Unknown Number: The High School Catfish - The true story behind the Netflix documentary

Unknown Number: The High School Catfish is a true crime documentary film that was released on Netflix on August 29, 2025. The film was directed by Skye Borgman, while Hans Ole Eicker served as the editor. Its official synopsis, as per IMDb, reads,

A teen girl and her boyfriend face persistent harassment from an unknown caller. Police investigating the months of torment discover a revelation that upends their initial assumptions.

The documentary chronicles a true story involving a teenage girl and her boyfriend getting constantly harassed by an unknown caller. Let us take a look at all the details regarding the real case behind this film.

Unknown Number: The High School Catfish real story explored

Unknown Number: The High School Catfish focuses on a real incident that took place in Beal City, Michigan, in the year 2021. A teenage girl named Lauryn started receiving text messages on her phone that were directed at her and her boyfriend, Owen.

The messages suggested that Owen was trying to break up with her, with one reading: "Hi Lauryn, Owen is breaking up with you." They mentioned Lauryn as Lo, which was a nickname only used by her close friends. This hinted that the sender was someone she might know. Over a period of several months, Lauryn received around 30-50 messages per day. When she and Owen tried to call back, no one would pick up the call.

Most of the messages were lewd in nature and mentioned how she was not able to satisfy Owen. They also wrote that he liked her more than Lauryn. The two dated for two years but ended up breaking up due to the constant threatening messages. Despite the breakup, Lauryn kept receiving those messages, which had now started to tell her to k*ll herself.

The shocking revelation in Unknown Number: The High School Catfish

A still from Unknown Number | Image via Netflix

Unknown Number: The High School Catfish reveals that authorities became involved in the case in January 2022, with the FBI joining in April. Bradley Peter, a federal agent, reveals in the documentary that the messages were sent through an application that mimicked a phone number.

After a search warrant submission, he found out that the number of Kendra Licari from Verizon showed up multiple times. This was shocking because Kendra was Lauryn's mother and was in touch with the authorities about the status of the case. In December 2022, Kendra was arrested by the police.

Owen and his mother tried to find out if Kendra made the calls because she was secretly falling for him. He revealed how she would often check on him when he was seeing Lauryn and would make steak for him. However, Kendra revealed that she was assaulted at 17 and wanted to protect her daughter when she became a teenager.

One talking head opines in the documentary that Kendra made the calls so that she could protect her daughter and force her to be close. This experience tarnished the relationship between the two. Towards the end of the docu, Kendra comes out of prison, but Lauryn refuses to meet her.

Unknown Number: The High School Catfish is streaming on Netflix.