If you've got a true crime-shaped hole in your life right now, then listen up. Netflix is about to release its latest documentary and, based on the trailer, we're all about to become seriously obsessed.
As we'll go into shortly, Unknown Number: The High School Catfish tells the story of how two US teens were harassed for months by a mysterious unknown phone number. Through interviews with the teens themselves, the detectives on the case, and experts in the field, the documentary digs up secrets and exposes shocking facts, exploring how a “high school romance” turned into a “social media nightmare.”
Ahead of its release, here's everything you need to know about Netflix's Unknown Number: The High School Catfish and the true story behind it.
What is Unknown Number: The High School Catfish about?
According to Netflix, the documentary “follows a teenage girl and her boyfriend, who become the targets of relentless harassment from an anonymous phone number.” As the factual movie goes on, we watch as authorities “dig deeper” into the pair's months-long ordeal, uncovering secrets along the way that challenge everything they believed about the case.
What is the true story of Unknown Number: The High School Catfish?
Unknown Number: The High School Catfish follows the case of a Michigan teen who, along with her boyfriend, began receiving text messages from an unknown phone number in early 2021. The teenage couple were targeted by someone claiming to be the same age as them, sometimes getting up to 12 texts and social media messages each day.
As the harassment increased, the pair's mothers tried to investigate the source of the messages themselves, but soon reported the bullying to the school. Upon failing to track down the culprit, the teenagers' school contacted local law enforcement, who in turn tried to crack the case. When all local computer crime resources were exhausted, the FBI was brought in to investigate, leading to a shock discovery.
Spoilers ahead!
Who was the catfish in Unknown Number: The High School Catfish?
More than a year after the two high schoolers started receiving threatening texts and social media messages, the FBI tracked down the culprit: Kendra Licari.
Licari is the mother of the teen girl who first started receiving the messages, which were later sent to her boyfriend as well. Licari had used a fake identity to bully the teens, as well as a virtual private network (VPN) to hide her location. It wasn't until the FBI were able to lock down the IP addresses used to send the messages that they found out Licari was behind them all along.
After initially claiming it was one of the teens sending the messages, Licari was confronted and made a full confession. This meant that her case did not go to a jury trial, but investigators still pulled together 349 pages of evidence. While the contents of the messages were kept private by prosecutors and the court, they were described as “disturbing” and “hateful,” and Judge Mark Duthie told the court in April 2023: “I can't imagine any parent saying such horrible things to her own daughter.”
Licari's motive for harassing her daughter has never been revealed, but prosecutor David Barberi told local news at the time that it appeared she wanted her daughter to need her. “Someone else coined the term, but they called it a version of ‘cyber Munchausen's syndrome,’” he said, going on: “This seems to be the type of behavior where you're making somebody feel bad or need you in their life because of this behavior.”
Licari was charged with two counts of stalking a minor in December 2022 and in April 2023 was sentenced to between 19 months and five years in prison.
How to watch Unknown Number: The High School Catfish
Netflix's Unknown Number: The High School Catfish documentary is available to stream right now.
