Abducted Jogger Sherri Papini's Family Slams Hostage Negotiator Who Hijacked Case
March 9 2017, Published 9:41 a.m. ET
Kidnapped California woman Sherri Papini's sister Shelia Koester tells RadarOnline exclusively that the family is distancing themselves from a shady hostage negotiator who emerged as a central figure as the case unfolded in November.
Papini was kidnapped while out for a jog on November 2 in Northern California, only to be left on the side of the road by her kidnappers on Thanksgiving morning.
Hostage negotiator Cameron Gamble initially tried to work with the family to solve the case, but now, Papini's sister Sheila Koester told RadarOnline.com, the family is asking him to go away.
"We are urging him not to do any more interviews," Koester said.
The Shasta County Sheriff's Department has previously requested a media blackout while it investigates the case, and that sentiment is echoed to RadarOnline.com by Koester: "We are not discussing the case while it's being investigated."
Papini's husband, Keith Papini did speak about the case early on, saying wife Sherri was masked or her assailants were masked at any given time. As such, she was only able to offer their descriptions as two Hispanic females: One had straight black hair with some green in it and the other one had long curly hair, she said.
Papini was out for a jog in her hometown of Redding, California when she was taken. After several frantic pleas from her family for her safe return, an anonymous donor came forward and offered $50,000.00 as a ransom, through self-proclaimed hostage negotiator Gamble.
When her captures fail to return her within the allotted 100 hours, the donor again, by way of Gamble, raised the amount to $100,000. Within 24 hours of the reward announcement, on Thanksgiving morning, Papini was found on the side of a highway beaten, chained and weighing just 87 pounds. Her kidnappers never collected any money.
After that, the rumors began, with many asking just how Gamble came to be involved with the case. A self-defense expert for women, he never revealed how he was handling the negotiations, or the identity of the cloaked donor.
The mystery of what really happened to Sherri Papini remains unsolved.
We pay for juicy info! Do you have a story for RadarOnline.com? Email us at tips@radaronline.com, or call us at 800-344-9598 any time, day or night.