were visible on her wrists and ankles she had lost a little over 10B a
00:32:30
significant amount given she only weighed 105 lb when she went missing but the most horrific injury was
00:32:38
on her right shoulder burned into her flesh were a series of undistinguishable letters some
00:32:46
scabbed and others already scarred Sherry had been branded when kith P arrived at the
00:32:58
hospital it was a teary reunion for the couple they hugged each other tightly for 20 minutes as Keith was overcome
00:33:06
with conflicting emotions relief that Sherry had been found alive and revulsion that someone
00:33:13
could do something so horrible Sherry was clearly traumatized and refused to speak to the
00:33:20
police she told Keith that law enforcement had been involved in her abduction and she therefore didn't trust
00:33:27
anyone one instead investigators gave Keith an audio recorder so that he could ask her
00:33:34
questions himself according to Sherry she'd been jogging the old Oregon Trail when a dark
00:33:42
colored SUV drove by and then backed up again two Hispanic women were inside one of them beckoned her over
00:33:52
saying they needed help with something Sherry approached the vehicle but as she got closer one of the women held up a
00:34:00
small gun she demanded that Sher drop her phone and to get into the car reassuring
00:34:07
her we don't want to kill you thinking quickly as she removed her headphones Sherry purposely pulled out
00:34:16
several strands of her hair to leave behind as a clue Sherry got into the vehicle and the
00:34:22
woman put something over her head one of them struck her with something Sherry thought it might have been a
00:34:31
taser from there everything went hazy she tried to stay awake but kept losing Consciousness the next thing she knew
00:34:41
she woke up in a strange room that had its Windows boarded up from the inside there was nothing in the room
00:34:49
except for a bed a dresser and a closet all of her clothes were gone and she'd been redressed in a plain T-shirt
00:34:59
Sher stood on the bed and tried to look out the window only to discover it had also been boarded up from the
00:35:07
outside she attempted to dislodge one of the boards but the two women came in and
00:35:12
caught her in the ACT they yanked her down by her hair and hit her so hard that she saw
00:35:19
Stars when Sherry came to the dresser was gone and the bed was in its place a chain had been tied around her
00:35:28
waist which was bolted to the ceiling and hooked to a metal pole in the closet over the coming days the two
00:35:36
women came and went from the room Sherry was mostly kept locked in the closet she was given a bucket full of
00:35:45
kitty litter to use as a toilet and fed once daily with small portions of bread gritty rice porridge and the occasional
00:35:54
apple or fat off a piece of meat outside her door a speaker blasted what Sher described as quote that really
00:36:03
annoying Mexican music a majority of the time the two women yelled at her in Spanish which Sher didn't understand and
00:36:13
the older of the two occasionally beat her anytime sherry made a sound she was physically
00:36:20
punished she was sometimes burned with heated up kitchen utensils when she AC accidentally made a
00:36:28
clanging noise with her chain one of the women rushed in and cut off her ponytail
00:36:33
threatening I'm going to send it to your mother Sherry wasn't particularly close
00:36:41
with her mother so this comment led her to believe that her captors didn't know her and had taken her at
00:36:48
random when Sherry questioned why they were doing this one of them said we sell you the other added your buyer is a
00:36:59
cop the women read Sher news articles about her disappearance one of them laughed as she
00:37:06
said No One Believes you everyone thinks you ran away guess what the buyer's a cop they're never going to find
00:37:19
you Sherry had no idea what to do she tried to engage with her captors by offering to cook or clean for them them
00:37:27
in the hopes they would give her more information but the women remained tight lipped with sher's limited knowledge of
00:37:35
Spanish words she thought she heard mention of traffic cameras medicine and a delivery
00:37:42
date fearful of what that signified she began making plans to escape at one point sher's captors
00:37:51
forced her into the shower at gunpoint and told her to wash herself as Sher leathered herself with
00:37:58
coconut scentered body wash the women became engaged in a conversation and lowered their
00:38:04
guns recognizing this as an opportunity Sherry jumped on the younger woman and smashed her head into the
00:38:12
toilet she slipped and cut her foot in the process the older woman dragged Sherry
00:38:19
back to her room by her hair forcing an unknown substance down her throat when sherry made another ATT
00:38:27
atted to escape the women tied her to a table and slashed her t-shirt off from behind already in agony from her healing
00:38:36
breast implants that's when the women branded her sher's captors told her this is what
00:38:44
her buyer wanted along with the immense pain Sherry heard her skin make a sizzling
00:38:51
popping sound too scared to make a noise she kept her eyes clenched Sharp until it
00:38:58
was over while it was unclear what the word said Sherry believed it said Exodus which she described as a really
00:39:07
confusing Bible passage to maintain her strength Insanity Sher spent some of her spare
00:39:15
time doing yoga she scratched away at the drywall inside the closet in the hopes she might
00:39:22
chip a big enough hole to escape she thought about her children constantly over time Sherry sensed that the younger
00:39:32
of her captiv was starting to soften sometimes when the older woman beat Sherry the younger one would drag
00:39:39
her off then one day Sherry was sitting on the bed when she heard a gunshot terrified she hid in the
00:39:49
closet it sounded like someone was gathering up keys to leave the house then came the blasting Mar Archie
00:39:59
music Sherry started screaming and yanking on her chains until she eventually fell
00:40:05
asleep when she woke up the younger of her captiv came in and gave her a plate of
00:40:11
food Sherry ate it but soon started to feel nauseous and dizzy she could barely stand the younger cap came back in and
00:40:22
hid Sherry in the face she had laid a fresh sweatsuit out on the the bed and insinuated that Sher get dressed into it
00:40:31
Sherry did so after which the woman hid her again and placed something over her head so that she couldn't
00:40:39
see Sherry was then LED outside and into a vehicle sharp restraints were secured
00:40:46
