A 17-year-old Utah girl who disappeared in May 2025 was rescued from an Oregon home on Nov. 1, 2026, after more than 500 days, according to the supplied account. A federal complaint filed Nov. 2 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah alleges that Adam Hunter Harmel, 39, confined and abused her. The allegations remain accusations in a criminal case.
The girl, Kylie Arellano, was 15 when she vanished from Garden City, Utah, on May 29, 2025. The complaint alleges Harmel met her online and offered her money to travel to Oregon. A law enforcement source cited in the account said the two allegedly connected on Snapchat before her disappearance. The FBI affidavit describes earlier communications on gaming platforms that moved to other social media applications.
According to the complaint, Harmel drove from Oregon to Perry, Utah, around May 29 to pick her up. It alleges that after she got into his vehicle, he threw her phone into a river in Logan Canyon, drove her to his home in Huntington, Oregon, and told her she could not leave. The complaint says he later gave her a phone without cellular data, limiting her internet access to Wi-Fi.
The filing alleges Arellano was kept in the basement, where she and Harmel shared a bed. It says he kept a knife beneath his pillow and made her sleep against a wall to deter her from escaping. The complaint further alleges he repeatedly struck her and forced her to remove her braces with pliers, reportedly to make her harder to identify. It also accuses him of repeatedly sexually assaulting her in 2025 and 2026, transporting her across state lines for criminal sexual activity, and expressing interest in minors and a desire to start a family with her.
A housemate told the FBI that Harmel described the girl as a “new girlfriend” from Utah, according to the complaint. The housemate reportedly did not see her until about two months after her arrival, when she ran back into the basement.
Arellano’s family had reported concerns that she was groomed online, the FBI affidavit says. Her mother continued searching after the girl disappeared; the account says she found her daughter’s jacket in the driveway and that the girl’s phone was turned off.
The account traces Arellano’s path to help to mid-October 2026, when she connected with another minor while playing the online game “Among Us.” After they moved their conversation to another social media app, she disclosed her identity and said she was being held against her will in an Oregon home. She also reportedly believed police were no longer looking for her.
Her mother contacted the FBI. During a video call monitored by investigators on Nov. 1, Arellano showed them the knife and other evidence that the complaint says supported her account. Oregon State Police and federal agents rescued her that day and took her for medical treatment.
Investigators searching the residence found knives, BB guns and sexual lubricant, according to the complaint. Harmel was arrested during a traffic stop in Ontario, Oregon. The supplied account said he was scheduled to make his initial federal court appearance Wednesday; it does not provide the result of that appearance or any plea.
