Abducted at the age of nine, Kayla Unbehaun was located six years later through the help of the popular Netflix series Unsolved Mysteries, leading to her identification in North Carolina.
Fifteen-year-old Kayla Unbehaun, who was taken by her mother at the age of nine, has been discovered in Asheville, North Carolina, thanks to an unidentified stranger recognizing her from an episode of Netflix’s Unsolved Mysteries in a local shop.
The National Center for Missing And Exploited Children (NCMEC), an organization dedicated to locating missing individuals, has been actively searching for Kayla for the past six years. They revealed that Kayla’s non-custodial mother, Heather Unbehaun, abducted the young girl from South Elgin, Illinois, on July 5, 2017.
According to Kayla’s father, Ryan, Kayla had been staying with her mother for a few days. When Ryan arrived to pick her up, both Kayla and her mother were nowhere to be found.
CNN reports that Heather Unbehaun did not have legal custody of her daughter and was only permitted supervised visits. In response to her actions, police issued a felony arrest warrant for Heather on kidnapping charges on July 28, 2017.
Over an extended period, Ryan Unbehaun fervently sought his daughter, collaborating with organizations such as NCMEC to assist in the investigation. Additionally, he established the Facebook group “Bring Kayla Home,” where he shared ongoing updates about the case. In January of this year, Ryan shared a heartfelt birthday post for Kayla:
“Happy 15th birthday, Kayla. I love you and miss you so much. I can’t wait for the day that I get to see you again, hoping each day I wake up will be the day. It could never come soon enough. I think of you every day hoping and praying that you are safe and happy and that you will come back into my life soon.”
Within his message, Ryan also recognized the possibility that Heather might have persuaded Kayla into believing he was deceased or that she could be sharing information intended to create a rift between Kayla and him.
“You are a young woman now with your own thoughts and opinions,” he wrote. “I hope you are old enough to realize you only know half of the story from one point of view. I hope you could remember [the] truth about how things were when we were all able to be together, how good things really were. The truth is I’m still alive and love you with every beat of my heart.”
Thankfully, NCMEC produced an age progression image of Kayla Unbehaun, featured in a 2022 episode of the popular Netflix series Unsolved Mysteries, garnering attention from millions of viewers.
The breakthrough in identifying Kayla Unbehaun came through the popular show.
During a shopping trip with her mother at Plato’s Closet Asheville, 15-year-old Kayla attracted the notice of an unknown individual who identified her from the show.
Subsequently, the observant stranger informed a store employee, who discreetly contacted the police. Law enforcement arrived, and apprehended Heather Unbehaun, and she is currently facing child abduction charges, detained in Asheville under a $250,000 bond. Meanwhile, Kayla has been happily reunited with her father.
Following the arrest news, NCMEC expressed their joy in a celebratory statement on Twitter, announcing, “NCMEC is excited to share that Kayla Unbehaun has been found safe in North Carolina!”
Amidst the jubilation from NCMEC and the public, the individual who has undoubtedly celebrated the most is Ryan Unbehaun.
In a public statement issued by NCMEC, Ryan wrote: “I’m overjoyed that Kayla is home safe. I want to thank the South Elgin Police Department, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and all of the law enforcement agencies who assisted with her case. We ask for privacy as we get to know each other again and navigate this new beginning.”