around her ankles and wrists one of which was secured to the vehicle Sherry didn't know who else was
00:40:53
in the car there were no voices only the sound of the radio Sherry tried to keep track of how
00:41:02
far they drove by counting the number of songs but she kept falling asleep eventually the car
00:41:11
stopped the younger captor ordered Sherry to get out Sherry was terrified she started
00:41:19
crying the woman cut her restraints pushed her out the door and drove off Sherry removed her head covering
00:41:33
realizing it was a pillow case she looked around at her rural surroundings and had no idea where she was she began
00:41:41
to run eventually she came to a building but it was locked so she started running
00:41:48
down the dark Highway waving the pillowcase and screaming at the top of her lungs she screamed so hard that she
00:41:56
could taste blood in the the back of her throat car after car sped past without stopping Sherry wondered if they could
00:42:05
see her restraints and were deterred from stopping because they thought she was an escaped
00:42:11
prisoner she tried to hide them under her clothes until a trucker eventually stopped safe in hospital with her
00:42:20
husband Sherry was thoroughly examined she was adamant that she hadn't endured any form of sexual
00:42:28
sold this was supported by medical exams toxicology tests came up clean for Narcotics ruling out the possibility
00:42:37
that Sher had been drugged her clothing was sent off for DNA testing on Thanksgiving afternoon
00:42:48
members of the reading Community gathered in Sherry's honor as plant unaware that she'd been found
00:42:55
alive when the good news was revealed a few hours later sher's Sister Sheila thanked their supporters
00:43:03
saying everyone's tireless efforts have made our family whole again this [Music]
00:43:13
Thanksgiving news of sher's Escape gripped the nation the public were hungry for details but the Pini family
00:43:21
requested privacy during this time of healing over the coming days investigators gently probed Sher for any
00:43:29
more details she could remember that might help them catch her abductors while Sherry tried to keep
00:43:37
things light-hearted her trauma was obvious she hugged her knees to her chest her eyes mostly cast downward as
00:43:46
she did her best to provide every possible piece of information the two women had worn masks
00:43:54
over the bottom halves of their faces so Sher never got a complete look at them but she remembered other
00:44:01
details the older of the pair had a long straight dark hair that was showing signs of
00:44:06
gray she had dark eyes and thick bushy eyebrows she was roughly 3 in taller than Sherry heavy said and spoke with a
00:44:16
raspy voice her breath smelted like sweetened coffee the younger woman had dark curly
00:44:25
hair that had been smooth with product thin over tweezed eyebrows and wore large hoop
00:44:32
earrings she was a bit shorter than Sherry with a slightly muscular build and hairy
00:44:39
arms Sherry struggled to record details about the clothing either of the women had been wearing other than the fact
00:44:46
they always wore leather gloves the pair fed often and Sherry regularly overheard the older woman hit
00:44:54
the younger one as for the location where she was held Sherry had no idea she sometimes heard birds outside
00:45:06
but because of the speaker outside her door she never heard anything else it was always cold possibly raining
00:45:14
every night and she could smell a fireplace anytime she made a noise her captors came in and took her blankets
00:45:22
away as punishment the bathroom had a unique look layout which Sherry was able to
00:45:28
describe in detail right down to a crack in the shower tile she never saw the outside of the
00:45:41
building to maintain the Integrity of the investigation police made the Strategic decision to withhold details
00:45:48
about sher's time in captivity including The Branding but this silence led to speculation from cynic that the whole
00:45:57
kidnapping had been a hoax if the police were so vocal about seeking answers when Sherry went missing
00:46:04
why go quiet when she was returned safely was it possible the whole thing had been a publicity stump by Cameron
00:46:12
gamble the hostage negotiator after all or perhaps Keith and Sherry had crafted the elaborate plot for financial
00:46:20
gain and fame investigators had considered this possibility ility but unless they had
00:46:28
evidence to prove otherwise they had no reason to treat the abduction as anything other than a legitimate
00:46:35
crime it was a lesson learned the hard way by valo police just 180 Mi south of reading the year before Sher pini's
00:46:45
abduction a valo man named Aaron Quinn called police to report a home invasion he claimed that a gunman had
00:46:53
broken into his home and forced him and his girlfriend to Denise huskins to drink tea laced with sleeping
00:47:01
pills they were blindfolded and tied up in the closet where the gunman played a pre-recorded
00:47:08
message it explained that the couple had been targeted by a criminal group who were going to hold Denise captive unless
00:47:15
Aaron paid an $85,000 Ransom within 48 Hours when Aaron woke up hours later Denise was gone he reported Ed the
00:47:27
incident to police but the story was so outlandish that they thought he was making it
00:47:33
up when Denise resurfaced 2 Days Later claiming to have been held captive and raped both law enforcement and the media
00:47:41
palmed it off as a wild hoax 3 months later police were investigating an unrelated home invasion
00:47:49
when they uncovered evidence linking the perpetrator to Denise huskins and Aaron
00:47:54
Quinn it turned out that the couple had been telling the truth the perpetrator a dispar attorney
00:48:03
named Matthew Muer was tried and sentenced to 31 years in prison valo police were forced to
00:48:11
publicly apologize to Denise and Aaron who were awarded a 22 million compensation
00:48:18
payout investigators in the Sher Pini case were determined not to make a similar mistake
00:48:27
Keith Pini released an exclusive statement to national news program Good Morning America to address the rumors
00:48:34
surrounding his wife's case head on he acknowledged the quote double-edged sword that is social
00:48:43
media while modern technology had allowed news of sher's disappearance to spread quickly those same people who
00:48:50
helped spread the word now expected answers instantly and became angry when they didn't get the gore
00:48:58
details Keith said those people should be ashamed of their malicious subhuman behavior we are not going to allow those
00:49:08
