A 17-year-old Utah girl was found in Oregon after being missing for more than 500 days, and a 39-year-old man found with her is facing charges.
The victim went missing from Garden City, Utah, about 86 miles northeast of Salt Lake City in May 2025, the FBI said in a release. On Sunday, local authorities in Oregon recovered her and arrested the man she was with, acting on information provided by the FBI.
The FBI did not name the victim or the arrested man; the teen has been identified as Kylie Arellano, according to NBC News. The suspect has been identified as Adam Hunter Harmel in a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah Monday.
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Kylie, identified as MV or “minor victim” in court documents, was groomed on gaming platforms and social media apps and allegedly sent sexually explicit and self-harm material to unidentified fellow users on those platforms for money, according to the complaint against Mr. Harmel.
On Oct. 15, Kylie played the online game, Among Us, with another minor, providing her name and explaining that she had run away and that she was being held against her will at a man’s Oregon residence. She also said that the police were no longer looking for her, according to the complaint.
Kylie also sent articles referencing her disappearance to the parent of the other minor she was playing with. On Sunday, Kylie had a video call with the parent of the other minor, who in turn was on a simultaneous phone call with the FBI.
Kylie alleged that she met Mr. Harmel on a social media app when she was 15, that he claimed to be disabled and that he offered her money to get herself to Oregon. Mr. Harmel ended up driving to Utah himself, Kylie said, picking her up in Perry, Utah, about 50 miles north of Salt Lake City on or around May 29, 2025, according to the complaint.
Mr. Harmel tossed Kylie’s phone into a river in Logan Canyon around 24 miles northeast of Perry after picking her up, and proceeded to drive to his residence in Oregon.
Kylie’s mom, Stephanie Coleman, told NBC News in December that the two communicated over text that night, saying “She goes, ‘I love you, Mama. Goodnight.’ I said, ‘I love you too, baby girl,’ That was at 9:44 p.m. Her phone turned off at 9:52 p.m.”
Kylie said that after they arrived in Oregon, Mr. Harmel said that she could not leave. She also said that he forced her to share his bed and sleep with her back to the wall to prevent her escape, and that he kept a knife under his pillow to prevent escape as well.
Mr. Harmel provided Kylie with a new cell phone, she said, but it was only usable if connected to WiFi, according to the complaint.
She also alleged that Mr. Harmel forced her to use pliers to remove her braces so that she could not be identified, and said that Mr. Harmel expressed an interest in minors and minor girls in particular, as well as a desire to “start a family,” according to the complaint.
Mr. Harmel is accused of physical abuse against Kylie as well as multiple incidences of sexual assault in 2025 and 2026.
A search of Mr. Harmel’s residence turned up lubricant, knives, BB guns and female clothing, according to the complaint.
In the FBI’s release on the case, FBI Director Kash Patel said, “To anyone using ‘gore groups’ to target and exploit children: the FBI and our partners are coming for you. We are using every tool at our disposal to combat nihilistic violent extremism, bring offenders to justice and protect America’s children.”
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