Sherri Papini Suspect Update: California Human Trafficking Stings Lead To 474 Arrests But Her Kidnappers Are Still At Large

Three months have passed since the November 2016 kidnapping of northern California mother Sherri Papini, but police are yet to solve the case. The kidnapping case that many believe was linked to human trafficking saw some progress as police successfully carried out multiple sting operations over the last few days focusing on human trafficking in California.

Police arrested 474 people during a three-day operation conducted by 30 law enforcement agencies across the state last week, Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell reportedly said. Authorities said that 28 children, who were being sexually exploited, were victims of sex trafficking.

The arrests represent a “very sad commentary on the condition we’re dealing with,” McDonnell told local media.

District Attorney Jackie Lacey expressed his anger over the human trafficking, and added that authorities won’t tolerate children being sexually exploited. Over the last few months, several areas in California witnessed kidnapping of women aged 20-30 years. The number of reports related to abductions has also seen a spike in the last few weeks.

While police are progressing in their work to curb human trafficking in California, the abductors of Papini still are at large.

The mother of two disappeared Nov. 2 while out jogging near her home in Redding, California. She was later found heavily battered on Thanksgiving morning after being spotted by a motorist on Interstate 5 in Woodland, more than 150 miles from her home. Police are still searching for the suspects in the case, believed to be two Hispanic women — one with curly hair, and the other with straight hair — who had covered their faces and spoke mostly Spanish.

In an interview with ABC News in December, Papini's husband, Keith, said that his wife's abduction scarred her severely.

“When lights are off, when doors shut, when she hears certain sounds, I mean it’s something that I don’t know how to deal with, and we’ll need somebody who can help her through that from a professional standpoint,” he said.

Early in January, Papini was photographed for the first time in public since she went missing. The New York Post published photos of Papini and her family outside a house in Redding, California.