people to take away our spirit love or rejoice in our girl found a life and home where she
00:49:15
belongs I do not see a purpose in addressing each Preposterous lie instead may I give you a glimpse of the mixture
00:49:24
of horror and Elation that was my experience of reuniting with the love of my life and mother of our
00:49:32
children Keith went on to provide a harrowing account of sher's ordeal complete with the details of her
00:49:38
injuries including The Branding he remarked nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to see upon my
00:49:47
arrival at the hospital nor the details of the true hell I was about to hear acknowledging the tireless Board of
00:49:57
law enforcement and the public Keith said Thank you to the many incredible humans that have never known Sherry that
00:50:05
facilitated in sharing our heartbreak across the globe Sherry has always captured my
00:50:11
heart and it is no surprise that she has captured Hearts not only through the country but throughout the
00:50:19
[Music] world the following day police held a PR conference to acknowledge Sher pini's
00:50:29
courage they released brief details about her two captors and appealed for anyone with information to come
00:50:37
forward the fact that Sher had overheard the perpetrators talking about a buyer and getting paid gave weight to the
00:50:44
human trafficking Theory maybe the woman had kidnapped Sher at random thinking she was much
00:50:51
younger when they realized she was a 34-year-old mother they didn't know how to proceed hence why they held her
00:50:58
captive for so long and were constantly bickering but if this was the case it would be highly
00:51:07
unusual in the United States white women are rarely abducted for sex trafficking victims usually know their
00:51:16
exploiters who are often tricked into willingly going with them after being promised a better
00:51:21
life perpetrators involved are typically professionals it would be highly unusual for someone
00:51:28
involved in trafficking to let a victim go as it risked exposing the entire ring the fact that Sherry was branded
00:51:38
also raised questions some believed this type of torture was typical for traffickers who
00:51:44
wanted to maintain control over their victim While others questioned why a sex trafficker would want to taint their own
00:51:53
product based on the description that Sher had provided of her time in captivity investigators began working on
00:52:00
the theory that she had been held somewhere in the mountains they obtained cell phone data
00:52:06
from the area where Sherry was abducted and the area where she was found on the lookout for any numbers that pinged off
00:52:13
phone towers at both locations as reported by the Sacramento B six numbers came up among them was a 21-year-old woman
00:52:27
police visited her home discovering that she had dark hair like sher's young captor but she wasn't Latina and had an
00:52:36
alibi for the abduction [Music] period tip offs continued to come in from the public one woman reported
00:52:45
having seen a pair of Latino women who matched the suspect descriptions in a Walmart store they were looking at her
00:52:52
and Whispering the caller had blonde hair similar to Sherry Pini she was scared that she might be
00:53:03
[Music] next by December 3 Sherry Pini had been home for a week and a half hundreds of
00:53:12
reading locals gathered to celebrate her safe return and stand in solidarity with
00:53:17
their Community wearing pink in Cherry's honor they posed for a photograph underneath a
00:53:23
large pink Banner that read welcome home despite this warm response Sher struggled in the aftermath of her
00:53:34
abduction while her physical injuries eventually healed the emotional scars remained she became afraid of people
00:53:42
particularly strangers and wanted Keith by her side at all times Neighbors noted that she rarely
00:53:49
left the house and her children hardly ever played out in the yard Sherry began extensive therapy to
00:53:57
treat post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety she met with investigators from
00:54:03
time to time and officers checked in on the penis weekly but sher's recollection
00:54:08
of the events became hazy and she was unable to provide any new insights the search for her abductors
00:54:16
continued but police failed to come up with any solid leads a year went by with no major
00:54:25
breakthroughs to Mark the upcoming anniversary a police artist worked with Sherry to
00:54:31
create composite sketches of her two capts bandanas covering the bottom half of their
00:54:37
faces these were released to the public along with the first to date out account
00:54:42
of sher's experience in captivity Keith peni released a statement on his family's behalf
00:54:51
thanking their supporters and requesting privacy as his wife continued to heal and focused on putting their lives back
00:55:02
together but for all the support Sherry still had her fair share of critics following her safe return an
00:55:10
online blog post had surfaced from 2007 that had some people asking questions the post had originally
00:55:19
appeared on a white supremacy website called Skin heads.com it detailed the author's adolescent
00:55:27
years during which her High School experience suffered because she was quote defending myself against the
00:55:35
Latinos the chief problem was that I was drug-free white and proud of my blood and
00:55:42
Heritage this really irked a group of Latino girls who would constantly Rag and attack
00:55:49
me the author detailed an incident at one of her volleyball games one of the Latina girls had a parent ly called her
00:55:57
dad a Nati which enraged the teen and provoked her to launch an attack it took three full-grown men to pull her
00:56:06
off by then she had broken the nose of one of her tormentors the author used this event to
00:56:13
explain why girls shouldn't fight stating we are just too fragile and break easily she spoke proudly of her German
00:56:23
Heritage concluding being white is more than just being aware of my skin but of standing behind
00:56:30
skin heads who are always around in spirit as well and having Pride for my country the author was credited as Sher
00:56:41
graph Sherry pini's maiden [Music] name an old account on social network site Pinterest also surfaced that was
00:56:54
attributed to a user named Sher Pini the user had posted several images with pro-white and racist
00:57:03
undertones sher's critics immediately started speculating that she had made up the story of her kidnapping to ignite a
00:57:10
race war Latinos only made up 10% of Shasta County's population and since sher's
00:57:18
