Among Us Helped Uncover the Kidnapping of a 17-Year-Old Girl Held for More Than a Year

A 17-year-old girl who was held against her will for more than 500 days was freed after secretly asking another Among Us player for help.

Kylie Arellano disappeared from her home in Utah in May 2025, when she was 15. She was found on November 1, 2026, after communicating with another child in the popular multiplayer game. She had been held in the basement of the home of 39-year-old Adam Hunter Harmel in Huntington, Oregon. Federal prosecutors allege that Harmel met the teenager online, drove to Utah to get her, threw her phone into a river, and took her across state lines.

Prosecutors allege that Harmel kept the girl from leaving the house, repeatedly beat her, and forced her to remove her braces with pliers to make her harder to identify. He later gave her a phone without cellular service but with Wi-Fi access. In mid-October, Arellano began messaging another child in Among Us, and they later moved to another social network. There, she revealed her identity and told the other child she had been abducted. The child’s mother contacted the FBI.

During a video call on November 1, Arellano described what was happening and showed evidence, including a knife that Harmel had allegedly kept under his pillow. She was freed that day, and Harmel was arrested.