Why Unknown Number: The High School Catfish viewers need to read “original” The Cut article

There’s one question that hangs over Unknown Number: The High School Catfish: why did Kendra Licari do what she did? We might never truly know the answer, but an in-depth article by The Cut provides crucial context. Warning: some may find this content distressing.

Unknown Number: The High School Catfish has sparked a busy discussion since landing on Netflix on August 29, examining a true crime case that began in Beal City, Michigan, in October 2020. 

Then-13-year-old Lauryn Licari and her boyfriend at that time, Owen McKenney, were targeted by an unknown cyberstalker. Over time, the messages grew even more threatening, ranging from vile insults about Lauryn’s body to sexual comments and even urges to commit suicide. 

Local law enforcement eventually turned to the FBI to help, but no one expected what they discovered: the messages were traced back to Lauryn’s own mother, Kendra Licari. Now, viewers of the new true crime documentary are discussing The Cut’s article.

The Cut article elaborates on Kendra Licari’s motives

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On January 15, 2025, months before Unknown Number: The High School Catfish dropped, The Cut released an in-depth report on the case. For those who had already read it, they were shocked to see Kendra taking part in the Netflix documentary. 

Others are highlighting the crucial context it provides to Kendra’s behavior. For instance, Lauryn’s friends recall thinking of her as the “cool mom”. She would gossip with students, dance to Sir Mix-a-Lot, or cartwheel down a hotel hallway on tournament weekends.

However, over time Kendra started to irritate parents by bragging about her daughter. One told the outlet (for context, Lauryn’s name was changed to Ashley in the feature), “Everything was ‘Ashley’s softball, Ashley’s school, Ashley’s this, Ashley’s that.’”

When Lauryn started dating Owen, Kendra was heavily involved. Jill McKenney, Owen’s mother, said she would talk “like they were going to be together forever.” Lauryn’s friend, Paige Antcliff, recalls seeing Kendra taking control of Lauryn’s phone and typing, “I love you,” to Owen. 

During the pandemic, the Licaris and McKenneys formed a bubble and did everything together, with Owen saying Kendra became “like a second mom.” In hindsight, as they say in the Netflix documentary, Jill and Owen believe Kendra was inappropriately attracted to him. 

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Kendra’s strange behavior ramped up once the cyberbullying started, with the article stating, “Kendra would trudge up to the high-school coaches to talk about the texts, warning that the bullying could throw off Ashley’s focus on the court…

“She sought support from anyone who would listen  another mother running the scoreboard at the basketball games, parents who barely knew her. She would text the Antcliff twins, asking them to leave class to comfort Ashley when she was crying in the bathroom.”

When people tried offering solutions, she ignored them and came back the next day to talk about the situation. 

Although others began growing suspicious of Kendra’s behavior, Jill stood by her – but even she eventually started having doubts as “Kendra kept prying into Owen’s love interests.”

When the news broke that Kendra had been the one orchestrating the bullying campaign, theories began circulating. Principal Boyer told The Cut that her likely motive was “keeping her kid close to her, eliminating threatening relationships.”

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In Unknown Number: The High School Catfish, others suggest that Kendra could have been driven by a digital form of Munchausen’s by proxy syndrome. 

Munchausen’s by proxy is rare mental health condition in which a caregiver deliberately fabricates illness in someone under their care – typically a child – to gain attention, sympathy, or a sense of control. 

Part of the reason may have been to distract from the financial issues the Licaris were suffering. Kendra took control of the family’s cashflow, and police found out that she had been out of work and lying to both Lauryn and husband Shawn. 

The Cut article also provides more context to this situation, stating, “Her job change in 2019, when Ashley was in sixth grade, was, in fact, the result of Central Michigan University firing her for her performance. 

“The new job at Ferris State had not come with the big wage bump she’d claimed, and collectors were filing suit in court for unpaid utility and insurance bills.”

Later that year, the family house was foreclosed on, but Kendra told Lauryn and Shawn that she had sold it. In spring 2021, Kendra received a warning at Ferris State due to “excessive time” on her phone, and she eventually quit. 

For the rest of the year, as the cyberbullying ramped up, Kendra pretended to be working from home, even faking work calls. One family member told the outlet that whenever Shawn asked anything about finances, she would change the subject to talk about the bullying.

In April 2022, shortly before Kendra was caught, the Licaris were evicted from their home. Again, Kendra lied, telling Lauryn and Shawn that their house needed repairs and so they had to move out temporarily. 

To this day, Kendra maintains that she never started the text messages; that they were from an unknown perpetrator and she joined in down the line. However, everyone involved in the case believes she acted alone. 

As said, there are many theories about why Kendra did what she did. The Cut suggests that the different accounts match up to support the following motion: 

“No matter how the texting began, at some point the light switched on – that an anonymous bully would offer Ashley and Owen a common enemy, bring attention to her quiet daughter, make Kendra into even more of a Super Mom, maintain her social alliances, distract from her mounting financial problems, and occupy the empty hours.”

Unknown Number: The High School Catfish viewers praise article

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After the documentary landed on the streaming service, viewers have shared the The Cut article on Reddit, with one writing, “Original story that the new Netflix doc Unknown Number: The High School Catfish is based on.”

“This was an incredible read when I came across it earlier this year. The abject betrayal. I don’t know how that young girl will ever recover,” said another. 

A third agreed, “Yeah I began watching the documentary having already read this earlier this year, and my jaw dropped when I saw that Kendra was participating and being interviewed.”

Others commented on the father’s portrayal in the article, and how it shifted after seeing the police cam footage of his reaction. 

“To be honest, when I first read this I felt like the dad was portrayed as sort of a midwestern rube type of guy (no shade, I am from Wisconsin and love plenty of midwestern rubes),” said one.  

Netflix

“I’m so glad I watched the Netflix documentary because I respect how he handled himself on the body cam footage a lot. I think The Cut is going to put things through a different filter that footage won’t.”

Another appreciated the fact that the article provides context that the documentary couldn’t and vice-versa. As said by one, “This article provided some context for me because after I watched the doc I still didn’t understand ‘but why?’”

Unknown Number: The High School Catfish is streaming on Netflix now. For more true crime news, read about if the Jussie Smollett case was a hoax, Amanda Knox’s ordeal in prison, and the first poster for Monster: The Ed Gein Story.