Netflix Watcher Leads to Missing Child's Discovery and Mother's Arrest in North Carolina Mystery

Unsolved Mysteries, a Netflix original series, had a special on family abductions in November. One of the cases covered was that of Kayla Unbehaun, who went missing from South Elgin, Illinois, at the age of 9 after seeing her mother, who didn't have custody of her. Kayla, who is now 15 years old, was located almost six years later.

According to NBC Chicago, the teen was discovered in North Carolina after her mother, Heather Unbehaun, was spotted over the weekend at an Asheville consignment store by a sharp-eyed viewer of the Netflix series.

According to WLS, Unbehaun had packed up her car and left with Kayla when Kayla's father, Ryan Iskerka, went to pick his daughter up from her mother's residence in Wheaton on July 5, 2017. Iskerka had complete custody, whereas Unbehaun had just visitation rights. In an effort to find Kayla, the National Centre for Missing & Exploited Children released an alert about her and even circulated an age-progressed photo of her. No one did, according to an Asheville police representative who spoke to NBC, until this past Saturday when a passerby recognized Unbehaun from "published media" and alerted the authorities.

 

Unbehaun, 40, was detained and charged with kidnapping a child; it's unclear if more charges will be brought. She will be extradited to Illinois and is being imprisoned under a $250,000 bail. The Division of Social Services in North Carolina was given custody of Kayla, who will now be returned to her family in her native state.

Meanwhile, the news has her father jumping for joy. He issues a statement saying, "I'm overjoyed that Kayla is home safe." "As we navigate this new beginning and get to know each other again, we ask for privacy."

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