Cyberbullying and cyberstalking are nightmares that, unfortunately, most teens face in this digital era. But only a few, if any, would expect the threat to come from their own parent, a mother who they could rely on anytime for support. That’s exactly what rocked the otherwise quiet town of Beal City, Michigan, when 13-year-old Lauryn Licari and her boyfriend, Owen, began receiving mysterious and threatening texts from an unknown number in October 2020.
With no clue about the ‘catfish’ texter, the messages escalated over the next 15 months, growing more alarming with each cruel insult and detail that only someone too close to Lauryn could have known. The investigation eventually revealed the unthinkable: it was Lauryn’s own mother, Kendra Licari, who was behind the harassment.
