A Utah teenager held captive for more than 500 days escaped after reaching out to another young player through the online video game “Among Us.”
Kylie Arellano, now 17, vanished from her Garden City, Utah, home in May 2025 at age 15. Her abductor, Adam Hunter Harmel, 39, allegedly groomed her online before driving to Perry, Utah, to collect her. The moment she entered his vehicle, Harmel threw her phone into a river in Logan Canyon and transported her to his home in Huntington, Oregon, where he told her she was not allowed to leave.
Harmel confined Arellano to his basement and forced her to share a bed with him. He “kept a knife under his pillow and made [Kylie] sleep against the wall,” according to court documents. He repeatedly beat and sexually assaulted her throughout 2025 and 2026, and even forced her to remove her braces with pliers in an effort to hide her identity.
The teenager’s limited internet access came through a phone Harmel provided without cellular data, restricting her to Wi-Fi only. Despite these constraints, she began talking to a fellow “Among Us” player, also a young girl, in October. The two eventually moved their conversations to another social media app, where Arellano revealed her true identity.
She claimed she was being held against her will at a man’s home in Oregon and said she believed that police had stopped looking for her.
The other girl’s mother contacted the FBI, which arranged to monitor a video call with Arellano. During that call, the teenager explained to investigators how Harmel had brought her to his house in Huntington. She showed them a knife he kept beside her bed and other evidence corroborating her story.
That same day, Nov. 1, Oregon State Police and federal agents rescued Arellano and took her for medical treatment. A search of Harmel’s home revealed knives, BB guns and sexual lubricant, according to the complaint. Harmel himself was arrested during a traffic stop in nearby Ontario, Oregon.
A housemate living at the home told the FBI that Harmel had claimed he brought home a “new girlfriend” from Utah, but the housemate did not see her until about two months after her arrival, when he spotted her scurrying into the basement.
Harmel had expressed a desire to start a family with the teenager and stated that he was attracted to minors, according to charging documents. Federal prosecutors allege Arellano was groomed online, and Harmel had initially claimed he had a disability involving his “messed up” hips to establish contact with her.
Harmel is charged with traveling across state lines with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and faces a minimum of 10 years in prison if convicted.
Just months before his arrest, Harmel was also accused of sexually assaulting a six-year-old girl who spent the night at his house. That case went to a grand jury, which declined to indict Harmel but kept the case open for future evidence. Officials have begun looking into that case again following his arrest, meaning Harmel could face additional charges.
Arellano’s disappearance had sparked a massive search effort for nearly 18 months before her rescue.