A girl abducted by her mother when she was nine years old has been found by a store owner who recognized her after a Netflix true crime series.
Kayla Unbehaun was kidnapped from her father’s care by her non-custodial mother Heather Unbehaun, 40. She was last seen on July 4, 2017, in South Elgin, Illinois.
Now aged 15, Kayla has been found safe in North Carolina, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) shared on Monday.
‘I’m overjoyed that Kayla is home safe,’ Kayla’s father Ryan Iskerka told NCMEC, also thanking law enforcement agencies who assisted in the case.
BREAKING NEWS â¼ï¸
NCMEC is excited to share that Kayla Unbehaun has been FOUND SAFE in North Carolina!
Kayla was only 9 years old when she was abducted by her non-custodial mother, Heather Unbehaun from South Elgin, Illinois on July 5, 2017. Kaylaâs dad, Ryan asked NCMEC to⦠pic.twitter.com/5O7bpEjIhT
— National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (@NCMEC) May 16, 2023 
‘We ask for privacy as we get to know each other again and navigate this new beginning.’
Iskerka, who had full custody of Kayla, went to pick her up from her mom’s home in Wheaton the day after Independence Day, but she had vanished.
Kayla and Heather were not seen until a Plato’s Closet worker in Asheville recognized them around 7.30pm on May 13 from ‘well-publicized media’, according to WLOS. It was not immediately clear which form of media the employee was referring to.
The abduction was featured in an episode of Unsolved Mysteries on Netflix last year.
Kayla is in the custody of the North Carolina Department of Social Services, while her mother has been arrested and was held on a $225,000 bond. Heather made bail on Tuesday morning and has been released.
Heather is set to be extradited to Illinois to face at least one child abduction count from the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office. She only had visitation rights with her daughter.
‘It is unusual but it’s good… when someone does suspect that they recognize someone, no matter how old the story might be,’ North Carolina police Department Lt Diana Lovelan told ABC.
‘That they are not afraid to give us a call so we can come and investigate.’
