New Netflix Documentary: 'Unknown Number', has the Press Divided.

“Watch Unknown Number: The High School Catfish: Netflix Official Site.”

Netflix’s newest documentary, Unknown Number, depicts a seemingly normal case of cyberbullying that shocks everyone with who the true culprit is. Unknown number follows teenager Lauryn Licari who resides in Beal City, Michigan, and her former boyfriend, Owen. The story follows their perspective after a mentally draining string of harmful cyberbullying messages infiltrates their everyday lives. The first message started after Owen and Lauryn attended a Halloween party, one year into their relationship, and Lauryn received a text from an unknown number that read, “Hi Lauryn, Owen is breaking up with you, he no longer likes you and hasn’t liked you for a while, it is obvious he wants me, he laughs, smiles, touches my hair. Not sure what he told you but he is going to the halloween party and we are both DTF. You are a sweet girl but I know I can give him what he wants. Sorry Not Sorry!” 

We will later see this “Sorry Not Sorry,” catchphrase appearing frequently in these messages. The messages stopped shortly and just as life was going back into routine, almost a year later, they started again. These messages would be sent in a group of forty to fifty everyday for a whole year. The messages would spread self deprecating messages like, “You are the Ugliest Person I have ever seen,” and “Kill yourself.” Being a teenager comes with emotional fragility, and messages this malicious are enough to absolutely destroy someone's self esteem at any age. Added to the f desire to please that often comes with adolescence, these messages could be extremely harmful to the point of being the driving factor to suicide. Owen was in no way exempt from this. Many messages sent to Lauryn contained sexually explicit messages describing in detail things that never happened. Both Owen and Lauryn were thirteen, and they were being exposed to things not even an adult can handle.

The messages were so bad Lauryn and her family got the state police and later the FBI. Because of the extremely personal information displayed in the messages this case was classified as a severe case of stalking, meaning the perpetrator could face serious time in prison. The documentary introduces two potential culprits, both of which were inferred from information The Unknown Number sent to Lauryn in an attempt to throw the investigation off track. It is not until the phone number was tracked by the FBI that it leads back to the true suspect, Lauryn’s mom, Kendra Licari. The very person who comforted Lauryn every time she would come home feeling worthless after being harassed by “this unknown number” turned out to be the one exploiting Lauryn’s insecurities. It is highly disputed if this case was truly a case of Munchausen Syndrome; described as when a mother figure purposely weakens their child, in order for the child to be dependent on them. Kendra Lycari pleaded guilty to two cases of stalking a minor and faced jail time, during which Lauryen chose to keep in contact with her mother. Even in the very seconds she was being arrested she was still playing the concerned mother role stroking Lauryn’s hair. Lauryn has not seen her mother since she was released from prison.The documentary ends with telling the audience that Lauryn is interested in studying political science. 

Lauryn and Owen no longer talk. 

Kendra Lycari walks free as of today, with only memories of the emotional turmoil she purposely caused to both her daughter and a thirteen year old boy.