For six long years, Kayla Unbehaun’s father lived with an empty bedroom and a gnawing question: where was his daughter? On July 4, 2017, after a parade near their Illinois home, Kayla’s mother, Heather, said they were going camping. They vanished instead. A felony warrant followed, but no sign of the little girl ever came. Birthdays passed in silence, holidays marked by hope and heartbreak.
The breakthrough came in Asheville, North Carolina, when someone recognized Kayla from an episode of Netflix’s “Unsolved Mysteries” and called authorities. Kayla was found safe and returned to her custodial father, ending a tormenting chapter. Heather was arrested on a fugitive warrant, initially posting bail in North Carolina before surrendering in Illinois, where she is now held without bond. The high‑profile case closes with a child back in her father’s arms, and a mother finally forced to answer for six stolen years.
