Sherri Papini Had Male DNA on Her After Alleged Kidnapping by Two Women

Sherri Papini had both male and female DNA on her when she was found 22 days after allegedly being kidnapped last November while jogging near her Redding, California, home, police tell PEOPLE.

“The male DNA was compiled from the clothing Sherri was found wearing,” Shasta County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Brian Jackson tells PEOPLE. Jackson says the female DNA sample was taken from Papini’s body at the hospital.

The samples were uploaded into the CODIS DNA database in April or May, says Jackson, but there have thus far been no matches to known offenders. The DNA from Sherri’s husband, Keith, was not among the two profiles, authorities said.

Jackson says Papini’s alleged female abductors gave her clothing to wear so it was possible “that the clothing that was provided to Sherri are clothes that belonged to somebody who was an acquaintance of the captors, and hopefully down the road, once we get these females identified, we will get the answers for that.”

Papini told police she was abducted at gunpoint and held captive by two armed Hispanic females, one in her 20s or 30s and the other between 40 and 50, who spoke Spanish the majority of the time.

‘Online/Texting’ Relationship with Michigan Man

The sheriff’s office also revealed in a Wednesday press release that Papini and a male acquaintance from Michigan were involved in a “online/texting relationship.” Jackson would not specify whether or not it was romantic.

“The text messages went back several months to days before her disappearance,” says Jackson. “It was a prior contact that she had years before. Somebody she met and kept in contact with. A male acquaintance she was talking with through texting.”

Jackson says the acquaintance had visited California — but not Redding — days before Papini went missing, adding that “there is no indication they met up. That is why we went back to Michigan and ruled out” that the acquaintance was involved.

Papini vanished on Nov. 2, 2016. Papini’s husband Keith said he came home and discovered his wife missing. He later found her phone with earbuds still attached and strands of blond hair near a local jogging trail.

Twenty-two days later, around 4:30 on Thanksgiving morning, a motorist spotted Papini frantically waving on the side of a rural Yolo County road — about 150 miles south of her Redding home.

Keith Papini said his wife was covered in bruises — ranging from yellow to black — because of alleged repeated beatings. The bridge of her nose was broken and her long blond hair was chopped off.

Authorities also announced Wednesday that Papini had been branded on the back of her right shoulder. She was “battered and she had bruises in various stages of healing indicating she had been physically assaulted multiple times over a period of time,” according to a sheriff’s news release.

Papini told investigators that she was not sexually assaulted, and “there is no physical evidence to indicate otherwise,” the release states.

‘No Information That Would Indicate’ Papini’s Story is Untrue, Says Sergeant

Also on Wednesday, authorities released sketches of the two women described by Papini and announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to their identification.

During her alleged abduction, Papini told investigators she got into an altercation with the younger abductor in the bathroom when she was allowed to shower, Jackson says.

“During that altercation, she reported she slammed the captor’s head into the toilet in the bathroom before she was subdued and returned to her room where she was held,” says Jackson. “She reported she had cut the side of her foot during the confrontation. However, when photographs of Sherri were being reviewed at the hospital, there is no evidence of the cuts seen in the photographs.”

Jackson adds, “It is obviously an inconsistency,” but he says that under stressful circumstances, people often have foggy recollections.

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Despite the apparent inconsistencies, Jackson says he believes Papini was abducted.

“I was one of the interviewers initially and we are moving forward,” he says. “There is no information that would indicate that it is not true. We are working on trying to solidify information and that is why we are working on the sketches with the FBI, and hopefully somebody will be able to recognize the females in those and provide us with concrete information so we can move forward and get some people in custody.”

Jackson says they also have ruled out sex trafficking as a motive for her abduction. “Just on the facts that we know it doesn’t seem to be a sex trafficking or a sexual abduction in nature, and that is what we are trying to figure out: What was the purpose?” he says. “Why was she released? It is hard to keep somebody in captivity for 22 days. Why would somebody go to that length? Those are all types of questions we all have.”