why did kendra licari do it

Kendra Licari cyberbullied her own daughter, Lauryn Licari, and Lauryn's then- boyfriend Owen McKenny by sending thousands of anonymous harassing text messages over nearly two years. According to Kendra's explanation in the Netflix documentary "Unknown Number: The High School Catfish," she initially did not send the original texts but started sending messages herself in a desperate attempt to identify the original culprit. However, sending these texts became a "spiral" she could not stop, during which she was in a very troubled mental state. Kendra also shared that the situation was tied to her own past trauma—when she was 17, she was raped, and as Lauryn entered her teenage years, Kendra became very scared, wanting to protect her daughter from going through similar trauma. This fear and trauma resurfaced and overwhelmed her, contributing to her misguided actions. She said she was trying to control what she perceived as a harmful situation in her daughter's life but failed to handle it properly, resulting in serious cyberbullying behavior. She expressed disappointment and regret for what she did, acknowledging it profoundly changed her relationship with her daughter in a negative way. Kendra was charged with stalking and other offenses, pleaded guilty to stalking a minor, served prison time, and was released in August 2024. She hopes to repair her relationship with Lauryn, though it will not be the same as before.