In October 2020, 13-year-old Lauryn Licari and her then-boyfriend, Owen McKenny, began receiving anonymous abusive messages. After stopping briefly, the harassment resumed nearly a year later. Disturbingly, some texts told Lauryn she was “worthless” and “trash,” while others said they wanted to “bang” Owen.
Lauryn’s mother, Kendra Licari, worked with school officials and police to find the stalker—only for investigators to discover it was Kendra herself. The shocking case is explored in Netflix’s Unknown Number: The High School Catfish.
Lauryn’s father, Shawn Licari, recalled the moment he learned the truth: “I get this crazy phone call at work, and it’s the sheriff… he’s like, ‘I’m sorry, I gotta’ tell you this… unfortunately it’s your wife.’” Bodycam footage showed police seizing Kendra’s phones and computer, charging her with felony stalking.
In the documentary, Kendra claimed she began sending texts only to “get to the bottom of who it was,” but admitted, “I just kept going, it was a spiral… I was in an awful place mentally.” She expressed deep regret, saying she had let her family down.
Lauryn now lives with Shawn, who has full custody.