Lauryn Licari in "Unknown Number" on Netflix. (Netflix)Netflix's new documentary Unknown Number: The High School Catfish proves that sometimes, the call really is coming from inside the house. And sometimes, the person on the other end of the line is - spoiler alert - your mom.
The new documentary focuses on Lauryn Licari, a then-13-year-old high school student in Beal City, Mich., who, in October 2020, began receiving cruel, anonymous texts along with her boyfriend Owen McKenney. The messages briefly paused before resuming in September 2021. This led to more than a year of harassment, which sometimes included the anonymous person sending more than 40 messages per day. Many of the messages encouraged Lauryn to end her life.
An investigation led by Isabella County Sheriff Michael Main initially focused on their classmates - including Khloe Wilson, a freshman athlete in Lauryn and Owen's wider circle who was immediately eyed as a potential suspect. And since this harasser was using an app to change their number (which also made it impossible to block the messages), initial evidence suggested that Wilson was in fact the culprit. But it was all a clever ruse: The person sending the messages intentionally posed as Wilson to hide their identity, knowing she would be blamed.
AdvertisementAdvertisementBut when Wilson handed over her phone to forensics to prove she wasn't the culprit, the leads into who could be harassing Lauryn and Owen ran dry. Bay City police officer Bradley Peter, who was working with the FBI, stepped in and traced the messages back to a shocking source. The anonymous texter? Lauryn's mother, Kendra Licari.
The reveal upended everything people thought they knew about the case - and for Lauryn, it changed her relationship with her mom forever. But now that the dust has settled, where is everyone from the documentary? Here's what we know.
What happened to Kendra Licari?Kendra was taken into custody in December 2022 and faced two charges of stalking a minor and two charges of using communication to aid a crime. In April 2023, after pleading guilty to the stalking charges, she received a prison sentence of a minimum of 19 months, up to five years. She was released from prison in August 2024. She chose to participate in the documentary after much of it was already filmed, director Skye Borgman told Netflix's Tudum.
Shawn, Lauryn and Kendra Licari. (Netflix)"She's remorseful that she has severely altered her relationship with her daughter in most likely a negative way," Borgman said. "I mean, will they have a relationship? Will they get through this? I don't know. There will probably be some kind of relationship. Will it be the same? Absolutely not. There's no way it can be the same."AdvertisementAdvertisementKendra's husband, Shawn Licari, filed for divorce following the scandal. In the documentary, he said that he could not believe what his then wife had done to their daughter. "Just makes me sick," he said. "She stabbed me in the heart - shot me in the heart - and threw it away."When asked for her side of the story by the Cut, which wrote about the saga in January 2025, Kendra said: "I do ask that you truly think about the kids (minor kids) that are involved in this situation, including my daughter, who is trying to move forward and has a bright future ahead of herself."She added that stories about the situation are "doing additional harm" to Lauryn. "I can handle the pain, but she cannot and does not deserve it," Kendra wrote in an email. "She is moving forward with life and doesn't deserve to be put in the spotlight any more (or having people thinking her mom is a villain, as that is hard mentally and emotionally for her)."According to the Michigan Department of Corrections website, Kendra will remain a supervised parolee until February 2026.
Where is Lauryn Licari now?The harassing messages altered the course of Lauryn's life. It led to a split from Owen, who thought it would be best for them to break up in order for the messages to stop - which they did not. When Owen began dating someone else, that girl also began receiving messages. In the documentary, Lauryn stated that she and Owen no longer speak.
AdvertisementAdvertisementBut the biggest shift was in her relationship to her mother. Lauryn, who is now 18, was home when the police came to her house to confront Kendra, and sat with her mother as the truth was revealed to her about who was behind the harassment.
Kendra and Lauryn Licari. (Netflix)In a segment for the documentary that was filmed after Kendra was released from prison, Lauryn said she was not allowed to see her. "I want to see my mom when the time is right," she explained. "I think it would just be a relief to see her but, like, also hard.""I think I want to trust her now, but I don't think I can," she continued. "Now that she's out, I just want her to get the help that she needs so then when we see each other it doesn't go back to the old ways and how it was before."Borgman told Tudum t