Posted on 12/06/2016 7:15:57 AM PST by AuntB
Private investigator says evidence suggests a brutal cartel kidnapped and tortured California mom
Recently freed California mom Sherri Papini who was tortured and branded by her captors was likely the victim of a kidnapping gone awry by a Mexican sex-trafficking ring, according to a private investigator who worked on the case.
The case seems to underline how America’s porous borders enable criminals and other bad elements to enter the United States seeking victims. Mexican crime syndicates have become more active north of the border in recent years. The Redding area in Northern California has become an important corridor for sex traffickers in recent years.
San Diego-based private investigator Bill Garcia volunteered to work on the case of Sherri Papini, a married mother of two, who was abducted while jogging on Nov. 2 near her home in tiny Mountain Gate, which is near the community of Redding on Interstate 5 as it stretches through Shasta County in Northern California.
The Redding area is a primary sex-trafficking corridor, according to Garcia.
Papini has been “cooperative and courageous” while working with law enforcement to track down her captors, County Sheriff Tom Bosenko told reporters at a news conference.
Papini was held in captivity and brutalized for 22 days. She lost close to 25 pounds in captivity, weighing in at a mere 87 pounds when released. She was found about 150 miles south of where she was kidnapped. With a bag over her head and her wrists chained to her waist, she was ejected in Yolo County, California, from a moving vehicle on Thanksgiving Day, according to Bosenko. Papini managed to get help from a passing motorist at the side of a road.
And the injuries Papini sustained made Garcia think it was a sex-trafficking cartel that had kidnapped her. When the sheriff said at a press conference that he wasn't going to talk about Papini's injuries, Garcia interpreted this as confirmation that the victim was sexually assaulted.
She said her captors were two adult-age Latino females who drove a dark-colored sport utility vehicle and carried a handgun.
But something doesn't seem right about this kidnapping story, Garcia told LifeZette in an interview.
Papini made an unusual target for a forced prostitution ring because she's viewed as too old for that kind of job, he says. These criminals usually prefer much younger women, ranging from teenagers to those in their early twenties.
Papini may be 34 but she could easily pass for a 20-year-old, in Garcia's opinion, so he reasons that her kidnappers may not have realized initially she wasn't the kind of person they normally target.
The fact that she was starved is very unusual, he says. Sex traffickers normally feed captives. At some point the kidnappers may have realized they made a mistake in taking Papini, he says. New Federal Program Helps Pay Off Your Mortgage
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"There is no way you can drug her to get her into a working situation and have people not notice," he says. Her face was frequently shown on TV and the internet so she became easily recognizable.
"Her face was so recognized and at some point she becomes a liability" so they may have decided they needed to extricate themselves from a bad situation.
"It looks like they made a bad decision and then they punished her for it" and gave her a broken nose and cigarette burns, says Garcia. They beat her and cut off her hair to add to the humiliation, he adds.
Because they don't like losing money and wanted to cut their losses, they may have hoped to secure a ransom for Papini, he says.
As the Sacramento Bee reported Nov. 28, an anonymous donor offered an undisclosed ransom for Papini.
The ransom money offered for the safe release of Sherri Papini went unclaimed, so now the anonymous donor may use his wealth to help the Redding-area mom and her family recover after she was found Thanksgiving morning, according to the man who coordinated the effort.
The donor 'will support the family in any way he can to ensure they receive the necessary treatment for their recovery,' said Cameron Gamble, a Redding-area man who describes himself as a defense contractor who works with missionary groups and trains government employees on how to avoid being taken hostage overseas.
Gamble said the benefactor returned the ransom money to the bank but still wants to help the family. How much money they might receive is "really up to him at this point," Gamble said in a Monday phone interview with the Sacramento Bee.
The offer expired Nov. 23, the day before Thanksgiving when Papini was found abandoned by a road.
Although a negotiator was brought in, it isn't clear if ransom money was actually paid to the kidnappers by a different player in the drama.
"We may never know," he says. "These things tend to stay pretty quiet."
Garcia says he took on the case on a pro bono basis at the request of Rod Rodriguez III, Sherri Papini's father-in-law.
He has been investigating these criminal organizations for years and branding is commonly forced on hostages in Mexico. But he added this was the first time he had ever seen this kind of thing "with the branding and the chains" north of the border.
The circumstances of the Papini case made Garcia think of the ultra-violent 2012 movie, "Savages," which starred Blake Lively as Ophelia, the beautiful, young blonde hostage kidnapped by a female-led Mexican drug cartel hoping to muscle its way into drug markets in California.
"Savages" is filled with shootings, deadly explosions, and brutal torture including sexual violence, flogging, and burning of victims.
But the movie doesn't do justice to how these Mexican criminal organizations actually operate. The reality is far worse, Garcia says.
The branding is usually carried out with coat hangers, he explains. They twist the hanger into a desired shape, heat it up, then press it against the body. Trump Can Reverse Deadly Spike in Violent CrimePresident-elect is well-positioned to deliver on his promise of restoring law and order to America's streets
The victim's husband, Keith Papini, told reporters that a message was burnt into his wife's body but did not indicate what the message was.
