The lasting effect that Sherri Papini's faked kidnapping left
A Northern California woman's disappearance more than five years ago shocked the tight-knit community of Redding, California.
The disappearance of Sherri Papini set off a frantic three-week search. Neighbors volunteered for grid searches and law enforcement made finding Papini a top priority.
"There was an extreme amount of pressure put on law enforcement," said Shasta County Sheriff Michael Johnson.
Papini, a mother, and a wife had gone missing while out on a jog. The conditions of her disappearance put neighbors on edge.
"We used to walk and my husband and I said, 'I'm not going to go walk by myself anymore,'" Redding resident Maria Flores said.
Private investigator Bill Garcia was so concerned about Papini, that he volunteered his services to her family.
"It brought fear, especially to other women, that it could happen to them," Garcia said.
She was found bruised and beaten on Thanksgiving Day in 2016. Papini told authorities at the time she was kidnapped at gunpoint by two Hispanic women.
She accused the women of brutally torturing her. The hunt was on and new fears settled in Redding, where Latinos were less than 10% of the population.
"She specifically picked out the gender in a race to name as the suspect. Any Hispanic woman at that time, I'm sure, is getting an eyebrow raise and looking in there wondering where she could be connected or one of the suspects," Johnson said.
For many Latinos in the area, the more they heard Papini's story, the less they bought it.
"When they do the sketches, like she had a bandana like, come on, we don't walk around like that. We know the people in our community," Radio Host Araceli Gutierrez said.
Ultimately, investigators revealed that there was no kidnapping after looking at DNA evidence, cell phone tracking, and interviews with one of her ex-boyfriends.
The resources that were used throughout the investigation ended up costing taxpayers around $230,000. That's money that could have gone into other missing women investigations.
Papini agreed Tuesday to plead guilty to charges of lying to federal officers and mail fraud. She has yet to be sentenced.
In a statement through her lawyer, Papini said "I am deeply ashamed of myself for my behavior and so sorry for the pain I've caused my family, my friends, all the good people who needlessly suffered because of my story and those who worked so hard to try to help me."
3 family members face hate crimes charges in an attack that left a gay man blind in Pompano Beach, Florida
Florida prosecutors said they filed hate crime charges Tuesday against three family members accused of severely beating a man because of his sexual orientation.
Inna Makarenko, 44; Yevhen Makarenko, 43; and Oleh Makarenko, 21; were each charged with attempted first-degree murder, battery during the burglary of a dwelling, and kidnapping, according to the Broward State Attorney's Office. All three face possible life sentences.
The three family members broke into a Pompano Beach home last August and beat a 31-year-old gay man so badly that he has become permanently blind and sustained other serious injuries, prosecutors said.
CBS Miami, citing the arrest forms, reported the attack was premeditated.
"They secretly, forcibly or by threat abducted or imprisoned the victim against his will… to terrorize him," the forms say. They go on to say the three "struck the victim numerous times… causing serious bodily injury and disfigurement, almost resulting in his death."
Officials haven't released many details about the attack to protect the victim's privacy, but prosecutors have confirmed that the Makarenkos knew the victim before the attack and specifically targeted him because he is gay.
CBS Miami's Karli Barnett went to the Makarenkos' home. Someone answered the door, identifying himself as a family friend, but did not agree to talk on camera.
On the mailbox, there were taped signs with a QR code saying to "help Ukrainian refugees wrongly jailed." The code leads to an online petition with 360 signatures. The description reads, in part: "The three arrested family members—mother, father, and son are being accused of severe crimes with multiple charges against them! These could result in a life-in-prison-sentence in the United States or (if even possible) deportation back to Ukraine—where an excruciating war is happening now."
