Schoolgirl escaped from captivity maniac through chat in a mobile game

In the United States, police released a 17-year-old girl who was kidnapped in May 2025. She spent 521 days in prison. This was reported by NBC News, citing the FBI.

According to the agency, 39-year-old Adam Hunter Harmel lured a 15-year-old schoolgirl to a meeting through social networks. A man took her phone and locked it in the basement of his home in Oregon. There he abused the prisoner for about a year and a half.

Many months later, the kidnapper gave the girl a phone. The device was without a SIM card and mobile Internet, but could connect to Wi-Fi. Through this network, the schoolgirl entered the game Among Us and met another teenager in a chat.

She told a new acquaintance about the abduction and admitted that she no longer believes in liberation. Her friend reported it to the missing mother, and she immediately went to the FBI.

Police called the girl via video link and made sure she was alive. Agents tracked down the kidnapper's home and released the hostage on November 1. Evidence was found in the house to support her words.

Harmel was arrested and charged. He faces 10 years to life imprisonment.