I'm still in the camp believing this was an abduction, rather than a hoax. My belief is based on what we've seen and been told so far, and is subject to change if other information is revealed. I will confess that if I were to start firmly onto the hoax path with no particular evidence, and it turns out that it really is an abduction, I'm going to feel terrible. So I will stay put and risk being wrong...again (I was sure Sherri had been murdered).
I do agree that this case is very strange, but I just don't see hoax in the actions of anyone that we've seen so far. I would really be straining to reach that conclusion, personally.
At this point, I don't think Sherri was abducted at random. I just don't see someone happening upon her near that intersection and deciding to take her for some reason. I do think (without any indicators I can point to) that the abduction was related to something Sherri or someone in her inner circle has said or done in the past or present. I doubt they ever intended to kill her, but rather to inflict pain on her and her family (physical and/or emotional), either for revenge or to teach a lesson. Once they felt that sufficient damage had been done and/or the amount of publicity and reward could uncover them, they released her.
As usual, this is JMO and I am prepared to be wrong. It won't be the first time or the last.