kidnapping the minority group had faced ongoing scrutiny according to the Sacramento B
00:57:25
local women of Latin American descent were advised not to go out in peirs avoid driving dark colored SUVs and
00:57:33
avoid going out in public unless they had a witness sher's loved ones firmly denied
00:57:41
the allegations that she had written the blog post Sherry had been briefly married in 2007 her ex-husband with whom
00:57:49
she had an amicable divorce told reporters that Sherry wasn't racist and had a very diverse group of friends
00:57:57
he said the blog had been maliciously written by someone who hated Sher in high school and that she had
00:58:03
unsuccessfully attempted to have it removed at the time when questioned by investigators
00:58:11
Sherry described the blog post as awful she confirmed that she'd hired a lawyer to try and have it taken
00:58:19
down investigators looked into the claims that Sher had written the post herself but were unable bble to
00:58:26
ascertain its true origin regardless of who wrote it they confirmed too much time had passed for
00:58:34
it to be of any relevance to sher's current kidnapping case police openly acknowledged that
00:58:41
there were puzzling details about Sherry's abduction but stated they had no reason to doubt Sherry's
00:58:49
story on the 1-year anniversary of the abduction one of the lead investigators told People magazine
00:58:57
there is no information that would indicate it's not true I have invested almost a year of my
00:59:03
career in this case and we will continue on until we get some answers and hopefully get some people in custody
00:59:20
soon case File will be back shortly thank you for supporting us by listening to this episode
00:59:30
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doors unanswered questions were stacking up for starters a motive still hadn't been established
01:01:56
Sher pini's captors had never demanded a ransom and there was no conclusive evidence to support the human
01:02:02
trafficking Theory so why had this unassuming mother been targeted her abductors were seemingly
01:02:11
part of a wider network but there had been no other recent crimes that fit the same
01:02:16
bill it therefore seemed strange that they hadn't struck again elsewhere over time other small Lincoln
01:02:25
consistencies had started to mount Sherry had told investigators that she had cut her foot during an
01:02:32
altercation with her younger captor yet there had been no evidence of such a cut
01:02:37
when she was first taken to hospital she'd also given conflicting accounts of when The Branding had
01:02:44
happened first saying it happened early on and then changing her story and saying it happened
01:02:50
later Sherry had initially told investigators that she was forced to wear an adult diaper but never mentioned
01:02:57
this detail again Sher said that when she first woke up in captivity her hands had been tied
01:03:05
behind her back with the zip ties she explained that she'd managed to chew through the bindings but had never
01:03:12
explained how she managed to get her hands from behind her back while investigators knew it was
01:03:18
entirely possible that sher's memory had been distorted by trauma the inconsistencies raised some major red
01:03:25
flag perhaps most perplexing was the fact that when Cherry was found safe her clothing was sent off for DNA
01:03:35
testing traces of unknown male DNA was found on both her underwear and sweatpants but there was no female
01:03:44
DNA investigators ran the profile through the National codus Database in which DNA profiles from crime scenes and
01:03:52
known offenders are stored there were no m es but if Sherry had been taken by two
01:04:00
women with no one else involved this didn't explain the DNA discrepancy investigators learned early
01:04:11
on that Sherry had a history of lying several of Sherry's friends had described her as a crazy and wild youth
01:04:19
who often ran away and made up stories including that she suffered from a heart condition
01:04:26
an ex-boyfriend described her as attention hungry he said Sherry fabricated stories
01:04:33
of being abused by her family and even accused him of abuse once their relationship
01:04:39
ended the director of a youth program that Sherry had once participated in said that Sherry was
01:04:46
quote good at creating different realities for people so that they would see what she wanted them to see which
01:04:53
got her really good attention sher's first marriage had been one of convenience her first husband was in the
01:05:02
military and had agreed to marry Sher so she could take advantage of his health insurance while Sherry had told her
01:05:10
second husband Keith this was due to a heart murmur she had told her first husband it was due to complications from
01:05:17
regular egg donation Sherry had also told her first husband that her family was abusive it it was only after their
01:05:26
divorce that mutual friends warned him that she had a history of lying investigations conducted by the
01:05:35
Sacramento B newspaper revealed that in 2003 sher's mother Loretta had called the local sheriff's department to Lodge
01:05:42
an incident report Loretta claimed that her daughter was harming herself and then blaming the
01:05:48
injuries on Loretta a deputy had provided Loretta with advice but no further action with
01:05:55
was [Music] taken this wasn't the only time a member of sher's family had reported her to the
01:06:02
police in 2000 sher's Father Richard accused her of burglarizing his home that same Year sher's sister Sheila had
01:06:12
her back door vandalized when she reported it to the police she named Sherry as a
01:06:19
suspect 3 years later Richard alleged that Sherry stole money from his checking account
01:06:31
although investigators had been aware of these issues it didn't prove that Sher was lying about her
01:06:37
kidnapping the hunt to find her abductors continued but the years passed by with no
01:06:44
arrest by 2020 the case had long faded from the headlines but it hadn't been forgotten by the reading Community who
01:06:52
still wanted answers skepticism remained RI while fears that kidnappers were on the loose
01:06:59
continued to haunt locals some of whom had been too scared to let their young daughters Walk Alone ever since sher's
01:07:07
attack Sherry continued to work intermittently with the police whenever she remembered something new that could
01:07:14
help with the investigation she or her husband would call to make a report Sherry looked online to find
01:07:21
photos of anything that shared similarities to details from her abduction from the hairlines of her
01:07:27
