Kendra Licari, the mother at the center of the Netflix documentary Unknown Number: The High School Catfish, made a startling admission about participating in the film.
The documentary focuses on Kendra’s daughter, Lauryn, who began receiving lewd and hateful messages from an unknown number when she was in high school.
Kendra collaborated with law enforcement to find the culprit, but in an unexpected twist, the FBI eventually traced the device’s IP address back to her.
Highlights
- Kendra Licari, the mother in Netflix's 'The High School Catfish,' admitted to anonymously bullying her daughter via aggressive texts.
- Director Skye Borgman said Kendra found filming the documentary “fun.”
- As part of her plea deal, Kendra is not allowed to see her 18-year-old daughter.
In 2023, the disgraced mother pleaded guilty to two counts of stalking a minor, receiving a maximum sentence of five years. She was released in August 2024, but isn’t allowed to see Lauryn due to her plea deal.
Image credits: Netflix
The story of the mother from the small town of Beal City, Michigan, sending threatening messages to her own daughter gained global attention with the release of the Netflix documentary, which has reportedly been viewed for nearly 42 million hours worldwide.
Director Skye Borgman told Variety that the mother was initially unsure about partaking in the documentary after what she had done to her child.
"She was nervous about going on camera, because just sitting down and telling your story is a nerve-racking thing sometimes," Skye said.
Image credits: Netflix
However, she ended up “really loving the experience,” the filmmaker added.
“At the end of it, she said it was kind of fun."
Kendra “laughed about things” while being interviewed for the documentary, Skye said, noting that the film offered the mother an “opportunity” to reflect on her actions in greater depth.
Kendra sent her teen daughter Lauryn extremely aggressive texts from an unknown number during high school
Image credits: Factual America Podcast
“Every time I would ask a question, she would really have to think about some things, and I think that was really good for her."
The director previously told Tudum that getting Kendra to sit in front of the camera was “a long process.”
Image credits: Netflix
Eventually, she agreed to the request because she wanted to “tell her story from her perspective and that Lauryn [could] see her do that.”
Skye concluded: "She wanted to do it, I think, for her daughter.”
Image credits: Netflix
In the anonymous messages, Kendra pretended to be one of Lauryn’s classmates, telling her to break up with her then-boyfriend, Owen McKenny, and claiming that she was secretly sleeping with him.
The sender repeatedly insisted that Owen liked her better, telling the teenager, “We’re both DTF” and “He will be with me while your lonely ugly a** is alone.”
In many messages, Kendra called Lauryn by “Lo,” a nickname only used by her close friends and family.
In 2023, Kendra pleaded guilty to two counts of stalking a minor
Image credits: Netflix
The messages caused Lauryn and Owen to break up after two years of dating, as the young couple hoped they would stop if they separated.
Still, the harassment continued, and Lauryn began receiving messages reading “k*ll yourself now b****” and “his life would be better if you were “d*ad.”
The local authorities got involved in January 2022. A month later, they called in the FBI for reinforcements.
Image credits: Netflix
The FBI liaison working on the case, Bradley Peter, explained that some of the texts were sent through an app that disguises phone numbers.
When he submitted a search warrant to the app, he identified some numbers from Verizon, a telecommunications company. After submitting a search warrant to Verizon, he discovered that Kendra’s phone number kept appearing.
The case was the focus of the Netflix documentary The High School Catfish, released in August
Image credits: Netflix
The local sheriff was baffled by this twist, as the mother had been repeatedly checking in with authorities about the status of the investigation into her daughter’s cyberstalker.
When police arrived at the Licari home in August 2022 with a search warrant, Kendra admitted almost immediately to sending the aggressive text messages.
Image credits: Isabella County Sheriff’s Office
Before her sentencing, Kendra expressed remorse for her actions, telling Judge Mark Duthie that she was “ashamed” and “embarrassed.”
“I actually look forward to continuing my work and continuing my progress daily. I have caused a lot of damage to my family,” the mother said during her tearful statement.
In the documentary, Kendra explained that she began sending the messages “in the thoughts of needing some answers” and that once she started, she didn’t know how to stop.
Kendra later described filming for the documentary as “fun” and said she “loved” the experience
Image credits: Netflix
“I was somebody different in those moments. I was in an awful place mentally,” she said. “It was like I had a mask on or something, I didn’t even know who I was.”
The mother, who shared that she was r*ped at 17, said her behavior was influenced by unresolved trauma and a desire to keep her daughter close to her.
“As my daughter was hitting those teenage years, I got scared,” she admitted. “I was afraid of letting her grow up, want[ed] to protect her and keep her safe.”
Image credits: Netflix
Comparing the incident to a DUI case, Kendra also tried to argue that everyone makes mistakes and that “realistically, a lot of us have probably broken the law at some point or another and not gotten caught.”
The mother will remain under supervision until February 2026. Lauryn expressed that she wants to see her “when the time is right" and hopes that she can "get the help that she needs.”
"Being without that relationship is really hurting me,” the 18-year-old said. “I think rebuilding our relationship will help both of us a lot. I love her more than anything.”
"I hope they choose to protect this child from her forever," one commenter wrote
