Netflix's 'High School Catfish': 3 key reasons for culprit's sickening crimes

Netflix fans have branded 'Unknown Number: The High School Catfish' the "most disturbing documentaryever seen", with good reason.

The feature-length real life story tells the story of Lauryn Licari, who was just 13 when she began to receive disturbing, anonymous text messages by the bucketload.

The vile communications included death threats, sickening insults and many were focussed on causing Lauryn to break up with her boyfriend of two years, Owen, with the sender seemingly fixated on the high school boy.

READ MORE: 'Most disturbing documentary ever seen' now streaming on Netflix

More than a year had passed before the families of Lauryn and Owen contacted law enforcement and it would be many more months until the culprit was uncovered. In the meantime, several other pupils at the school in the small town of Beal City, Michigan, had been accused of tormenting the teenage couple, who split under the stress of the cyber-bullying.

The chilling messages Lauryn received included "finish yourself or we will" and "you are the ugliest person I've ever seen". In the most disturbing part of the show, the trail leads the FBI right back to the teenager's own mother Kendra, who confesses to the crime when confronted by cops.

One viewer commented of the revelation: "This is the most disturbing thing I've ever seen. You will never see it coming. Shook doesn't cover it", while another said: "Tell me you can't trust your own shadow."

Kendra Licari was convicted of cyberstalking her daughter in 2023 and went onto serve time in jail. When it comes to explaining her actions, John Eastham, a clinical psychologist with Private Investigations UK, said she was like to be profoundly psychologically disturbed.

"The behaviour described in this case is deeply disturbing because it contradicts our most basic expectation, that a parent protects rather than harms their child," said the expert. "When a mother actively sends death threats, sexualised insults, and coercive messages to her daughter, it points to a profound psychological disturbance.

"In my clinical experience, while it's rare to see something quite like this, I have seen cases where parents become fixated on controlling or sabotaging their child's relationships. It can stem from jealousy, fear of abandonment, or a need to retain power in a household dynamic."

While Licari fails to properly explain her behaviour in the documentary, she cites being assaulted as a teenager as a possible reason. "One possible factor is unresolved trauma," John agreed. "Kendra may have projected her own pain, confusion, or anger onto her daughter. That doesn't excuse her actions but it may explain how her thinking became distorted. We sometimes see this pattern when past trauma triggers destructive and obsessive behaviours."

Another concerning aspect of the parent's crimes contained her sexually explicit messages about Lauryn's then-boyfriend Owen. "The fact many of the messages targeted Lauryn's boyfriend and were sexually explicit suggests an element of jealousy or inappropriate fixation," said John. "It's unusual but not unheard of for a parent to feel threatened by their child's relationships, particularly if they blur the line between parental authority and unhealthy attachment."

"The mother's refusal to give a real explanation may not be a deliberate evasion," he added. "People who act in such destructive ways often cannot fully articulate their motives because they don't understand them themselves. Denial, shame, and lack of insight all play a role."

Unbelievably, 18-year-old Lauryn said she still loved her mother on the show, keeping in touch with her while she was in prison despite everything. "Children can cling to even fractured parental bonds," said our expert. "Attachment doesn’t switch off because a parent behaves destructively; the longing for connection often survives, even when logic says it shouldn't."

"Ultimately, this case underlines how psychological distress and unprocessed trauma can warp behaviour to an extent that it appears incomprehensible from the outside," John added. "It is a tragic reminder of how complex and fragile the parent-child relationship can be."