kidnappers to the coffee table she was tied to during her branding on August 13 2020 Sherry and
01:07:36
Keith Pini met with two detectives from the Shasta County Sheriff's Department who had been working the case from the
01:07:43
beginning they had some photos of potential suspects they wanted to show Sher she studied them carefully looking
01:07:51
at them from different angles and honing in on small features just like I'm trying not to get my hopes
01:08:08
up I know I would say right right here is what's drawing me to this photo so on Photo number five smart is this is the
01:08:20
first one we showed you this the second one we showed you so back number two but like you were saying if someone
01:08:29
were to lose weight that would change you're drawn to photo number five yes features of photo number five correct
01:08:35
and again just for for the record and for when you go back like number number one is when you say three is similar
01:08:43
she's similar to the younger female that we've always described in everything this part right here doesn't really
01:08:50
match what I'm remembering but the hairline doesn't match smaller one older one and just cuz it's been a long time
01:08:58
um can you remind me what number what what the younger one did like the main parts of it compared to the older one
01:09:04
just for the last like Clarity of stuff so for the record so the younger one's the one that let me go and was the nicer
01:09:14
of the two okay the older one was really abusive and really mean and is the one that did all the really terrible
01:09:24
things the detectives then showed Sherry some photos of coffee tables similar to
01:09:29
the ones she had described focusing on one of them Sherry enthusiastically exclaimed excuse my language but it's
01:09:39
pretty [ __ ] similar you said it looks very similar what's I mean this is what I'm remembering that feeling you know
01:09:48
grabbing it and feeling that feeling but this part is different this part is different that doesn't definitely does
01:09:55
saying this metal part it looks the same as what you remember but this piece right here this
01:10:02
part doesn't look the same right and what was the difference in it that there was a lot more there was a lot more
01:10:10
there thank you I don't think the pictures really show Sher had always described her
01:10:17
Captain's bathroom as having a unique layout the detectives showed her some photos of bathrooms with similar designs
01:10:24
to the one she described Sherry acknowledged the layouts were similar but that was
01:10:31
all she'd previously said there was a crack in the shower tile shown a photo of a shower with a crack in it Sherry
01:10:40
couldn't say whether it was the same one after all these years she was struggling to
01:10:47
remember the detectives made it clear they weren't trying to overwhelm Sherry there was actually a good reason for the
01:10:54
probing they had found the house that Sher was held in and they knew who was responsible Keith penni was elated he
01:11:06
pumped his fists in the air and rubbed his hands together in Glee but sher's reaction was surprising
01:11:13
she became strangely defensive over the years investigators had continued to run checks on the DNA
01:11:24
found on Sherry's clothing in case someone new had entered the codus database during that
01:11:30
time no matches were ever made then came the rise of genealogy testing where users voluntarily
01:11:40
submitted DNA to trace their family trees in 2018 familial DNA had led to the apprehension of the notorious Golden
01:11:49
State killer as covered in episode 53 of case File investigators is wondered whether
01:11:56
the same technique could be applied to identify Sher pini's captors in March 2020 they ran the DNA
01:12:04
from sher's clothing through An ancestry DNA database this time there was a match the DNA in the database belonged
01:12:16
to an individual who had two biological Sons one of those was James Reyes a man in his mid-30s who lived in the
01:12:25
Californian city of Costa Mesa 585 Mi south of reading Reyes appeared to be a lore
01:12:33
Abiding Citizen a check of his background revealed no major criminal record save for a drunk driving
01:12:40
charge but as police dug further they discovered some interesting details James Reyes had once shared an
01:12:50
email account with Sher Pini in the past the two had made made joint Financial transactions furthermore Reyes had once
01:13:00
listed his address as a residence owned by sher's parents investigators searched through
01:13:08
social media on an account owned by James reyes's brother they found a picture of
01:13:14
a coffee table that looked exactly like the one Sherry had described being tied to while she was
01:13:21
branded they went to Costa Mesa and kept a covert eye on rees's property after seeing him discard some
01:13:29
trash they retrieved a bottle of iced tea and sent it to the lab for testing there was no doubt about it the
01:13:38
DNA on Sher pini's clothing had come from James Rees two detectives knocked on reyes's
01:13:50
door and asked him a few questions about himself and his relationship with Sher Pini
01:13:56
a former professional hockey player Rees had recently quit his job at an ice skating rink to take care of his aging
01:14:04
grandmother he met Sherry through a youth group as a teenager in late 2002 the two
01:14:11
reconnected and started dating they were together for several years and lived together in Costa Mesa
01:14:19
but the relationship eventually crumbled they ended things on good terms and stayed in vague contact for a few
01:14:27
years but Reyes said he hadn't seen Sherry in around a decade all he knew about her abduction
01:14:34
was whatever was reported on in the media the detectives cut to the chase they told Reyes his DNA had been found
01:14:44
on sher's clothing the day she escaped her captors Reyes seemed perplexed he maintained the two hadn't
01:14:53
seen one another since around mid 2006 he had no explanation for how his DNA could have gotten on sher's
01:15:03
clothes asked Point Blank if he was involved in sher's abduction Reyes said no the investigators reiterated that
01:15:13
there was no way his DNA could have gotten on her clothing if they hadn't been in
01:15:19
contact they gave him several opportunities to change his story reminding him it was a crime to lie to
01:15:25
law enforcement but Rees maintained he had nothing to do with the abduction after almost an hour of
01:15:34
questioning Rees cracked I didn't kidnap her he said a friend in need asked me for
01:15:48
help according to James Rees he was cleaning out his house in 2015 when he came across some of 's old
01:15:56
