Man Indicted After Teen Escaped Captivity Via Video Game SOS Called Her His ‘New Girlfriend’ to Pals

A man accused of driving to Utah to pick up a 15-year-old girl and keeping her captive in his Oregon home for a year and a half is now facing a federal count of transporting a minor across a state line for the purpose of criminal lewd activity.

After disappearing from her home in Garden City, Utah, in May 2025 when she was 15 years old, Kylie Arellano, now 17, reportedly orchestrated her rescue after reaching out to another teen through the popular online video game Among Us.

The teen purportedly met suspect Adam Hunter Harmel of Huntington, Oregon, online, with the Department of Justice alleging she was “groomed on gaming platforms that are commonly used by Nihilistic Violent Extremist (NVE) Groups members to solicit … explicit photos,” before transitioning to “other social media applications.”

Harmel, 39, allegedly faked a disability, according to the criminal complaint cited by the U.S. Sun on Monday, November 9, and ultimately offered Arellano money to move to Oregon with him.

He then allegedly drove to Utah to pick her up, per the affidavit, after which he is accused of throwing her phone into a river and banning her from leaving his house. The suspect allegedly forced the teen to sleep against the wall with him in the basement and kept a knife under his pillow to prevent her from escaping, per the complaint.

After her rescue, Arellano accused her alleged captor of being violent and aggressive, per a report from ABC affiliate KTVX, and forcing her to perform lewd acts. Harmel also allegedly had the teen remove her braces with pliers in an effort to hide her identity, per the station.

According to the U.S. Sun, Harmel allegedly bragged to his housemates that he’d brought a “new girlfriend” home from Utah and expressed a desire to start a family with Arellano, allegedly admitting he was physically attracted to minors.

Arellano was purportedly able to facilitate her escape, according to police, when she was given a phone with no data, but that connected to wi-fi, per KTVX. In mid-October, the teen reportedly used this device to make a connection with another minor while playing the popular game Among Us.

Their communication shifted to a separate app, per the affidavit, where Arellano reportedly revealed who and where she was. Arellano reportedly told the minor she believed police had given up looking for her, but the minor took her claims seriously and brought them to his mother, per the affidavit, who in turn contacted the FBI.

A monitored call was set up with Arellano on November 1, per the report, during which she reportedly described to law enforcement how she had allegedly been abducted and showed the knife kept under the pillow. She was rescued from the house later that same day, per a statement from the FBI.

The following day, Harmel was arrested without incident, according to the DOJ. He made his initial court appearance on Wednesday, November 4 in the U.S. District Courthouse in Boise, Idaho. He has not yet entered a plea.

If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, call the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673, text HOPE to 64673 or go to rainn.org.