Missing girl Kayla Unbehaun who appeared on Netflix’s ‘Unsolved Mysteries’ found six years after disappearance
A girl whose disappearance was featured on Netflix’s “Unsolved Mysteries” was found alive in North Carolina last week, six years after she was allegedly abducted by her mother.
Kayla Unbehaun, who was born in Illinois, was nine years old when she went missing in 2017 while in the care of her mother, Heather Unbehaun.
In January, she turned 15.
Her disappearance was one of several cases involving alleged family abduction featured on “Unsolved Mysteries” in November 2022 but she has now been reunited with her father.
“I’m overjoyed that Kayla is home safe,” Kayla’s father, Ryan Iskerka, said in a statement released on Tuesday, by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children – a US charity that provides assistance to various outlets when they need help with a missing, exploited, or recovered child.
“I want to thank the South Elgin Police Department, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and all of the law enforcement agencies who assisted with her case.
“We ask for privacy as we get to know each other again and navigate this new beginning,” he said.
Heather Unbehaun, 40, was arrested in Asheville, North Carolina, on Saturday, according to NBC.
She was recognised from “published media” about the case by a woman at a clothing shop in Asheville, who contacted authorities, NBC Chicago reported.
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Heather Unbehaun. Pic: National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
She is expected to be extradited to Illinois.
Kayla was last seen in her mother’s care following a parade in Wheaton, Illinois, for the Fourth of July in 2017, according to a GoFundMe page Mr Iskerka created days after her disappearance.
Mr Iskerka was expected to meet Unbehaun on 5 July 2017, to pick up his daughter in a court-ordered exchange, but the pair never arrived.
Unbehaun’s phone had been turned off and her social media cancelled, with only her closest family members having indicated that she went on a camping trip to an unknown location in Wisconsin, Mr Iskerka wrote on the GoFundMe.
The page was set up to raise funds so the family could hire a private investigator and any additional costs concerning the search for Kayla.
Children are among the fatalities in a mass shooting at a child’s birthday party in California.
Police said four people had died and 10 were wounded in the incident in Stockton, about 60 miles east of San Francisco.
Officers were called on Saturday to a banquet hall just before 6pm local time (2am UK time) and district attorney Ron Freitas said children were among the dead.
He said the attacker was still at large.
First responders walk through a parking lot near the scene of a mass shooting in Stockton, California. Pics: AP
“We can confirm at this time that approximately 14 individuals were struck by gunfire, and four victims have been confirmed deceased,” San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office said on X.
The post said early indications suggest it could be a “targeted incident” but that information remains limited.
Police have so far not disclosed the attacker’s identity and the motive is unclear.
Stockton’s vice mayor Jason Lee confirmed on Facebook that the shooting on Lucile Avenue happened at a child’s birthday party.
Pics: AP
Mayor Christina Fugazzi also said that “families should be together instead of at the hospital, standing next to their loved one, praying that they survive”.
California governor Gavin Newsom’s office added that he had been briefed on the “horrific shooting”.
Venezuela has accused Donald Trump of a “colonial threat” after he said the airspace “above and surrounding” the country should be considered closed “in its entirety”.
Mr Trump made the declaration amid growing tensions with President Maduro – and as the US continues attacking boats it claims are carrying drugs from Venezuela.
He wrote on Truth Social: “To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY.”
Air traffic above Venezuela on Saturday afternoon. Pic: FlightRadar24
Venezuela’s foreign affairs office called it a “colonial threat” and “illegal, and unjustified aggression”.
It accused the president of threatening “the sovereignty of the national airspace… and the full sovereignty of the Venezuelan state”.
President Trump’s words were part of a “permanent policy of aggression against our country” that breached international law and the UN Charter, it added.
The Pentagon and the White House have so far not given any additional detail on the president’s statement.
Mr Trump’s post comes after the American aviation regulator last week warned of a “potentially hazardous situation” over Venezuela due to a “worsening security situation”.
Nicolas Maduro is widely considered a dictator by the West. Pic: Reuters
The South American nation revoked operating rights for six major airlines that went on to suspend flights to the country.
Mr Trump warned a few days ago that land operations against suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers would begin “very soon”.
Such a move would be a major escalation in Operation Southern Spear – the US naval deployment in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific that’s so far attacked at least 21 vessels.
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Three killed as US strikes another alleged drug boat
Venezuela has said the attacks, which have killed more than 80 people, amount to murder.
The US has released videos of boats being targeted, but hasn’t provided evidence – such as photos of their cargo – to support the smuggling claims.
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The Pentagon has sought to justify the strikes by labelling the drug gangs as “foreign terrorist organisations” – putting them on par with the likes of al Qaeda.
It claims the boats targeted are carrying drugs bound for the US, although Sky’s chief correspondent says the final destination is likely to be Europe and West Africa.
President Maduro has denied Mr Trump’s claims he is involved in the drugs trade himself and said his counterpart wants to oust him so he can install a more sympathetic government.
Venezuelan officials have also claimed Mr Trump’s true motivation is access to the country’s plentiful oil reserves.
Mr Maduro is widely considered a dictator who’s cheated elections and has been president since 2013.
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