belongings he sent them to her parents' house not long after that Sher contacted
01:16:02
him out of the blue she needed his help she said her husband had been beating and raping her and she didn't
01:16:11
know what to do she'd reported the abuse to police but her husband had connections with law enforcement and
01:16:18
nothing had been done at a loss Sherry told Rus she'd hatched a plan she was saving money and was going
01:16:28
to run away to stay with him Reyes was taken aback but more than willing to help a friend in
01:16:37
need Sherry asked him to get a prepaid burner phone so they could speak without fear of her husband finding out the two
01:16:45
maintained regular contact from that point on in the summer of 2016 Sherry gave Rees a set of instructions
01:16:56
rent a car and drive to reading to pick her up tell no one James rees's drink driving charge
01:17:06
prohibited him from renting a car instead he organized a coworker to hire one for
01:17:12
him it was a Dodge Challenger sports car not an SUV as Sher had described her kidnappers is
01:17:21
using on November 2 2016 Reyes set out on the 9-hour drive when he got to reading Sher texted
01:17:30
directions on where to pick her up near Old Oregon Trail when Rees got there Sherry was
01:17:37
wearing jogging clothes and sweating she jumped into the back seat and laid low Rees didn't see what she did with
01:17:45
her phone the two drove back to coasta Mesa rarely stopping except for gas Sherry
01:17:53
laid down and napped for the entire Journey while Rees struggled to keep his eyes open after so many hours behind the
01:18:02
wheel Rees lived in a Suburban neighborhood in Costa Mesa once they were at reyes's apartment
01:18:09
he claimed they both did their own thing Rees went about his normal routine going
01:18:15
to work each day and sometimes playing hockey at night he slept on the couch while Sher
01:18:21
took his bedroom he left Sherry to her own devices assuming she was doing whatever
01:18:28
she felt necessary to deal with her situation Reyes claimed he had no input in any of sher's plans he simply went
01:18:37
along with whatever she told him to do he brought her new clothes cleaning supplies food and
01:18:44
chains he boarded up the window at no point did Sher leave the house nor did anyone else come
01:18:53
over Rees did confide in his cousin that Sher was there explaining that he was helping protect
01:19:02
her but all this didn't explain sher's extensive injuries when asked about those Rees
01:19:10
responded she did all that while she was here Rees claimed that Sher hid herself
01:19:18
to create bruises and that at her request he agreed to help while he never outright touched
01:19:25
Sherry Rees admitted to hitting hockey pucks at her at one point he held up a hockey
01:19:32
stick so that Sherry could purposely run into it breaking her nose in the process Sherry cut her own hair and
01:19:41
limited her food intake she told Rees to visit the local hobby store and purchase a wood burning
01:19:48
tool she willingly removed her shirt and sat down with her back to Rees handing him IND idual letters that she wanted
01:19:56
burned into her skin he didn't know what the word meant or why she had chosen it all he knew was
01:20:04
that it was a Bible verse Rees didn't own a TV so he didn't know the full extent of the media
01:20:14
coverage sher's disappearance was receiving the detectives asked if he kept any kind of insurance something
01:20:21
that would prove his story if Sherry had been found in his home and denied that it was all
01:20:27
cenal Reyes said he hadn't felt the need to while he didn't know what sher's intentions were for when the whole
01:20:35
situation was over he thought there was a chance they might end up together in the
01:20:41
end this wasn't a motivator to Rees either way as he wasn't really in a place to start a romantic
01:20:48
relationship regardless Reyes said that nothing remotely sexual occurred between
01:20:53
the two eventually Sher said she missed her children and wanted to go home Rees had his co-worker hire him
01:21:03
another car in the early hours of Thanksgiving morning Sherry gathered up a pillowcase
01:21:09
of items including chains the pair drove to Yolo County where Rees dropped Sherry off on the
01:21:17
side of the road from there he returned home to retrieve his car then continued to his
01:21:24
arm house for Thanksgiving lunch he hadn't spoken to Sherry since Reus admitted he'd looked sher's
01:21:34
case up from time to time he didn't know what possessed her to blame the abduction on two fictional
01:21:41
Hispanic women he had considered whether he'd get in trouble but Justified his involvement
01:21:47
to the detectives quote when it comes down to it I was doing an old friend a fa when investigators saw James rees's
01:22:01
bedroom it was exactly as Sherry had described the only difference was that there was no chain in the
01:22:09
closet they questioned rees's cousin and his wife who confirmed that Sher had willingly stayed with Rees during her
01:22:16
so-called time in captivity blonde hairs found in his bedroom were tested for DNA and
01:22:23
confirmed to have come from from Sher pepini other data including car rental records and cell phone data also
01:22:31
confirmed James reyes's version of events he agreed to a polygraph test and passed friends of Reas told detectives
01:22:41
that he was the nicest guy alive to a fault armed with this information the detectives repeatedly reminded Sherry it
01:22:51
was a crime to lie to federal agents when they told her they'd identified the house where she'd been held captive she
01:22:59
was visibly caught off guard she seemed reluctant to receive the information which confused her
01:23:06
husband Keith the detectives told Sherry they'd found DNA and uncovered several inconsistencies in her
01:23:15
story still Sherry seemed perplexed she asked to have a moment alone to speak to her husband
01:23:24
alone Sherry and kith began speaking in Whispers Sher explained the reason she is hesitant to have her Captain's
01:23:32
identity revealed was because she didn't want the younger woman to be arrested I don't I don't know I don't
01:23:41
want them to find her you're not listening to me tell me why because she saved my life but tell
01:23:48
me there's obviously something there's obviously some this is going to be really bad look at being right now
01:23:57
[ __ ] with you I don't want them to find her I don't want to press chares and I don't
01:24:03
want I don't want to go down that road but you tell her I don't want to go down that road I
01:24:11
don't because she saved my life and she's the reason why I get to hold my children every single
01:24:17
