California jogger Sherri Papini staged own violent kidnapping, FBI says

Papini's 2016 disappearance was long cloaked in confusion, as a friend raised funds for a reverse ransom'

Sherri Papini seemed to be just another small-town northern California mom, when, a little over five years ago, she disappeared in the woods. By her own account, she was abducted, chained to a pole for three weeks, half-starved, beaten, branded and burned and then - for no apparent reason - released again by the side of a busy highway.

Now, after an exhaustive search for her captors, the US government has concluded that Papini made up the whole story.