Teenager reportedly held captive for 521 days, used ‘Among Us’ to call for help and escape from alleged kidnapper

This article mentions child sex abuse.

A teenager who was held captive for 521 days after disappearing from her home in Utah managed to escape by using the online video game Among Us, per Fox 13 Salt Lake City. Kylie Arellano, who was 15 at the time, went missing from Garden City on May 29, 2025. The nationwide manhunt ended nearly 18 months later, on Nov. 1 of this year, when the teen was finally rescued from a home in Huntington, Oregon.

Adam Hunter Harmel, 39, has since been arrested and charged with transporting a minor across state lines to engage in criminal sexual activity. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison. U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Utah, said in a statement (per Fox 13) that Harmel initially met Arellano on social media last year before driving across state lines to take her to his home in Oregon, where he allegedly held her captive.

Prosecutors stated that the victim was forced to sleep in Harmel’s bed beside a wall and that he sexually assaulted her, according to a federal criminal complaint cited by Fox13 Salt Lake City. The complaint also alleged that Harmel forced the teen to tear out her braces with pliers to make her harder to identify.

He was apprehended during a traffic stop

“During the investigation, the FBI learned that the minor victim was allegedly groomed on gaming platforms that are commonly used by Nihilistic Violent Extremist (NVE) group members to solicit sexually explicit photos and maiming photos,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. “The grooming then transitioned to other social media applications. As alleged in court documents, Harmel kept a knife under his pillow to prevent the minor victim from escaping.”

According to prosecutors, the suspect threw Arellano’s phone into a river after picking her up but later allowed her to have a replacement device with no cellular data. Once she could connect to the internet, Arellano began playing Among Us, a multiplayer online game that became widely popular during the pandemic.

In Among Us, players collaborate to repair a broken spaceship while secret traitors, known as impostors, try to eliminate crew members and sabotage the mission. After each round, players discuss and vote to identify and remove the impostors.

Around mid-October, Arellano began speaking with another teen while playing the game. After their conversation moved to a different social media platform, Arellano confided that she was being held at Harmel’s home and believed the police had stopped searching for her.

The other teen’s mother immediately alerted the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The FBI arranged to monitor a video call with Arellano on November 1, during which she described her ordeal of meeting Harmel and being kidnapped.

Authorities say the details shared during the call prompted Oregon State Police and federal agents to raid the property later that day, rescuing Arellano and taking her to receive medical treatment. Harmel was apprehended during a traffic stop in Ontario, Oregon, and booked into Malheur County Jail, according to KGW.

Following the suspect’s arrest, Attorney General Todd Blanche said: “Anyone engaged in the sexual exploitation of a minor will be held accountable. Today’s arrest is the first step toward bringing the accused to justice and relieving the pain endured by the victim and her family. This Department of Justice will never stop investigating and prosecuting individuals engaged in vicious predatory behavior.”