Watch trailer for Netflix’s ‘Unknown Number: The High School Catfish’
“Unknown Number: The High School Catfish” has sparked internet chatter over the cyberstalking crime that changed the lives of many in Beal City.
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Spoiler alert! This story discusses details in the documentary “Unknown Number: The High School Catfish.”
“Unknown Number: The High School Catfish” has been the talk of social media since dropping on Netflix on Aug. 29.
The documentary dives deep into a real-life cyberbullying case that shook the small town of Beal City, Michigan, in 2020, when teenagers Lauryn Licari and her then-boyfriend Owen began receiving threatening text messages from an unknown number.
After a brief pause, the messages resumed in September 2021 and escalated into thousands of vile and threatening text messages sent over the next 15 months. The messages contained information only someone close to Lauryn would have known, throwing twist into the mystery.
Police began their investigation by focusing on Lauryn and Owen’s classmates and friends, and when the investigation stalled, the FBI eventually traced the messages to someone nobody expected.
Here’s what know about the documentary – and what we know about the actual case.
Who was sending the text messages?
The FBI eventually traced the text messages to a person viewers would never suspect: Lauryn’s mother, Kendra Licari.
The documentary shows the real-time body camera footage of the encounter between Isabella County Sheriff Mike Main and Kendra Licari, including the reveal to Lauryn that her mother was behind the messages.
Was Kendra Licari arrested?
In December 2022, Kendra Licari was arrested and charged with multiple counts of stalking and using a computer to commit a crime, reported ABC News and the Morning Sun, a news outlet based in Mount Pleasant, Michigan.
Licari pleaded guilty to two counts of stalking a minor and was sentenced to 19 months to five years in prison, according to reporting from TODAY.com.
Where are Kendra Licari and her daughter now?
Licari was released on parole on Aug. 8, 2024, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections website, and she will be supervised as a parolee until February 2026.
At the time filming of the documentary concluded, Licari still wanted to be a part of her daughter’s life, according to Borgman.
How and why was Kendra Licari included in the documentary?
According to an interview with director Skye Borgman published on Tudum, the official companion site to Netflix’s online streaming library, much of the film had already been completed before Kendra Licari agreed to be interviewed.
“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 in the interview.
For those viewers questioning why Kendra Licari virtually harassed her own daughter, the answer is not made entirely clear in the documentary, Borgman explained in the interview.
“I don’t know that she really knows why she did it,” Borgman said.
Licari’s own explanation in the documentary is also complex, as she mentions her own personal trauma.
How to watch ‘Unknown Number: The High School Catfish’
The documentary is streaming now on Netflix. Netflix subscriptions range from a standard membership with ads at $7.99 a month to premium subscriptions starting at $24.99 a month.
Gabe Hauari is a national trending news reporter at USA TODAY. You can follow him on X @GabeHauari or email him at Gdhauari@gannett.com.
