Unknown Number: The High School Catfish – Who was behind the messages?
The new documentary has risen to Netflix's number one spot.
Unknown Number: The High School Catfish has risen to the number one spot on Netflix's top 10, with the documentary unpacking a real-life case of cyberbullying.
The case in question followed then 13-year-old Lauryn Licari and her then-boyfriend Owen, who began receiving text messages from an unknown number. The teens would receive up to 50 messages a day, often including threats and insults.
An investigation into the messages were led by Isabella County Sheriff Mike Main, who at first though the messages were coming from one of Lauryn and Owen's friends or classmates.
But nothing would prepare anyone for the actual person behind the hateful messages. Read on to find out the identity of the anonymous messenger in Unknown Number: The High School Catfish.
Who was behind the messages in Unknown Number: The High School Catfish?
It is revealed in the documentary that Kendra Licari was the anonymous figure who had been harassing her daughter Lauryn and her ex-boyfriend Owen.
The local police department had hit a brick wall in terms of uncovering who was behind the messages. That was until police officer Bradley Peter stepped in as a liaison to the FBI and tracked the messages to Kendra.
Peter was able to work out that some of the text messages were sent through an app that disguised phone numbers, and after submitting a search warrant to the app, he uncovered that Kendra's number kept showing up.
Reflecting in the documentary about what she did, Kendra said: "Realistically, a lot of us have probably broken the law at some point or another and not gotten caught. I'm sure people drove drunk, haven’t been caught."
Where is Kendra Licari now?
In December 2022, Kendra Licari was arrested and charged with two counts of stalking a minor and two counts of communicating with another to commit a crime.
Kendra pleaded guilty to two counts of stalking a minor and was sentenced to 19 months to five years in prison.
She was released from prison in 2024, and features in the Netflix documentary.
However, it took a lot of convincing Kendra to be interviewed for the documentary.
Director Skye Borgman told Tudum that it was "a long process with Kendra", before she eventually agreed to speak on the case.
Borgman explained: "That was appealing to her, [to] sit down and tell her story from her perspective and that Lauryn [could] see her do that. She wanted to do it, I think, for her daughter."
Where is Lauryn Licari now?
Lauryn Licari is now 18 years old and is planning to attend college and study criminology.
When the documentary makers first interviewed Lauryn in 2023, she wanted Kendra back in her life.
However, a year later, after Kendra had been released from prison, Lauryn's perspective shifted.
Borgman told Tudum: "[Lauryn's] done a lot of pretty critical thinking, especially between that time and now... These years are such critical years for young people."
She added: "She [Lauryn] is at the beginning of figuring out that she can be the one in charge, that she can make all the decisions for herself and for her relationship with her mother. I think that's going to be a really interesting place for Lauryn to explore."
If you or someone you know, including young adults and children, is struggling with their mental health or thoughts of suicide, information and resources are available at wannatalkaboutit.com
Unknown Number: The High School Catfish is available to watch on Netflix now.
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Authors
Katelyn Mensah is the Senior Entertainment Writer for Radio Times, covering all major entertainment programmes, reality TV shows and the latest hard-hitting documentaries. She previously worked at The Tab, with a focus on reality TV and showbiz news and has obtained a BA (Hons) in Journalism.
