I'm Lester Holt. Tonight on Dateline, new details of the infamous case of

California mom Sherry Papini was she the victim of a harrowing kidnapping or the

mastermind of an elaborate hoax. Very very strange circumstances. Her hand

shackled and her hair had been chopped off. It appeared that she had been

tortured, branded. I've never seen a victim act like she acted that day.

Tonight, inside this baffling case, can you tell me more about what state she was in?

She was crying, she was screaming. The lot of injuries bruises on top of bruises.

Investigators speak out in depth for the first time. Did she tell you of how

she got the brand? She did two female captors came into the room, held her down

against a table. She described the pain, the burning, the crackling, the smells.

You don't think people are capable of stuff like this. Do you see this and you go

now this could not be true. The Sherry Papini case is taking us on a very twisty,

windy, bumpy road.

Here is Keith Morrison with the curious case of Sherry Papini. How in the world did she get here?

Her name is Sherry Papini and tonight you'll hear it all both the story she told

and the truth. This whole case has been about calculated deception, lies, and

misdirection. A mind-bending mystery that would take years to solve and they did.

Do you ever heard such a thing in your life before? Not even kind of. With

details of revealing for the first time. There's a chain around her waist and she was

zip tied to the chain. He would shoot hockey pucks off of her legs and shins. He was willing

to do anything for her. Sherry Papini was the victim, so we heard of a terrible crime.

I'm totally freaking out, thinking like somebody like you. What's your scrafter?

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