1 00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:10,840 Speaker 1: Friends and family plantically searching for the woman they referred 2 00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:14,240 Speaker 1: to as super Mom. I'm getting very angry and frustrated, 3 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:19,680 Speaker 1: and I'm scared um for my wife. This is Crime 4 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:22,840 Speaker 1: Stories with Nancy Grace. The thirty four year old was 5 00:00:22,840 --> 00:00:25,360 Speaker 1: found on the side of the road near Sacramento, nearly 6 00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:28,000 Speaker 1: a hundred and fifty miles from where authorities believed she 7 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:31,360 Speaker 1: was taken while out jogging near her northern California home. 8 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:35,320 Speaker 1: Is now safe. We still do not have a motive 9 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:38,720 Speaker 1: as to the reason why Mrs Rippini was taken. Do 10 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:42,640 Speaker 1: you believe Mrs rippini story? Absolutely? She had reported she 11 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:47,680 Speaker 1: had been abducted, She was discovered in restraints and had 12 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:53,000 Speaker 1: been assaulted. I will confirmed, but the suspects did brand her. 13 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:59,360 Speaker 1: Imagine this. You come home from work. No one greets 14 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:04,120 Speaker 1: you at the door, instead of your spouse walking up 15 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:06,600 Speaker 1: and saying how is your day, your children running to you, 16 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:09,520 Speaker 1: or you hear them playing in the distance. There's an 17 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:15,120 Speaker 1: eerie quiet. You call the daycare. They're still there. They've 18 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:20,000 Speaker 1: never been picked up. Your spouse doesn't answer their cell phone, 19 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:25,640 Speaker 1: and suddenly you know, deep inside something is horribly, horribly wrong. 20 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:31,720 Speaker 1: That is just exactly what Keith Peppini says happened to 21 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:36,120 Speaker 1: him just before Thanksgiving, and in the last hours, the 22 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:41,800 Speaker 1: first photos of his wife, Sherry Peppini, the kidnaped mom, 23 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:52,160 Speaker 1: have emerged. In these photos, Sherry looks gaunt, very very thin, frail, weak, pale. 24 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:56,520 Speaker 1: Her beautiful long blonde hair that she wore her crowning 25 00:01:56,520 --> 00:02:02,880 Speaker 1: glory isn't it's unseen. It's took severely under a cap because, 26 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:07,120 Speaker 1: according to her, her kidnappers cut off all of her hair. 27 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:12,480 Speaker 1: We're talking about Sherry p Paeni out of Sacramento Valley 28 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:15,600 Speaker 1: and with me is Alan Duke. You know, Alan Duke, 29 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:21,400 Speaker 1: investigative reporter. So many people have doubted her story. Why. 30 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:24,960 Speaker 1: I've covered several sensational stories in which a person claimed 31 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:28,200 Speaker 1: to have been kidnapped, sometimes by a person of another race, 32 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:31,760 Speaker 1: and it turned out they just ran away for whatever 33 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:35,040 Speaker 1: reasons they left. Maybe they wanted to break from the 34 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:37,400 Speaker 1: life they didn't like, or or they wanted to avoid 35 00:02:37,480 --> 00:02:40,919 Speaker 1: something coming up. Since it's rare for a kidnapped woman 36 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:44,240 Speaker 1: to be freed by kidnappers weeks later, it triggers those 37 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:47,919 Speaker 1: suspicions with something like this happens. We remember those hoaxes 38 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:50,680 Speaker 1: and we try to put this case in that box. 39 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:53,160 Speaker 1: Are you talking ba ba ba? Wait? Are you talking 40 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:57,000 Speaker 1: about Jennifer will Banks, the runaway bride? Who it was 41 00:02:57,040 --> 00:03:01,680 Speaker 1: the night before her wedding and she disappeared and there 42 00:03:01,720 --> 00:03:05,639 Speaker 1: was a massive search for her. And as it turned out, 43 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:09,919 Speaker 1: she blamed I think she blamed a couple of Hispanic 44 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:13,120 Speaker 1: guys and gave a very vague description and said she 45 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:16,720 Speaker 1: had been assaulted. And as it turned out, what had 46 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:20,000 Speaker 1: really happened and she got cold feet and took a powder. 47 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:24,040 Speaker 1: She was the real runaway bride. So are you somehow 48 00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:29,320 Speaker 1: alan equating Sherry Peppini with the runaway bride? Is that 49 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:32,600 Speaker 1: what I'm hearing? I'm exactly doing that. I covered that 50 00:03:32,639 --> 00:03:35,040 Speaker 1: story very very closely. Of course, she was in the 51 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:38,720 Speaker 1: Atlanta area, uh, and it was a very dramatic thing. 