Police audio clip reveals moment Sherri Papini was found ‘heavily battered’ on side of highway

POLICE were investigating the online history of Sherri Papini before she was found in restraints on the side of the road after 22 days missing.

POLICE were looking into the past of a jogger who was found bound and “heavily battered” on the side of a US highway 22 days after she went missing.

Jogger Sherri Papini, who was reported missing earlier this month, was found bound by restraints but safe on Thanksgiving morning after flagging down a motorist nearly 240km away from her home in Redding, California.

The mother, 34, was found 22 days after she was reported missing in the town of Mountain Gate, California after she had gone for a run and failed to return home.

Police investigating the alleged kidnapping of the California mother say they have no reason not to believe her story of being held captive.

“We currently have no reason to disbelieve Sherri Papini’s story,” Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko said on Sunday. “She was assaulted and had injuries which she was treated for.”

But investigators were also looking into Mrs Papini’s past, which includes a previous marriage, and her online activity, Mr Bosenko said.

About 20 search warrants were filed in order to obtain data from surveillance footage and mobile phone towers, ABC News reports.

Her husband, Keith Papini, was ruled out early on in the investigation as a person of interest after passing a lie-detector test.

“Obviously she was emotional and quite upset, but elated to be freed, and so we were able to get some information from her,” Mr Bosenko said onGood Morning America.

“Then, in the days following this, we will be following up with her. Detectives will not rest until her captor or captors are identified and brought to justice.

“This investigation is far from over.”

Mother of two Sherri Papini went for a jog on Wednesday, November 2. She was located 22 days later. Picture: Facebook

Audio reveals Sherri Papini was ‘heavily battered’

An audio recording from Yolo County sheriff deputies, which goes for 25 minutes, includes conversations between police and safety dispatchers who are heard requesting multiple units to respond to Mrs Papini’s location about 4.30am on November 22.

“CHP is advising she is heavily battered,” the dispatcher says on the recording obtained by the Redding Record Searchlight.

It is understood the officers also claim Mrs Papini was “chained to something” during the recording, and was able to wave down a motorist just south of County Road near Woodland.

Sherri Papini, who went missing for 22 days, has returned home to her husband Keith and their two young children. Picture: Facebook

Mrs Papini was treated for injuries before being reunited with her husband Keith and their two young children.

“It’s been a range of emotions: sadness, anger. Right now it’s joy,” Mrs Papini’s sister, Sheila Koester, told the Redding Record-Searchlight.

“We are overwhelmed with joy of how supportive everyone has been to help bring us together as a family again.

“We are very, very thankful and very ecstatic. It’s the best Thanksgiving that anyone could ask for.”

On Monday, Mr Bosenko said he had only spoken to Mrs Papini once in person since she was released from hospital and reunited with her family last week.

“She had injuries and then she was transported to a local area hospital in the Yolo County Sacremental area, treated for her non-life threatening injuries and then released,” he told Today.

Sheila Koester revealed how ‘ecstatic’ the family were that Sherri Papini had been found safe. Picture: Andrew Seng/The Sacramento Bee via AP

Mr Bosenko said authorities were searching for two women in connection with the kidnapping. It is understood the women were last seen driving a dark SUV, are of Hispanic appearance and armed with a handgun. He said police have no new leads on the two female suspects and it is unknown if they are known to the victim.

Who found Sherri Papini?

California woman Alison Sutton revealed how she saw a terrified Mrs Papini on the side of the road as she drove down the highway before making the 911 call.

“I saw a woman with long blonde hair by the side of the road kind of frantically waving what looked like a shirt,” the driver, Ms Sutton, told ABC News.

“I figured if she was willing to risk being hit by a car, she must really need help.”

The passerby shared on Facebook over the weekend that she saw Mrs Papini but wasn’t able to stop in time.

“I couldn’t stop in time to help you this morning but I did pull over and report to police that I saw you by the road and was certain you needed help,” Ms Sutton wrote on a Facebook page created to help find Mrs Papini.

“I am thankful that someone else was able to pull over safely to help you and that you are safe. God bless you and your family.”

Mrs Papini’s father-in-law Rod Rodriguez responded: “Thank you very much for alerting the police. We greatly appreciate your assistance.”

Ms Sutton replied: “I don’t know that my call helped her, but I am very thankful she is safe and back with her family. This is truly a Thanksgiving to remember.”

Sheriff Tom Bosenko said the ‘investigation is far from over’. Picture: Andreas Fuhrmann /The Record Searchlight via AP

Mrs Papini’s disappearance made international news, after her husband reported her missing on November 2.

Mrs Papini, who had been out for a jog, failed to return home and hadn’t collected her children from daycare.

Investigators found her mobile and headphones near to where she had last been seen, along with a few strands of hair — but any other clues were scarce.

Her disappearance generated a widespread community search, which saw her face circulated on flyers and Facebook groups around the country, as well as through a GoFundMe page.

Mr Bosenko reported that 400 tip offs were made during the course of her disappearance.

“It shows what a community can do when it works together to get the word out,” Mr Bosenko added.

Vanessa Marcotte was killed while out on a run in August in Princeton, Massachusetts.

Karina Vetrano was killed while out jogging in New York.

In August, two women were killed in separate incidents while out jogging.

Katrina Vetrano was found slain in a marshy area near Howard Beach, New York after she went out for her evening jog on August 2.

The 30-year-old woman was sexually assaulted and strangled on a Spring Creek Park trail the locals call “the Weeds”, near her parents’ house in Queens.

Ms Vetrano, an avid jogger, would usually run the trail with her father. But on the evening of her death, he was recovering from an injury so she ran alone.

Five days after Ms Vetrano’s tragic death, 27-year-old Vanessa Marcotte was found dead in a wooded area less than a kilometre from her parents’ house in Princeton, Massachusetts.

Alexandra ‘Ally’ Brueger, a nurse, was shot four times in the back while on her routine jog.

Prior to both of these murders, 31-year-old Alexandra “Ally” Brueger was shot four times in the back and killed while running in Michigan on July 30.

Ms Brueger, who was a nurse at a local hospital, liked to run 16km a day down a dirt road called Fish Lake in Michigan.

Following the third murder, speculation grew that all three women may have been targeted by a serial or copycat killer.