Mother who abducted daughter, 15, from her father's care is RELEASED

Mother of girl, 15, who abducted her from her father’s care in 2017 is RELEASED on $250k bail – after store owner recognized the child from Netflix’s Unsolved Mysteries in North Carolina

Kayla Unbehaun was abducted by her non-custodial mother Heather Unbehaun in July 2017
She was found by police six years later after a store owner recognized her from a Netflix show
Unbehaun has since been released on a $250,000 bond and will appear in court on July 11

A mother charged with abducting her daughter from her father’s care in 2017 was released after posting a $250,000 bond.

Heather Unbehaun, 40, will appear in Buncombe County Court on July 11 for her first court appearance since her daughter Kayla, 15, was recognized by a store owner in North Carolina.

The unnamed Good Samaritan spotted the teenager after watching her story on Netflix’s Unsolved Mysteries.

Kayla was abducted by Unbehaun, who only had visitation rights, when she was just nine and was last seen on July 4, 2017, in Illinois.

Police have described the case as ‘unusual’, telling WLOS that there will typically be a technological breadcrumb’ but there was not in this case.

Heather Unbehaun, 40, will appear in Buncombe County Court on July 11 for her first court appearance since her daughter Kayla, 15, was recognized by a store owner in North Carolina

Kayla was abducted by Unbehaun, who only had visitation rights, when she was jus nine and was last seen on July 4, 2017, in Illinois

Asheville Police Lt. Jonathan Brown said: ‘What’s most unusual is the ability to stay off the grid, if you will, for that period of time.

‘Typically we leave a technological bread crumb and those are usually very easy and quick to be tracked down. This was not.

‘A witness believed she had recognized a woman who kidnapped a child in 2017.

‘When officers arrived, they were able to locate and make contact with the woman and the child.

‘After further investigation by officers along with confirmation with the South Elgin Police Department, officers were able to confirm the identification of Heather Unbehaun and a minor child in her custody.’

After being found safe over the weekend she was reunited with her father Ryan Iskerka who drove her back to her home state from North Carolina.

Iskerka, who had full custody at the time, went to pick Kayla up from her mother’s house in Wheaton, South Elgin, on July 5.

In a statement he said: ‘I’m overjoyed that Kayla is home safe. I want to thank Elgin PDFD, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and all of the law enforcement agencies who assisted with her case.

‘We ask for privacy as we get to know each other again and navigate this new beginning.’

Her father Ryan Iskerka (right), who had full custody at the time, went to pick her up from her mother’s house in Wheaton, South Elgin, on July 5, 2017

After being found safe over the weekend she was reunited with her father Ryan Iskerka who drove her back to her home state from North Carolina

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NEMEC) said a felony warrant for kidnapping had been issued for Heather Unbehaun in July 2017.

Her case was the topic of an episode focusing on parental abductions on Netflix’s Unsolved Mysteries series.

Kayla is featured at the end of the episode ‘Abducted by a Parent’ as a part of a Missing Children Roll alongside CJ and Billy Vosseler, Luis Alderete-Martinez, Huaiyu and Binyu Chin, Reuben Blackwell Jr., Tammy and Diego Flores, and Christopher and Lisa Zaharias.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children posted alerts online in the years since her abduction showing the missing girl aged 9 as well as age-progression photos of how she likely looks like now.

It comes after a DNA test confirmed the identity of a Texan woman who was abducted as a toddler 51 years ago and was reunited with her family last year.

Melissa Highsmith, now 53, was taken from her parents’ Fort Worth home in 1971 by a babysitter when she was just 22 months old

She was miraculously reunited with her biological parents – Jeffrie Higshmith, 72; Alta Alpantenco, 73 and siblings – Rebecca Del Bosque, 48; Vicitoria Highsmith, 47; Sharon Highsmith, 45 and Jeffrey Highsmith, 42 – on November 26.

Fort Worth Police Department announced it had completed official DNA testing which confirmed Melissa’s identity as the missing child.

For more than half a century her parents and siblings had been looking around the country for her – but she had been living just ten minutes away.

They eventually found her through her children’s DNA samples which were shared on genealogy website 23andMe.

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