A teenager who was allegedly abducted by a sexual predator and held captive for more than 500 days was rescued after she sought help from another child through the popular online game “Among Us,” officials said.
Kylie Arellano was 15 when she disappeared from her home in Garden City, Utah, in May 2025. According to charging documents, Adam Hunter Harmel, 39, abducted her, confined her in the basement of his Oregon home, and repeatedly sexually assaulted and beat her.
Arellano’s disappearance prompted an extensive search lasting nearly 18 months. On Nov. 1, police located and rescued her from a home in Oregon after receiving a tip from the parent of another “Among Us” player, according to the criminal complaint.
Arellano, now 17, began communicating with the other player, also a girl, in October. The two later moved their conversations to another social media platform, where Arellano disclosed her real identity.
She told the girl that she was being held against her will at a man’s home in Oregon and believed authorities had stopped searching for her.
The girl’s mother contacted the FBI. Investigators monitored a video call during which Arellano described how Harmel had taken her to his home in Huntington. She also showed authorities a knife he kept next to her bed, along with other evidence supporting her account.
Oregon State Police and federal agents rescued Arellano that same day and took her for medical care.
Investigators searching Harmel’s home found knives, BB guns and sexual lubricant, according to the complaint. He was arrested during a traffic stop in nearby Ontario, Oregon.
Federal prosecutors allege that Harmel groomed Arellano online.
Harmel met the teenager online in May 2025 and told her he had a disability involving his “messed up” hips.
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He drove to Perry, Utah, to pick her up. Once she got into his vehicle, prosecutors say, Harmel threw her phone into a river in Logan Canyon, drove her to his home in Huntington, Oregon, and told her she could not leave.
Harmel allegedly confined Arellano in the basement, where they shared a bed. Court documents state that he “kept a knife under his pillow and made [Kylie] sleep against the wall.”
According to the complaint, Harmel said he wanted to start a family with Arellano, acknowledged that he was attracted to minors and repeatedly sexually assaulted her in 2025 and 2026.
He also allegedly beat her repeatedly and forced her to remove her braces with pliers in an apparent effort to conceal her identity.
Harmel gave Arellano a phone without cellular service, restricting her internet access to Wi-Fi.
A housemate told the FBI that Harmel said he had brought home a “new girlfriend” from Utah. The roommate said he did not see her until about two months after she arrived, when he saw her quickly enter the basement.
Harmel is charged with traveling across state lines with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. If convicted, he faces a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Several months before his arrest, Harmel was also accused of sexually assaulting a six-year-old girl who had spent the night at his home.
The case was presented to a grand jury, which declined to indict Harmel but left the matter open to future evidence, NBC News reported.
Officials said they have reopened their review of that case following Harmel’s arrest, raising the possibility that he could face additional charges.
