Missing Utah Girl Rescued After Contact Through Among Us
A 17-year-old girl missing from Garden City, Utah for over 500 days was rescued after she contacted another player through Among Us, according to KSL and Dexerto. Prosecutors say Adam Hunter Harmel, 39, took her to Oregon and confined her.
1 source 9h ago
Reporting from 1 source: Automaton.
Why it matters
The case turns on a chat lobby inside a multiplayer game: a phone with no cellular service still carried enough contact to start a federal investigation and end a confinement that had gone unreported for over 500 days.
Key Facts
- The rescued girl is 17 and lived in Garden City, Utah; she went missing in May 2025 at age 15.
- Adam Hunter Harmel, 39, of Oregon was arrested and charged with transporting a minor across state lines for illegal sexual acts.
- The girl used Among Us on a smartphone without cellular service to contact another underage player.
- The other player's mother contacted the FBI, which confirmed the girl's account by video call on November 1.
- The girl was taken into protective custody from a residence in Oregon on November 1.
She used a Wi-Fi-only phone to reach a fellow player, whose mother contacted the FBI. Agents confirmed her account by video call on November 1 and took her into protective custody the same day.
The phone Harmel gave the girl could not make calls. Internet access was limited to Wi-Fi, and the game's chat was the channel left open. She met another underage player in Among Us, and the two later moved to another social media platform, where she described her identity and her confinement. That account reached the other player's mother, who called the FBI.
Court documents describe Harmel driving from Oregon to Utah to collect the girl, throwing her original smartphone into a river during the trip, and restricting her to the home. He was arrested at a traffic stop and charged with transporting a minor across state lines for illegal sexual acts.
Written with AI by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited. See our editorial policy.
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