day this when the detectives came back into the room Sher admitted that she didn't
01:24:24
want the younger of her captiv to be punished it was clear that she wasn't going to budge from her version of
01:24:33
events detectives gave it to her straight saying the DNA that was on you belongs
01:24:40
to James Reyes in this situation the reason why you can describe the room is because you
01:24:48
stayed in the room in the dark for hours for days on it the reason why you lost so much weight it's because you stopped
01:24:55
eating the reason why you got a rash on your arm is because you cleaned his house the reason why the brand is
01:25:03
because he went to the store bought The Branding tools and branded you the reason why your nose was broke is
01:25:08
because of a hockey stick I know all of those things and I know there was no sex I know all of that
01:25:17
because he passed a polygraph test that said it's not an abduction she asked me to come and give it
01:25:25
no I rented a car I drove up and picked her up he he passed the polygraph T us Sher
01:25:33
if that's not what happened what did happen Sher I don't know no there's no way it's D there's no
01:25:42
way there's no way the DNA doesn't lie his DNA is his DNA was on you no way Robert saw you in the
01:25:52
house while you were down there while everything SP out of control his cousin why everything ran out of control
01:26:01
on the initial there's no way it's it's 100% Robert's or James's D even collected blonde hairs from the
01:26:14
room there's no way it's James there's no way why are you saying it's not James why are you saying that
01:26:28
not you thought it's me what's up we were friends there's no way and he came and got you because you asked
01:26:37
him no when was the last time you had contact with James Sherry sat with her head in her
01:26:44
hands sobbing confronted with the truth about how she received her injuries she acted
01:26:51
confused she said she hadn't seen James Rus in over 10 years confronted again and again with
01:26:59
evidence Sher continued to play dumb the detectives asked Keith to leave the room alone with Sherry they asked her
01:27:09
whether she was trying to escape an abusive marriage or teach Keith a lesson Sher sobbed even
01:27:17
harder she tearfully admitted to speaking with other men when she shouldn't have
01:27:24
why would I do that she sobbed almost incoherently I don't want to leave my husband I love my
01:27:33
husband the detectives made it very clear that James Rees had confessed to his part in the whole
01:27:40
ordeal they gave Sherry numerous opportunities to come clean letting her know they couldn't help her if she
01:27:46
continued to lie nobody else he got nothing out of this and you're welcome to go home Sher
01:27:54
but right now is your opportunity to tell us the truth and can't be are you saying that it was two
01:28:07
females that picked you up what's that every time I ask that question it seems like you don't answer it I just
01:28:19
can't be you sat in a room you drew out two people on the sketch Sher those two people the ones that took
01:28:27
you that said yes or no I don't know well you were pretty clear when I asked you earlier what what did the younger
01:28:34
one do you said the younger one pointed a gun at you he was there she wasn't it was just
01:28:44
James not me James was 2 hours late we have the rental records from 2016 for the vehicle that he used what
01:28:55
because we wouldn't look for it cuz he told me because I was talking to that's clear you talking I don't my fault
01:29:03
because I'm talking him I just this can't we have to control what we can control
01:29:10
no we to the point did two did the younger female that you've always described is she the one that put a
01:29:16
point G at you is that true or not I don't know you you do know you told me ear so earlier today when we
01:29:27
were talking I asked you what did the younger one do you told me the younger one pointed a gun at you and let you go
01:29:34
that's what you said she let me go you let yourself go you let yourself out of the backseat never even said bye to
01:29:42
James never a thank you never a nothing just an out no yeah that's what James told me until you can start telling me
01:29:49
that James is a liar and start pointing things out James passed poly graph this is my
01:29:56
fault my fault that I was [ __ ] doing this my fault that I was fing with other men it was such a stupid thing to do I
01:30:05
love my husband love my children understand stupid here's the deal though Sher flirting with other men not a
01:30:15
crime lying to me today yes a crime when asked if a fale pointed a gun at her Sher said she couldn't
01:30:26
remember she said she refused to get anyone in trouble crying I know you know who she
01:30:35
is the detectives told Sherry that at this point the only person who was going to get in trouble was
01:30:42
her Sherry responded tearfully I didn't do anything wrong I don't understand there's no way that
01:30:51
it's James with no admission Sherry was free to go home investigators continued building
01:31:03
their case against her for a year and a half it was determined that all up law enforcements spent more than
01:31:12
$150,000 in resources investigating sher's so-called abduction concerned community members
01:31:19
who rallied behind the penis had raised $49,000 in a GoFundMe account the pinis used this money to
01:31:28
fund a private investigator pay off credit card debt and other personal expenses in total Sherry had received a
01:31:37
little over $30,500 from the California victim Compensation Board which had been spent
01:31:43
on therapy ambulances and blackout blinds she also received $127,000 in disability benefits
01:31:55
by early March 2020 over 5 years had passed since Sher Pini went through with the
01:32:01
hoax she was attending a piano lesson with her two children when a man burst in and said her car outside had been
01:32:09
hit it was all a Lure by detectives as soon as Sher walked out she was placed under
01:32:17
arrest given that she'd received some of the compensation payments via US Postal
01:32:23
Service she was charged with male fraud as well as making false statements a spokesperson for the Shasta
01:32:31
County Sheriff's Department made a post on Facebook that read today is a great day for the Shasta
01:32:38
County Sheriff's Office and for all law enforcement in this County not only did this charade take
01:32:45
valuable resources away from real criminal investigative matters but in a time where there are serious human
01:32:52
trafficking cases with legitimate victims Sher Pini used this tragic societal phenomenon to gain notoriety