52 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:41,640 Speaker 1: It ended I believe in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She ended 53 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:45,560 Speaker 1: up taking a bus from Atlanta to Albuquerque, New Mexico. 54 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:49,160 Speaker 1: When the police found her. I think it was at 55 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:51,920 Speaker 1: a bus station in Albuquerque. I was on duty work 56 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:53,960 Speaker 1: in the story at that moment, and we were so 57 00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:57,880 Speaker 1: shocked when we found out what really happened that it 58 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:00,040 Speaker 1: was she just got cold feet and she ran, and 59 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:02,840 Speaker 1: of course we call her the runaway Brian Well. I 60 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:07,400 Speaker 1: remember that because I had been in touch with her parents, 61 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:11,920 Speaker 1: with her father specifically, and he was heart broken. The 62 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:15,520 Speaker 1: h E double l she put her family through. But okay, 63 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:17,920 Speaker 1: we're going can we get it back in the middle 64 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:20,760 Speaker 1: of the road, Alan Duke, all right, because we're way 65 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:24,320 Speaker 1: out in the weeds right now. We're talking about Sherry Peppini, 66 00:04:24,839 --> 00:04:29,479 Speaker 1: the mother of two young children that disappears. But this 67 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:34,560 Speaker 1: is this is the difference. Sherry Peppini had been out 68 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:38,880 Speaker 1: ostensibly jogging as I started. Her husband comes home, The 69 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:41,840 Speaker 1: children don't run to the door, she doesn't answer the door. 70 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:45,200 Speaker 1: He can't find her. He calls the daycare. The children 71 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:47,839 Speaker 1: are still there. She had never come to pick them up. 72 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:52,240 Speaker 1: That was the first. Then he does he find my 73 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:56,640 Speaker 1: iPhone up, and he finds her iPhone on a jogging 74 00:04:56,680 --> 00:05:02,320 Speaker 1: trail with her earbuds, with her hair ostensibly wound up 75 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:05,440 Speaker 1: in the earbuds. So that's where it all starts. He 76 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:09,119 Speaker 1: immediately calls one. It's right before Thanksgiving, like two weeks 77 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:14,520 Speaker 1: before Thanksgiving. And can you even imagine I remember not this, 78 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:18,400 Speaker 1: but the last Thanksgiving, my Dad, it just passed away. 79 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:23,159 Speaker 1: And when we all gathered, the weight of that empty 80 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:29,440 Speaker 1: chair was just over whelming. And I imagined the Peppini's 81 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:33,720 Speaker 1: Alan Duke at Thanksgiving how that was going to be. 82 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:38,040 Speaker 1: But that's not the way it turned out. Because that day, Alan, 83 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:42,480 Speaker 1: remember this, motorists call nine one one. They passed her, 84 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:46,000 Speaker 1: but they called one. Motorist finally stopped and out of 85 00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:50,800 Speaker 1: nowhere comes Sherry Peppini. She's practically starved, her hair is 86 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:54,200 Speaker 1: all cut off, she's covered in bruises, and she has 87 00:05:54,279 --> 00:05:57,960 Speaker 1: a chain around her waist and she is bound chained 88 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:01,279 Speaker 1: to a heavy object. Now, are you telling me that 89 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:06,159 Speaker 1: you think she staged that whole thing? No, exactly, I'm 90 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:09,440 Speaker 1: not saying that because of whatever how we found her. 91 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:12,400 Speaker 1: When you look at all of that evidence that you 92 00:06:12,480 --> 00:06:15,320 Speaker 1: just gave, it's hard to imagine that she is one 93 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:19,560 Speaker 1: of those runaway brides or one of those hoax situations, 94 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:22,600 Speaker 1: because how do you self inflict that on yourself? Well 95 00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:25,080 Speaker 1: did you just say, how do your self inflict that 96 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:30,080 Speaker 1: on yourself? Well? Bad English? Okay, poor, it's poor English. 97 00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:33,720 Speaker 1: It's poor English. Once again, we're often Alan, do Gland. 98 00:06:33,839 --> 00:06:36,800 Speaker 1: Let's get back and sharing a peaty world. Here's another thing. 