sherri and keith papini
Missing jogger found safe nearly 3 weeks later
01:15 - Source: CNN

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Authorities: Michigan man Papini texted was not involved

The investigation is still ongoing

CNN  — 

New details are emerging in the case of Northern California mother Sherri Papini, who was abducted a year ago and found three weeks later on a roadside, battered and bruised.

Papini vanished last year while jogging near her house in Shasta County. Her husband, Keith Papini, reported her missing November 2 after she did not pick up their children from daycare.

Three weeks later, on Thanksgiving Day, she was found abandoned on Interstate 5 in Yolo County about 140 miles from the Mountain Gate jogging trail where she was last seen November.

She told authorities that her two abductors had covered their faces, and had branded her during her captivity.

The Shasta County Sheriff’s Department said Wednesday that it had determined a Michigan man Papini was texting with and planned to meet before she disappeared was not involved in her kidnapping.

It released sketches of two suspects Wednesday and said it found two DNA samples on Papini.

Authorities did not publicly identify any suspects based on the samples, but said they have uploaded them to the national database that electronically compares profiles of known offenders.

The DNA does not belong to her husband, Keith Papini, authorities said.

Branded by abductors

“Keith and Sherri Papini have remained in contact with the Sheriff’s Office and the FBI,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

“Sherri continues to provide details as she can recall them, but has not been able to provide a complete detailed statement due to her poor recollection.”

When Papini was found, authorities had said she was branded by two female abductors who covered their faces during her three-week captivity.

At the time, they declined to provide more information on the type of brand or where the captors branded her body “for the integrity of the investigation.”

Authorities said she told them her captors spoke Spanish for the majority of her time in captivity.

“Emergency personnel found Sherri bound with restraints. Information about the restraints remains confidential as part of the ongoing investigation,” the sheriff’s office said.

Papini said her captors dropped her off on the side of County Road 17, where a truck driver saw her and called police.

Keith Papini said when he walked into her hospital room after she was freed, he was stunned.

“Her face (was) covered in bruises ranging from yellow to black because of repeated beatings, the bridge of her nose broken,” he said in a statement.

“Her now emaciated body of 87 pounds was covered in multicolored bruises, severe burns, red rashes and chain markings. Her signature long, blond hair had been chopped off.”

The Shasta County Sheriff’s Office says it’s still investigating the case, along with the FBI.

CNN’s Cheri Mossburg contributed to this report.