A Florida mother who prosecutors say spent two years sending anonymous, abusive messages to her teenage daughter was identified after an FBI cyber investigation traced texts back to devices linked to the parent, court records and a documentary interview show.
Lauryn Licari, then 13, and her boyfriend were added to a group chat in October 2020 and began receiving repeated anonymous messages that undermined the relationship, attacked Lauryn’s appearance and urged her to harm herself, according to interviews in the Netflix documentary "Unknown Number: The High School Catfish" and reporting on the case. The harassment returned after an initial lull and escalated to as many as six anonymous texts a day, victims and their families said.
Messages quoted in the documentary included direct taunts and threats. One read, "Kill yourself now, b**ch. His life would be better if you were dead," and others urged Lauryn to "jump off a bridge" or called her "worthless," according to the film. Lauryn told filmmakers the sustained abuse affected how she dressed, how she felt about herself and ultimately her relationship with her boyfriend, Owen McKenny.
Lauryn and her family initially reported the texts to school officials and local police. The harassment continued, and local authorities sought federal assistance. FBI liaison officer Peter Bradley testified in court that investigators traced the IP addresses associated with the anonymous numbers back to devices registered to Lauryn’s mother, 44-year-old Kendra Licari.
Confronted with the digital evidence, Kendra Licari admitted she had sent the majority of the messages, the documentary and court filings say. She told filmmakers she began sending texts in an attempt to "get to the bottom" of who was harassing her daughter, but said the activity grew into a "spiral" that she could not stop. She has told interviewers she later regretted her actions and said she was "in an awful place mentally." Prosecutors say she also used random number generators and other tactics to prevent the messages from being blocked.
Kendra Licari pleaded guilty to two counts of assaulting a minor. She was sentenced to a term ranging from 19 months to five years in prison and is prohibited from personal contact with Lauryn, though the mother and daughter have maintained some form of contact since the conviction, one of the documentary participants said.
Family members and friends described shock and disbelief after the revelation. Lauryn’s father and the boyfriend’s parents had developed what they thought was a trusting relationship with Kendra Licari, according to on-camera interviews. The families also learned during the investigation that Kendra had been concealing her employment status, remaining unemployed after being fired and spending much of her days online.
School and mental health professionals who reviewed the case drew comparisons to a form of Munchausen by proxy in which a caregiver causes or fabricates harm to maintain control or closeness with a dependent. Superintendent Bill Chillman is quoted in the documentary describing the conduct as a kind of "cyber Munchausen's," suggesting the mother sought to position herself as both the source of distress and the provider of comfort.
Dr. Sasha Hall, an educational psychologist who spoke about the case in the film, said aspects of Kendra Licari’s conduct reflected unresolved trauma and insecurity. "Some of her behaviour suggests she may have wanted to position herself as both the one causing harm and the one able to provide comfort," Hall said, adding that such dynamics can force a child into dependence on a caregiver.
Lauryn, who has said she later enrolled in criminology studies, told filmmakers she still longs for a relationship with her mother despite the betrayal. Experts who reviewed the case cautioned that remorse expressed by perpetrators does not substitute for acknowledgment of the full extent of harm to victims.
The case highlights challenges schools, families and law enforcement face in tracking anonymous harassment across digital platforms and the ways that domestic abuse can be mediated through technology. It also underscores the growing use of federal investigative resources in cases where online threats cross state lines or involve sophisticated attempts to conceal the sender’s identity.
The Netflix documentary "Unknown Number: The High School Catfish" includes interviews with Lauryn, family members, investigators and Kendra Licari. Court documents and sentencing records reflect the plea and the prison term imposed after she admitted her role in the harassment campaign.
Authorities and mental health professionals urged parents and schools to report persistent or escalatory online bullying to law enforcement and to seek mental health support for victims. Local officials involved in the investigation said timely cooperation between school administrators, local police and federal agents was key to identifying the sender and stopping the campaign of abuse.