Girl whose mother kidnapped her in 2017 was found alive by a man who recognized her from the Netflix show

A girl whose mother abducted her from her father’s care at age 9 in 2017 has been found alive and well in North Carolina by a store owner who recognized her after watching her story on Netflix’s Unsolved Mysteries.

Kayla Unbehaun, who was abducted by her non-custodial mother Heather Unbehaun, was last seen on July 4, 2017.

Her father Ryan Iskerka, who had full custody at the time, went to pick her up from her mother’s home in Wheaton, South Elgin, on July 5, but Kayla was nowhere to be seen.

Heather Unbehaun, 40, was arrested in Asheville, North Carolina, last weekend after a store owner recognized Kayla at an Asheville mall after watching an episode about her disappearance on a Netflix show and called the police.

Her mother, who only had visitation rights at the time of the kidnapping, is being held on $250,000 bond and awaiting extradition.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children posted warnings online in the years since her abduction, showing the missing 9-year-old girl, as well as age-changed photos of what she likely looks like now (photo: a photo of the course of Kayla’s age of 14)

Kayla, who is now 15 years old, is in protective custody.

The case was the subject of an episode about parental abductions in Netflix’s Unsolved Mysteries series.

Kayla is seen at the end of the episode “Abducted by a Parent” as 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 warnings online in the years since her abduction, which showed the missing 9-year-old girl, as well as age-changed photos of what she likely looks like now.

After being alerted that Kayla had been found, the organization shared a message from her father, Ryan, saying, “I am thrilled that Kayla is home safe. I want to thank @ElginPDFD, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, and all the law enforcement agencies that helped with her case.

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

Heather Unbehaun, 40, was arrested in Asheville, North Carolina, last weekend after a store owner recognized Kayla at an Asheville mall after watching an episode about her disappearance on a Netflix show and called police

The state’s attorney for Kane County charged Heather Unbehaun with one child abduction charge when she was located.

Lt. Diana Loveland of Asheville, North Carolina Police Department, told ABC “It’s unusual, but it’s good that when someone suspects they recognize someone, no matter how old the story is, they’re not afraid to call us so we can come and investigate.”

Her father Ryan Iskerka (right), who had full custody at the time, went to pick her up from her mother’s home in Wheaton, South Elgin, on July 5 — but Kayla was nowhere to be seen

Two weeks ago, a DNA test confirmed the identity of a Texan woman who was kidnapped as a toddler 51 years ago and was reunited with her family last year.

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

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

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

For more than half a century, her parents and siblings had been looking for her across the country – but she lived only ten minutes away.

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