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Netflix show helps find US girl who vanished six years ago
For six years, loved ones had searched for missing nine-year-old Kayla Unbehaun when she was allegedly abducted by her non-custodial mother after a camping trip.
Now 15 years old, the girl from Illinois in the US has been found safe – over 1000km away in North Carolina – and she is now reunited with her father.
A shopper recognised Kayla inside a North Carolina store after they had watched a story on Netflix's Unsolved Mysteries about her disappearance, and police were called.
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Officers found Kayla and her mother, Heather Unbehaun, at the business and were able to confirm their identities.
Kayla's father, Ryan Iserka, won full custody of his daughter in 2017, and the judge awarded Unbehaun supervised visits.
But when Iserka went to pick up his daughter that July 5, he learned Kayla and her mother had never returned from a camping trip.
Weeks later, police issued an arrest warrant for kidnapping on Unbehaun.
But last Saturday, six long years after she vanished, Kayla was spotted at the shop in Asheville.
That person notified a store employee, who called police.
Unbehaun was arrested and was held on a US $250,000 bond, police said.
Specific charges were not listed.
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Unbehaun was bailed and released today. She will appear in court in July.
Meanwhile, Iserka is overjoyed his daughter is home safe, he said in a statement through the National Centre for Missing & Exploited Children.
He thanked the organisation and law enforcement agencies for spreading the word about the search for her.
"I also want to thank all of the followers on the 'Bring Kayla Home' Facebook page, who helped keep her story alive and were instrumental in spreading awareness," he said.
"We ask for privacy as we get to know each other again and navigate this new beginning."
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