We’re breaking down the exact timeline of events that happened in the new Netflix documentary Unknown Number: The High School Catfish.
If you want a quick refresher, the doc follows a young teen couple in Michigan, Lauryn Licari and her boyfriend Owen McKenny. In October 2020, and then again in September 2021, they start receiving graphic, cyber-bullying texts from an unknown number. The texts get more frequent as time goes on and are quite graphic. Some texts that were shown in the documentary even say that Lauryn should take her own life.
It was revealed that Lauryn‘s mom, Kendra Licari, was the texter the whole time. She denies sending the first set of texts.
We’re breaking down the timeline of events to make things a bit clearer.
Keep reading to find out more…
October 2020 – First Texts Sent
The first texts were received by Owen and Lauryn just before Halloween in October of 2020.
“Hi Lauryn, Owen is breaking up with you,” the first text read. There were other texts sent in this time period too, including, “He no longer likes you and hasn’t liked you for a while,” and “It’s obvious he wants me.”
After this short burst of texts, no more were sent for months
September 2021 – Texts Resume
Lauryn and Owen began receiving a barrage of texts again beginning in September 2021.
Texts included messages like, “u are the ugliest person I’ve ever seen,” “ain’t no one want to see your anorexic flat a—,” “he wants sex,” “Kill yourself b——,” “his life would be better if you were dead,” and more.
It’s said that the texts ramped up as time went on.
December 2022 – Kendra’s Arrest
The investigation into who was sending the texts eventually landed on Kendra.
She was able to use software that hid her number, which helped her not get caught for a while.
“In doing so, it would shield her and kind of cloak her identity or her digital identity,” David Barberi, a lawyer, told GMA regarding this case. “But eventually, we were able to see that her IP address was popping in and out right before and right after these messages were going through.”
“We had tens of thousands of text messages, whether they were messages that were just for her daughter or some of her daughter’s friends. And the digital footprint was just insane,” David added.
April 2023 – Sentencing
Kendra was sentenced to 19 months of jail time after she plead guilty to the charges against her. The charges were for two counts of stalking a minor.
August 2024 – Released From Jail
Kendra was released from prison in August of 2024.
2023-2024 – Filming on Unknown Number
Director Skye Borgman revealed they filmed both in 2023 and 2024.
“The first time we sat down with Lauryn was in the spring of 2023 … and she at the time loved her mom. She just wanted her mom back in her life,” she told Netflix. She said when they came back to film again a year later after Kendra had been released, “they noticed Lauryn’s perspective had shifted.”
Where are Kendra and Lauryn Now?
According to NBC, as of earlier this year, Kendra was living with family near Detroit, Michigan. They weren’t sure if she was working.
Lauryn reportedly graduated from high school in May.
Find out more about Kendra‘s motive and where she and Lauryn stand today.
Source: justjared.com