99 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:38,919 Speaker 1: I'll tell you why people I think had a problem 100 00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:43,559 Speaker 1: with it, because statistically it's unheard of. She says that 101 00:06:43,720 --> 00:06:47,400 Speaker 1: she is kidnapped in an area where there's a very 102 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:52,360 Speaker 1: little crime by two female Hispanic females. First of all, 103 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:54,840 Speaker 1: for a female to commit this kind of crime is 104 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:57,680 Speaker 1: unheard of, if you look at the methods and assessment 105 00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:03,160 Speaker 1: of homicide, very very rare that a female executes a 106 00:07:03,279 --> 00:07:07,000 Speaker 1: violent crime another female like this. She says she never 107 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:08,880 Speaker 1: saw their faces. They kept a hood on her the 108 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:12,040 Speaker 1: whole time, although now we're hearing that one has salt 109 00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:15,120 Speaker 1: and pepper straight hair and one has curly hair, and 110 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:17,080 Speaker 1: one's older than the other one, so you had to 111 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:20,360 Speaker 1: see them somehow. But she says she was kept captive. 112 00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:25,080 Speaker 1: I mean, statistically, alan sev of violent crimes are committed 113 00:07:25,120 --> 00:07:28,800 Speaker 1: by men, twenty by women the remaining five percent. We 114 00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:30,320 Speaker 1: don't know if it was a man or a woman, 115 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:34,520 Speaker 1: so this is highly unlikely. I also think that if 116 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:38,360 Speaker 1: her wounds were self inflicted, doctors would be able to 117 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:43,400 Speaker 1: tell that. So I assume that they are not self inflicted, 118 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:45,920 Speaker 1: or there would not still be a search going on. 119 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:51,520 Speaker 1: It's odd on either side, and that's what we're left with. 120 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:54,720 Speaker 1: You want to believe that it is not a hoax, 121 00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:56,520 Speaker 1: and there's plenty of reason not to believe it at 122 00:07:56,560 --> 00:07:58,520 Speaker 1: a is a hoax. But as you say, this is 123 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:01,600 Speaker 1: against the odds. But there are the those aberrations, There 124 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:04,800 Speaker 1: are those cases where something happens that is against the norm, 125 00:08:04,960 --> 00:08:07,800 Speaker 1: and this sounds like it's one of those. Are so 126 00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:12,120 Speaker 1: anxious to rush judging her and say she made the 127 00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:14,640 Speaker 1: whole thing up. But let's think about it. The husband 128 00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:19,400 Speaker 1: apparently took a polygraph and passed that was reported, So 129 00:08:19,440 --> 00:08:21,800 Speaker 1: in order to think this was a hoax, what the 130 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:24,360 Speaker 1: husband was in on it, I don't believe that they 131 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:28,000 Speaker 1: would do that to their children or their families. So 132 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:30,080 Speaker 1: let's just say the husband's not in on it, say 133 00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:34,000 Speaker 1: it's all her. So what she starved herself for almost 134 00:08:34,040 --> 00:08:37,120 Speaker 1: three weeks, beat herself, branded herself, and cut off her 135 00:08:37,160 --> 00:08:40,520 Speaker 1: own hair. While you would expect such a kidnapping would 136 00:08:40,559 --> 00:08:44,319 Speaker 1: be carried out by men, and Peppini says her kidnappers 137 00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:46,839 Speaker 1: were women. Could it be though, that these women were 138 00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:49,920 Speaker 1: part of a group including men, and they were just 139 00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:54,160 Speaker 1: chosen to be the primary kidnappers. But but still why 140 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:56,400 Speaker 1: would they take her, keep her for two weeks and 141 00:08:56,400 --> 00:08:58,839 Speaker 1: and and then set her free. Well, you know that's 142 00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:01,440 Speaker 1: another good point, Alan, and I agree with you, because 143 00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:03,480 Speaker 1: you've got to look at Although the state does not 144 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:05,960 Speaker 1: have to prove motive at trial, you have to look 145 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:09,400 Speaker 1: at does this make sense. It reminds me a little 146 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:11,719 Speaker 1: bit of the job in a case, because I always said, 147 00:09:11,720 --> 00:09:14,040 Speaker 1: why would a kidnapper come in the home to steal 148 00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:16,880 Speaker 1: job in a for ransom and then at the last 149 00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:19,480 Speaker 1: minute go, oh, you know what, I just think I'll 150 00:09:19,559 --> 00:09:21,680 Speaker 1: kill her and you're and leave her forget about the ransom. 