An FBI video call put a missing Utah teenager face to face with federal investigators and ended a search that had stretched past 500 days.
Kylie Arellano, now 17, was last seen by her family in Garden City, Utah, on May 29, 2025. Authorities found her alive inside a home in Oregon, then rescued her the same day.
Federal officials arrested Adam Hunter Harmel, 39, in connection with her disappearance.
He faces a charge of transporting Arellano across state lines with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
The break in the case came through an online video game. Arellano met another young girl while playing “Among Us,” a game that connects players over the internet.
Arellano told the girl her real name. She said someone was holding her against her will, and she shared a worry that investigators had stopped searching for her.
The girl’s mother did not wait. She contacted the FBI, and agents arranged a video call with Arellano.
During that call, Arellano described how Harmel brought her to his home. She also showed investigators a knife she kept beside her bed.
Oregon State Police and federal authorities moved quickly. They located Arellano and rescued her the same day.
Her mother, Stephanie Coleman, told the story of the night her daughter vanished to NBC’s “Dateline” in December, as part of the program’s “Missing in America” series.
She described the last words they exchanged.
“She goes, ‘I love you, Mama. Goodnight.’ I said, ‘I love you too, baby girl,’” Coleman recalled. “That was at 9:44 p.m. Her phone turned off at 9:52 p.m.”
The family realized the next day that Arellano was missing. Her jacket sat in the driveway. Some of her belongings and her Xbox were gone.
Investigators allege that Harmel groomed the teenager online before he drove to Utah to pick her up.
According to the allegations, he threw her phone into a river and brought her to his house, where he did not permit her to leave.
Reports state that Harmel kept Arellano in the basement.
They say he sexually assaulted her repeatedly during 2025 and 2026, beat her repeatedly, and forced her to remove her braces with pliers.
The criminal complaint lists what officers found inside Harmel’s home: knives, BB guns and sexual lubricant. Police arrested him during a traffic stop.
FBI Director Kash Patel released a statement after the rescue, and he directed part of it at online groups that target young people.
“We are grateful she can return home, and we will continue working with our partners to hold those responsible accountable,” Patel said. “To anyone using gore groups to target and exploit children: the FBI and our partners are coming for you. We are using every tool at our disposal to combat nihilistic violent extremism, bring offenders to justice and protect America’s children.”
Coleman announced the news herself in a Facebook group built around her daughter’s case, where supporters had followed the search.
“My babygirl was found SAFE today!! We did it KOAS ARMY,” she wrote.
More than 500 days passed between the night Arellano disappeared and the day agents reached her. Harmel now faces the transportation charge.
