Netflix is captivating millions of viewers with its latest documentary, Unknown Number: The High School Catfish. The true story features a Michigan woman named Kendra Licari, who catfished her own daughter by sending disturbing text messages with an unknown number. The series of texts included messages that told the 13-year-old daughter, Lauryn, to kill herself. Pretending to be a classmate, Licari also demanded her daughter break up with her boyfriend. After sending the messages continually for more than a year, Licari was sentenced to at least 19 months in prison in 2023, Time reported.

What did the new Netflix documentary reveal about Kendra Licari’s text messages to her daughter?

Lauryn said in the Netflix documentary that she repeatedly called the phone from which the texts were coming, but nobody ever answered. The young woman also revealed that the catfisher was insistent on trying to break her up from her boyfriend Owen. For months, the mother pretended to be Owen’s secret crush and told Lauryn that the boyfriend liked her better.

“Owen is breaking up with her you,” Licari told Lauryn in her texts. She also said, “We’re both DTF. He will be with me while your lonely ugly a** is alone.” In another lewd message, the mystery sender said, “He wants sex, bjs n making out, he don’t want ur sry a**.” The catfisher referred to Lauryn as “Lo,” suggesting that the person was someone who knew her closely.

Owen, who also received the messages, was getting at least 30–50 texts per day from the unknown person. Although Owen and Lauryn eventually broke up, hoping the messages would stop if they split, the threats still continued.

“Kill yourself now b***h, his life would be better if you were dead,” Licari said in the messages, adding hashtags such as “#bangbang #suicide.”

How did Kendra Licari get caught after catfishing her daughter for months?

Local authorities worked with the FBI to determine that the mystery person was using an app that hides phone numbers. Officials then issued a search warrant for the app and learned that the messages were coming from a Verizon number. When they later followed up with a search warrant to Verizon, investigators saw Licari’s number come up several times. It was a stunning turn of events for investigators, who noted that Licari appeared to be cooperating with the investigation the whole time.

In December 2022, police arrested Licari at her house and took her devices.

Where is Kendra Licari now?

After she was arrested in 2022, Licari was charged with multiple counts of stalking and using a computer to commit a crime. Licari, who pleaded guilty to two counts of stalking a minor, was sentenced to 19 months to five years in prison, per Netflix’s Tudum. She was released on Aug. 8, 2024.

Licari then agreed to be interviewed for the Netflix documentary, although she was hesitant at first. Director Skye Borgman said the mother decided to take the opportunity to tell her side of the story.

“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,” Borgman said.

As for Lauryn, Borgman said she is approaching her relationship with her mother very cautiously.

“She’s done a lot of pretty critical thinking, especially between that time and now … These years are such critical years for young people,” Borgman said. “She’s got the most complicated feelings to deal with. Everybody else can hate Kendra. I don’t think Lauryn can, right? It’s your mom. I mean, how do you navigate that? It’s really uncharted waters.”