Kriti Mehrotra
With Netflix’s ‘Unknown Number: The High School Catfish’ chronicling how two teenagers’ lives were turned upside down shortly after they started dating, we get a documentary unlike any other. They were actually harassed in the form of thousands of text messages via an unknown number for over two years, that is, until the FBI got involved and finally zeroed in on a very unlikely suspect. While Lauryn Licari was the primary target of this stalker, who turned out to be her own mother, Kendra Licari, the former’s then-boyfriend, Owen McKenny, was also affected a lot by this ordeal.
Lauryn and Owen Were an Idyllic Teenage Couple, Until They Weren’t
It was around 2019 when small-town Beal City, Michigan, natives Lauryn and Owen first took real notice of each other through their shared interest in sports, just for them to soon begin dating. His parents, Jill and Dave McKenny, did think he was too young to be romantically involved with anybody, yet they didn’t really interfere once they got to know his partner and realized they were serious. In other words, the youngsters graduated middle school before stepping into high school in an already publicly committed relationship, which their peers tended to take notice of over time.
The fact that both Lauryn and Owen are incredible athletes who were involved in several school teams also played a role in this aspect, since they always made sure to support one another. However, things changed for them in October 2020 as they got added to a group chat with an unknown number and started receiving some explicit and threatening texts aimed at breaking them up. These stopped after a while, but resumed when they were freshmen in September 2021 and then spanned over 15 months, with the messages getting progressively frequent and vulgar. Lauryn and Owen initially tried to solve matters on their own, but they ended up telling their parents as the texts became increasingly scary, and the latter then contacted the school board.
The local police and the FBI also got involved after some time, especially because no piece of evidence or rumors led anywhere. Some claims by the teen’s batchmates were that Lauryn was allegedly behind the harassment herself for attention, whereas others pointed fingers towards those close to her. However, these rumors were completely unfounded. By this point, Lauryn and Owen had long parted ways since the messages were causing them to argue and resent one another a lot, yet it only made things worse as the stalking persisted. In fact, when Owen later started dating another girl from a few towns over, even her mother allegedly started receiving threatening texts from an unknown number. In the end, FBI investigations resulted in the truth coming to light, with Lauryn’s mother, Kendra, confessing when a search warrant was executed on their home before her arrest in December 2022.
Owen McKenny Seems to be Focusing on His Athletic Goals Today
While Kendra was initially charged with multiple counts of stalking and use of a computer for a crime, she eventually pleaded guilty to only two counts of stalking a minor – one for her daughter and one for Owen. Nevertheless, Lauryn indicated she wanted some leniency for her mother even though she appeared to be the primary target of the daily barrage of threats and insults. However, during the sentencing hearing, the teenage ex-boyfriend gave a powerful victim impact statement alongside his mother, helping secure a sentence of 19 months to 5 years in prison. Kendra was released on August 8, 2024, under supervision. Still, she is not allowed any contact with either of her survivors, and Lauryn and Owen admittedly also don’t have any sort of a relationship anymore.
Coming to Owen’s personal standing, while it’s unclear whether he is dating anyone or not because he now prefers to keep such details private, we do know he is a proud high school graduate. He graduated in 2025 and has already started attending classes at Hope College in Holland, Michigan, where he continues to shine as an athlete. From what we can tell, while he used to play basketball, baseball, as well as football in high school, he is now honing in on his first love – the sport that has brought him the most joy since he started playing at the age of 4, baseball. The former Saginaw Golds Club travel team athlete has been dreaming about playing collegiate ball before hopefully making it to the pros since he was a young child. It seems like he is now simply dedicating himself to fulfilling his goals.
Read More: Where is Kendra Licari Now? Update on the Catfish Mother
