00:00now that she's out i just want her to get the help that she needs welcome to ms mojo and today
00:05we're taking a deep dive into the most shocking details from the real life case behind unknown
00:11number the high school catfish that netflix left out of the documentary needless to say there are
00:17spoilers ahead just like crazy that someone that close could do something like that well to me but
00:24also to her own daughter background of the case how's the happy couple preparing for the end of
00:32the golden relationship we hear about how you are the forever couple the netflix documentary unknown
00:39number the high school catfish left viewers around the world dumbfounded when it dropped in august
00:452025 the film explores the truly baffling case of lauren lucari and owen mckinney two teenagers in
00:53the small town of beale city michigan who began receiving threatening text messages from an unknown
00:58number in 2020 i asked chloe because we were like best friends and it was her party you know i'm like
01:04like do you know who sent this or like did you send it you know just asking around i was like okay it's
01:10just gonna stop just give it some time although the harassment briefly stopped it resumed in september
01:162021 and escalated significantly over the next year this time the torment was far more
01:23severe i was getting at least six text messages plus a day it was just really annoying because i
01:30knew owen wasn't involved with it and i knew he didn't know what was going on either every single
01:35day lauren and owen were bombarded with graphic and disturbing messages with lauren bearing the brunt
01:42of the ordeal the anonymous sender exploited her deepest insecurities and mocked her relentlessly
01:48even urging her to take her own life i was just getting super frustrated with it but my mom was
01:55like just ignore them obviously you're beautiful like she was just encouraging me to not read them
02:02the identity of the anonymous sender it quickly became clear that the anonymous sender was someone
02:08close to lauren and owen as the messages contained details only an insider could know and thus began an
02:15investigation into their friends and classmates so i began with some video surveillance marking when
02:22the text would come in and then looking at video to see if we could see someone in the hallway
02:28sending a text at that particular time suspicion soon fell on chloe wilson a popular athlete who played
02:35sports with lauren and was also close to owen after a while like i kept getting asked more and more
02:41because after i got asked once it really just all started to look more and more like me however the
02:46case against her fell through once the investigation hit a dead end the fbi was called in to assist
02:53they eventually traced the messages to the last person anyone watching could have suspected
02:58lauren's own mother kendra lakari a reasonable person would say there is no absolute way that
03:05kendra lakari is sending these messages to her daughter but we've eliminated everything up to this
03:11point when isabella county sheriff mike main confronted kendra at her home she confessed blaming
03:17her actions on stress and financial issues she more or less is tacitly admitting that she did it by not
03:25denying it but it wasn't a you know clear admission of guilt a suspect to many the reveal may have
03:34shocked viewers but it was less surprising to many in beale city what the documentary left out was some
03:40key details about kendra's past and her standing in the community unlike most parents who had grown up
03:47together in the town kendra was a transplant she met lauren's father sean in college and they moved to his
03:53hometown after marrying eager to fit in kendra reportedly sought attention and validation from
03:59locals she does like attention i think if she was here right now and you were talking to me she would
04:05be dancing over there to try and get you to look at her this made her a suspect when the messages began
04:10chloe wilson's father craig told the sheriff early on that he believed kendra was responsible i remember
04:16within a day or two of our initial interview i had sent him a text message that said that a very good
04:22part of me believes that this is probably kendra doing this another parent who saw the messages said
04:27they sounded like they came from an adult and admitted quote i wouldn't put it past kendra even the high
04:33school secretary diane fussman told the principal she suspected kendra because she was quote a little
04:39obsessive with her child but when sheriff main brought this theory to owen's parents they quickly dismissed it
04:45he's like do you think there's a possibility it could be her and i said no she's helping me she's
04:53lauren's mom i said it's it's not her kendra lakari's suspicious behavior although owen's mom jill was
05:00skeptical of that theory at first she gradually began noticing strange behavior from kendra months after
05:07lauren and owen broke up kendra questioned jill about her son's love life asking if he was dating chloe
05:14through these conversations kendra discovered that owen was seeing a girl in another town and
05:19soon began targeting her and here we go again it's the same format same words telling the girl from
05:27penconning to back off me because i'm theirs her constant prying forced jill to restrict their
05:33conversations to matters about the anonymous sender but even while lauren and owen were together
05:38kendra's behavior was concerning she frequently asked them to pose with their arms around each
05:44other for pictures which she then converted into gifts for owen like a customized phone case she
05:50would cut my own stake for me like it was it was just to the point where like it was almost too weird
05:56she even tried to turn owen's tournament in florida into a family vacation an idea jill quickly declined
06:02in one particularly troubling incident a friend claimed kendra took lauren's phone read her texts