151 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:25,439 Speaker 1: Doesn't make sense. Why would two women come along, kidnap 152 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:28,040 Speaker 1: her for whatever reason and then go, you know what, 153 00:09:28,679 --> 00:09:30,560 Speaker 1: forget about that. I'm just gonna throw her out on 154 00:09:30,600 --> 00:09:32,120 Speaker 1: the side of the road and be done with it. 155 00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:35,680 Speaker 1: It doesn't really make sense, right. I've covered a lot 156 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:38,280 Speaker 1: of crimes that are just by the book, and the 157 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:42,080 Speaker 1: detectives sort of know they've been there, done that, got 158 00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:45,840 Speaker 1: the T shirt, and they start to expect normal patterns. 159 00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:49,400 Speaker 1: But this one doesn't fit a normal pattern. Are detectives 160 00:09:49,400 --> 00:09:51,439 Speaker 1: equipped to think out of the box like that? I mean, 161 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:54,400 Speaker 1: you work with them, prosecutors, how hard is it for 162 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:56,560 Speaker 1: them to think out of the box. Well, of course 163 00:09:56,600 --> 00:10:00,679 Speaker 1: they are. I mean, I think that really minimizes their capacities. 164 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:03,600 Speaker 1: They think just like we think, but at a certain 165 00:10:03,640 --> 00:10:05,520 Speaker 1: and they know a lot more than we know, but 166 00:10:05,559 --> 00:10:09,200 Speaker 1: at a certain point they get stumped. Well, here's the deal. 167 00:10:09,679 --> 00:10:13,800 Speaker 1: She's home now, her families are relieved, her children have 168 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:17,920 Speaker 1: their mother back. So far, we believe he has passed 169 00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:21,480 Speaker 1: a lie detector tests. And in order to believe that 170 00:10:21,559 --> 00:10:24,480 Speaker 1: she did this herself should either have to have an 171 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:28,040 Speaker 1: accomplice or she would have had to inflict these wounds 172 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:32,079 Speaker 1: on herself and starved herself. And back to the big development. 173 00:10:32,400 --> 00:10:36,120 Speaker 1: She's first spotted for the first time since she in public, 174 00:10:36,679 --> 00:10:41,040 Speaker 1: since she was kidnapped, and she is emaciated looking. She's 175 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:46,000 Speaker 1: very thin, weak, pale. She's wearing a baseball cap with 176 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:50,000 Speaker 1: a hoodie over that and a jacket over that. The 177 00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:53,840 Speaker 1: jack is huge, swallows her up and she's with her 178 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:56,760 Speaker 1: children and her husband. So at the end of the day, 179 00:10:56,960 --> 00:11:01,440 Speaker 1: miracles do happen, Alan do miracles you happen? It could 180 00:11:01,440 --> 00:11:03,319 Speaker 1: be very well that that is what this is. It 181 00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:06,080 Speaker 1: is a miracle. The odds of her coming back. We've 182 00:11:06,080 --> 00:11:09,360 Speaker 1: seen a couple of the really sensational cases where somebody 183 00:11:09,360 --> 00:11:12,600 Speaker 1: emerges after years and years after a kidnapping. A couple 184 00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:15,880 Speaker 1: of weeks is pretty remarkable in itself. This is one 185 00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:18,040 Speaker 1: thing I think when I see a picture like these 186 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:20,560 Speaker 1: photos that we're seeing, I'm thankful to see that she's 187 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:24,160 Speaker 1: doing okay, But I'm wondering, are people stalking her trying 188 00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:26,440 Speaker 1: to get pictures of her this crime victim in order 189 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:28,400 Speaker 1: to make a little money. Now does she have to 190 00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:30,959 Speaker 1: worry about that? Well? I can answer that right now. Yes, 191 00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:34,800 Speaker 1: they are. They certainly are. That is something she's going 192 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:37,319 Speaker 1: to have to endure for quite a while until this 193 00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:40,240 Speaker 1: case is finally put to rest. You either have to 194 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:44,000 Speaker 1: believe her or believe she could have done this all 195 00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:47,640 Speaker 1: as some sort of hoax and left behind her children. 196 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:50,439 Speaker 1: And I gotta tell you something, Alan, I thought I 197 00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:53,080 Speaker 1: knew what love was until I had the twins, and 198 00:11:53,160 --> 00:11:56,920 Speaker 1: there is nothing compared to a mother's love. And maybe 199 00:11:56,960 --> 00:11:59,600 Speaker 1: I'm projecting, but I find it very hard to believe 200 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:02,480 Speaker 1: that she would willingly leave for children as part of 201 00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:05,760 Speaker 1: some hoax. Find it hard to believe. So, just for 202 00:12:05,960 --> 00:12:10,079 Speaker 1: right now, Alan, can we stop analyzing Sherry Peppini in 203 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:13,800 Speaker 1: the possibility she pulled a hoax and just be happy. 204 00:12:14,440 --> 00:12:17,000 Speaker 1: I agree with that. I'm with you on that that, 205 00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:22,400 Speaker 1: Alan Duke, I will sign off and say goodbye friends 206 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:24,480 Speaker 1: and thank you for being with us.