The disclosure of this detail was not authorized by law enforcement officials handling the case, Garcia says. "I don't know what the message is, but these cartels do that."
"They all have their own distinguishing markings or tags as they call them. It could be something as simple as a ring that was heated up. I've seen a hot knife used to disfigure a person on the leg or arm."
Garcia views the Papini case as a cautionary tale. Tiny, seemingly insignificant things can provoke criminals, he says.
"If there's a story here, it is that young women need to be aware of their surroundings," Garcia says.
"It could be something as simple as a look from someone who is checking them out. I've seen such minor, minor things that set these people off. It's good to be armed because you don't know if the person standing next to you wants to take your life."
I don’t know about this. The whole thing seemed “off” from the minute I saw the crying husband.
I notice the left seems to be ignoring this story.
And yet she lived. Interesting.
The police have said there is absolutely no reason to doubt her story.
The east coast biased MSM left that is.
To them the northern I-5 corridor may as well be another country.
Kidnapping a jogger is audacious. She is not a run away teenager that they have a chance of anonymous flipping into a prostitute.
Vile, violent and stupid all at the same time.
so what reason did they have to let her go? thats what I dont understand about all this...
Yes... you’d think they wouldn’t hesitate to just kill her and dump the body. Even with a ransom paid, I think they usually kill the victim anyway. It’s very mysterious. The police may have offered to release someone, very quietly, in exchange.
“so what reason did they have to let her go? thats what I dont understand about all this...”
They realized she was too old after they captured her. It’s like throwing back a fish because it’s too small. They threw her back.
Many years ago a jogger was kidnapped about 10 miles away from us. Her remains were recovered about 2 miles from my house. Her name was Laura Kate Smithers.
Forced prostitution is what I first suspected but if that was the idea you wonder why the Redding cops won’t acknowledge it in order to warn other women of threat.
They still say they have no idea of why she was kidnapped. And no one has revealed what the brand is other than it is words and not a symbol.
The Cameron Gamble character appears to have invented a story about himself and isn’t all that he claims to be. Garcia may be the real deal and knows what he is talking about.
Ya think? Except here in Kali where strict gun laws prevent these kinds of crimes.
Oh, wait...
Lordy. This poor woman. Years of therapy in her future.
God bless the anonymous benefactor.
“I notice the left seems to be ignoring this story.”
The left ignores every story that is contrary to their anti-American, anti-white narrative.
It seems to be there women may have been trying to get back at her for some reason.
From the sermon Pastor Bob gave:
I am convinced
Girls, young, old and in-between; I am convinced
That as FaceBook, Chobani yogurt, obama and the US Congress bring more an more muslim refugees to the USA, I have a message for all females in the US, white, black, yellow, and red.
Girls, ignore the obamites, the democrat, the gop, the ruling political class, the media, and the police.
Always carry a revolver. Revolvers leave no casing with your finger prints lying around. A H&R .32 magnum is nice as is a .38 or a .22WMR.
Ladies and teen girls, understand and remember this:
Rapist do not have day planners, rapist do not tell family and friends they are going out to find a girl to rape.
Rapist do not rape in crowds or where they think anyone will come along and see the rape or hear your screams.
Girls, Shoot and walk away.
Leave the rapist for the fowls of the air and the beast of the field.
Go home, have a good cry, a glass of wine and thank GOD you ignored the forces of the democrat and the political ruling class, and thank God Almighty that He allowed you to destroy one more rapist. Oh ya, don’t forget to clean that revolver and replace the spent rounds.
Folks, In the last fifty years there has not been one woman, in the USA, raped who was armed at the time of the attempted rape, NOT ONE.
Screw what the cops say and want, screw the law, Girls grow up, stop getting raped, get a gun!
From the sermon Pastor Bob gave:
I am convinced
Girls, young, old and in-between; I am convinced
That as FaceBook, Chobani yogurt, obama and the US Congress bring more an more muslim refugees to the USA, I have a message for all females in the US, white, black, yellow, and red.
Girls, ignore the obamites, the democrat, the gop, the ruling political class, the media, and the police.
Always carry a revolver. Revolvers leave no casing with your finger prints lying around. A H&R .32 magnum is nice as is a .38 or a .22WMR.
Ladies and teen girls, understand and remember this:
Rapist do not have day planners, rapist do not tell family and friends they are going out to find a girl to rape.
Rapist do not rape in crowds or where they think anyone will come along and see the rape or hear your screams.
Girls, Shoot and walk away.
Leave the rapist for the fowls of the air and the beast of the field.
Go home, have a good cry, a glass of wine and thank GOD you ignored the forces of the democrat and the political ruling class, and thank God Almighty that He allowed you to destroy one more rapist. Oh ya, don’t forget to clean that revolver and replace the spent rounds.
Folks, In the last fifty years there has not been one woman, in the USA, raped who was armed at the time of the attempted rape, NOT ONE.
“”If there’s a story here, it is that young women need to be aware of their surroundings,” Garcia says.”
And they should carry a gun and know how to use it proficiently!
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