Missing Illinois Girl Found In North Carolina Six Years After Abduction Thanks To Eagle-Eyed Netflix Viewer!
17.05.2023 - 17:03
/ perezhilton.com
A now-teenage girl who has been missing for the last six years has been reunited with her father after an unlikely discovery.
Back in 2017, Kayla Unbehaun — who was then only 9 years old — was abducted during a camping trip near her home in South Elgin, Illinois. Authorities suspected she was abducted by her mother, Heather Unbehaun (pictured above, in her mugshot), amid a child custody battle. However, they couldn’t locate either Kayla or Heather — for years. Despite considerable legwork by the Elgin PD and other law enforcement agencies, Kayla and Heather seemingly vanished.
Related: Police Accused Of KILLING 15-Year-Old Girl Trying To Escape Kidnapping
Then, last November, Kayla’s story was pushed forth as a featured part of Netflix‘s reboot of Unsolved Mysteries. The content service produced a segment on Kayla, her abduction, and her mother’s possible whereabouts. That first streamed late last year and has been racking up views on the streaming giant ever since. But still, no progress was made in the case.
Until this week!!! Over the weekend, Kayla and Heather were tracked down to a store in Asheville, North Carolina. The duo were shopping in a Plato’s Closet boutique in the western NC mountain town when the store owner recognized the girl from the Netflix series. The store owner thought quickly enough to call the cops and describe the situation. Police descended quickly, and a positive identification of the girl — who is now 15 years old — was confirmed.
Amazing!
At the scene, per WGN, Heather Unbehaun was arrested on child abduction charges. She was later released on bond from the Buncombe County Jail, per WLOS. Per People, as of Wednesday morning, it’s still unclear if she has yet entered a plea or hired an