06:09with owen then replied as her daughter saying quote i love you you guys are gonna think i'm the crazy lady
06:16the confusing nature of the messages lauren and owen began as one of the most popular couples in school
06:23but the constant stream of threatening messages soon wore down their relationship the messages had just
06:29gotten to be too much and i think that's really what the last several months of their relationship
06:34revolved around was did you talk to this girl over time owen started pulling away from lauren during
06:41one volleyball game when they sat apart kendra texted her daughter directly not as the anonymous sender
06:47but as herself saying quote sit next to him answer me come here now i am fuming pissed off this is
06:55where i started to really kind of think okay is somebody on the high school team jealous or envious
07:01then as the anonymous persona she continued sending messages that both undermined and praised the couple
07:08one text taunted quote could this be the end of the aka golden couple while another insisted quote you're
07:15the definition of a perfect couple and will be the forever couple that gets married i do think that
07:21there was some jealousy you know in their class maybe wanting a relationship or wanting boys to
07:28to notice the girls and you know they both had that it's not hard to see how these contradictory
07:34messages could have further tormented lauren and owen especially as their relationship was heading for
07:39the rocks kendra's lies and control over the family the documentary only scratches the surface of kendra's
07:46deception especially regarding her employment status kendra initially worked at central michigan
07:52university but told her husband sean that she secured an additional higher paying position at ferris
07:58state university believing this story the family moved into a bigger house it just you know led to
08:04financial struggle worst financial struggles than we were already in in reality kendra only got the
08:10ferris state job after she was fired from central michigan and it didn't come with any salary bump
08:15i got my goal from that yeah what about the texas job you still have that you got terminated from
08:21that i don't have that you don't have to have you there no so when did you get that goal from that
08:27that position was also short-lived as she was soon placed on a performance improvement plan for
08:32spending excessive time on personal texts and calls she eventually quit but pretended to work remotely
08:39even faking work calls whenever sean was home she acted like she was working and like said she had stuff to do
08:45and she just she played it off really well when the family could no longer afford the house and were
08:51evicted kendra lied once again she told sean and lauren that structural issues with the house's
08:57foundation required them to move out for repairs kendra's participation in the documentary i really
09:11wanted to get to the bottom of who it was right and that's when i started sending the text messages to
09:17lauren and on most crime documentaries like unknown number the high school catfish rarely feature the
09:23perpetrators themselves that's why many viewers were shocked to learn that the anonymous sender had
09:28been right in front of them all along this woman we allowed into our lives in our house and my kids
09:34lives and i just but kendra's participation in the film almost didn't happen in fact according to
09:43director sky borgman the documentary was almost complete before kendra finally agreed to an interview
09:49she explained that she wanted to address the audience directly and share her side of the story
09:54yet when asked why she harassed her own daughter for almost two years kendra offered no clear answer
10:00i was sending the messages in hopes that maybe they would send back asking is this somebody or is
10:05this so-and-so um to just kind of give me something right her explanation that she was trying to
10:12protect her daughter from the same trauma she once endured received mixed reactions from viewers
10:18and i know some people may question that or diminish that or whatever but i know lauren and i know the
10:26conversations that her and i had before we continue be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell
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10:43lauren's lauren's changing relationship with her mother it's a question many viewers might have
10:49asked themselves after watching the documentary what would you do if your parent harassed you with
10:54such messages for two years for lauren answering that question was certainly not easy i can't even
11:00imagine how it made her feel so i'm sure she's i'm sure lauren is just eating alive inside apparently when
11:06the filmmakers first interviewed her in 2023 kendra had just gone to prison and lauren missed her mother
11:13deeply as shown in the film they kept in touch while kendra was incarcerated she made it seem like
11:20everything's better and she just made me feel better however by the time of a second interview in 2024
11:27lauren's relationship with kendra had changed she had chosen to distance herself from her mother and
11:33their communication was a lot more strained after kendra's release sean divorced her and was granted
11:39full custody of lauren you know how much i love you right yeah no sometimes well i love you okay i'm
11:48proud of you you're a good kid kendra now lives with relatives outside beale city and reportedly has even
11:54less contact with lauren than she did while in prison i know to some i'm a headline i'm a villain i'm a bad
12:02mom i'm a whatever but that's because they know one little piece of my story they don't know my
12:09whole story have you seen unknown number of the high school catfish what were your thoughts on the
12:14baffling case let us know in the comments there's no doubt that it'll have a lasting impact uh on all
12:20all of these families and the impact that this is going to have on these kids may be lifelong
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