The male DNA on Papini’s clothing came from someone she had been living with voluntarily, not from a kidnapper who had assaulted her.
Reyes was not charged with any crime. His cooperation with investigators, his polygraph passage, and his status as someone Papini had deceived into providing shelter — rather than a participant in the fraud against law enforcement — appears to have informed that decision.
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## Confronting Sherri Papini
After the Reyes interview, investigators faced the task of confronting Papini with what they had learned.
In August 2020, detectives interviewed Papini and Keith together. Investigators disclosed the DNA match — told Papini that the male DNA on her clothing had been identified as James Reyes, that Reyes had spoken to them, and that Reyes had provided a detailed account of what had actually occurred.
Papini’s documented response to the disclosure was revealing. She expressed disbelief. She said there was “no way this is James.” She characterized Reyes as someone who loved her. She deflected and continued to maintain elements of her kidnapping account. She acknowledged, when pressed, that she had had contact with other men, including some flirtatious communication. But she did not, in that August 2020 interview, concede the hoax.
Keith Papini’s response to the confrontation was visceral. He walked out of the interview room at one point. He told investigators, according to subsequent reporting on the case, that he had been “the idiot husband who stayed around the whole time.” He described his wife as having committed to the lie every single day of their life together after November 2016. He denied ever abusing her — the claim she had made to Reyes to secure his cooperation.