01:33:00
and financial [Music] gain James Reyes was never charged for his involvement in the so-called
01:33:12
abduction if found guilty Sher peni faced a possible 25 years in prison in mid April she pleaded guilty
01:33:21
to the charges in the hopes of receiving Alessa sentence her defense team blamed sher's
01:33:27
actions on a painful upbringing and quote chameleonic personalities which they said drove her to simultaneously
01:33:35
crave Family Security and the freedom of Youth they said she inflicted the injuries on herself as Penance and her
01:33:45
lies spiraled out of control when she realized what she'd done the defense argued for 1 month in
01:33:52
prison followed by 7 month months of home detention stating it is hard to imagine a more
01:33:58
brutal public revelation of a person's broken inner self at this point the punishment is already intense and feels
01:34:07
like a life [Music] sentence the prosecution debated this stating pini's planning of her hoax
01:34:17
kidnapping was meticulous and began months in advance it was not merely the reaction to a traumatic child
01:34:25
childhood they said it was important to acknowledge that quote an entire Community believed the hoax and lived in
01:34:33
fear that Hispanic women were roving the streets to abduct and sell women ultimately Sher Pini was sentenced
01:34:43
to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution of just over $300,000 she admitted to the lies but
01:34:52
offered no explanation for her actions telling the judge what is done cannot be undone it
01:35:00
cannot be erased I'm sorry your honor I'm sad I feel very sad Keith pinii had always stood by
01:35:11
sher's side his unfaltering loyalty had seen him and his children be the victims
01:35:16
of hate mail and threats but as soon as the truth about sher's part in the kidnapping hoax came
01:35:22
to light Keith filed for divorce he applied for full custody of the children releasing one final public
01:35:32
statement that said the events of the past two months have been shocking and devastating my current focus is on
01:35:41
moving on and doing everything I can to provide My Two children with as normal healthy and happy of a life as
01:35:51
possible Sherry didn't admit the truth about her lies to her family until the day before she pleaded guilty in
01:35:58
court in a Facebook post following sher's sentencing her sister Sheila wrote that Sherry could intentionally
01:36:07
mislead her own beautiful children her devoted husband Keith our families the authorities and all of you for so long
01:36:15
is beyond comprehension and was done for reasons for which only she is aware sadly the despite what she has
01:36:24
expressed to the media she feels no remorse or guilt for the untold damage she has caused nor for taking advantage
01:36:32
of critical criminal financial and Mental Health Resources that should have gone to help real victims in
01:36:39
need it deeply pains me to say this but my sister is very disturbed and I hope for her children's sake once she is
01:36:48
released she will finally get the treatment she clearly so desperately needs to this day no one knows for sure what
01:36:58
motivated Sher Pini to Stage such an elaborate hoax some believe she was a narcissist
01:37:05
who craved attention or that she wanted to be viewed as a hero others blame mental health issues
01:37:13
but various experts have struggled to come up with a diagnosis that would explain sher's
01:37:19
actions the fact that she was capable of planning and organizing such a ruse ruled out various
01:37:27
conditions one forensic psychologist who studied the case said it is a mistake to
01:37:33
assume mental illness is the cause of unusual behavior regardless of Sherry's motivation this wasn't a victimless
01:37:44
crime financials aside sher's actions had a detrimental impact on others a spokesperson for the Shasta
01:37:52
County Lao Community told the Sacramento B that sher's false narrative deeply impacted Latino women who were unfairly
01:38:01
treated with suspicion they said this incident instilled that fear in people and it didn't need to
01:38:12
happen as the sentencing judge stated this case is serious and there have been very real harms to
01:38:20
society victims of crimes may not believe believe they will be believed by law enforcement because of this hoax
01:38:28
Sher Pini is a manipulator it's not as if she has seen the error of her ways if she had not been caught she'd
01:38:38
still be living the LIE [Music] [Music] in June 1993 Elizabeth Stevens 18 was murdered on her way home from the bus
01:39:16
stop her death began a 7-week reign of terror for the people of Frankston I remember thinking like how can it happen
01:39:24
to someone that's fought so hard to get away and have a good life a serial killer was on the loose no one was safe
01:39:33
not young mother Debbie frem 22 taken on a trip to the shops nor natal Russell 17
01:39:41
murdered on her way home from school then two detectives came in and they just said to Brian and myself can we go
01:39:49
somewhere PR and we went into the bedroom and they said I'm sorry to tell you it's Natalie the serial killer Paul
01:39:58
denya was captured and sentenced to life in prison on appeal he was granted a 30-year minimum sentence and I I saw in
01:40:07
his face that yeah I'm SP new sort of thing he was proud of what he had done fast forward 30 years and denya has
01:40:16
applied for parole award-winning crime writer Vicky Petrus was on patrol with police the night the final murder took
01:40:24
place as a true crime author I found myself right in the heart of Frankston doing ride alongs with the local police
01:40:31
when the murders were happening she wrote the best-selling book The Frankston murders which has never been
01:40:37
out of print Vicki has Revisited the case in a long form podcast to remind the world why denya must never be
01:40:46
released Dena isn't just dangerous where young women are concerned he is dangerous to all women babies school
01:40:55
girls friends strangers older women everyone the Frankston murders podcast uncovers new material and new victims
01:41:05
stalked by Danya in the leadup to the killings the woman policeman turned to me and said you should take a ticket in
01:41:14
tax as much as to say I was the luckiest person around Vicki interviews prison guards police officers family members
01:41:24
and people C in the periphery of a serial killer he has not learned his lesson he has not changed he has not
01:41:32
become remorseful he has not repented or even apologized a scale of 1 to 10 I'd easily put him as a 20 it's that far off
01:41:43
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