{"id":98207,"date":"2026-11-08T05:08:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-07T21:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=98207"},"modified":"2026-11-08T05:08:00","modified_gmt":"2026-11-07T21:08:00","slug":"missing-teen-saved-from-kidnapper-after-help-in-among-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=98207","title":{"rendered":"Missing Teen Saved From Kidnapper After Help in Among Us"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">A Utah teenager was rescued from an Oregon man&#8217;s home after she successfully contacted help from another child in Among Us.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Authorities saved the 17-year-old November 1, 2026, after receiving a tip relayed by a younger player she met while playing developer Innersloth&#8217;s hit party mystery game, according to <u>Newsweek<\/u>. She had allegedly spent more than 500 days held captive by 39-year-old Adam Harmel after he took her across state lines and prevented her from leaving.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">The Utah teen was just 15 when she was reported missing in May 2025. Harmel allegedly began contacting her through Snapchat earlier that month before offering to send her money to travel to his home in Oregon. He then made the hours-long drive to her location and lured her into his vehicle, disposing of her phone by throwing it into a river shortly after.<\/p>\n<p><output class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\" data-cy=\"article-slideshow\"><span data-cy=\"slideshow-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-preview\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 slideshow-preview\">\n<h3 class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-1085005187\" data-cy=\"slideshow-preview-title\">Screens  &#8211;  Among Us<\/h3>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-images-container\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 images-container\"><button type=\"button\" data-cy=\"hero-image\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 hero-image\"><img alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" decoding=\"async\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"progressive-image jsx-2277167929 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"\/><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/output><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Investigators said Harmel forced the teenager to sleep in a bed with him in his basement, becoming increasingly violent through the 521 days she was held captive. She found her window to escape when the alleged kidnapper granted her access to a phone without cellular data.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Although unable to contact others via traditional means, the device did allow her to use a WiFi connection to play online games. Among Us, which allows players to communicate and was released for mobile devices in 2018, allowed her to get in touch with another child.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">After moving the conversation to a different, undisclosed social media app, she then told the other player who she was, revealing that she was actively being held captive at Harmel&#8217;s home in Oregon.<\/p>\n<p><output class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\" data-cy=\"article-slideshow\"><span data-cy=\"slideshow-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-preview\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 slideshow-preview\">\n<h3 class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-1085005187\" data-cy=\"slideshow-preview-title\">Among Us VR &#8211; Gameplay Screenshots<\/h3>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-images-container\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 images-container\"><button type=\"button\" data-cy=\"hero-image\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 hero-image\"><img alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" decoding=\"async\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"progressive-image jsx-2277167929 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"\/><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/output><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">She shared concern that, after more than 500 days of searching, authorities had stopped looking for her. The other child then alerted their mother to the interaction, with the parent then reaching out to the FBI. A subsequent video call with the missing teenager saw her describe her circumstances to investigators.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">She was rescued from Harmel&#8217;s property later that day. Harmel has since been arrested and charged with transporting the teenager across state lines with the intent to exploit her.<\/p>\n<p><output class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\" data-cy=\"author-sign-off\"><\/p>\n<section class=\"author-sign-off\" data-cy=\"author-sign-off\"><span class=\"stack jsx-59817748 jsx-1927875859\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"rounded jsx-444076027 jsx-1730475047 profile-thumb jsx-2141281959 aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-1-1\"><img alt=\"Michael Cripe Avatar\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"progressive-image profile-thumb-img jsx-249361588 jsx-2338608387 expand\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/assets-prd.ignimgs.com\/avatars\/5205bf6a08586a205a834928\/Michael_blue_red_2-1700460435246.png?crop=1%3A1&amp;width=56&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=80 1x, https:\/\/assets-prd.ignimgs.com\/avatars\/5205bf6a08586a205a834928\/Michael_blue_red_2-1700460435246.png?crop=1%3A1&amp;width=56&amp;dpr=2&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=80 2x\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"\/><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"stack jsx-2509706801 jsx-3630940851\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"interface jsx-1132626198 sign-off-text\">\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He&#8217;s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/span><\/section>\n<p><\/output><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<center><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/missing-teen-saved-from-alleged-kidnapper-after-seeking-help-in-among-us\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><br \/>\n<center\/><br \/>\n<center><script>\n  atOptions = {\n    'key' : 'ab8cc34fbebd96e6c135978b4baca540',\n    'format' : 'iframe',\n    'height' : 90,\n    'width' : 728,\n    'params' : {}\n  };\n<\/script><br \/>\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highrevenueformat.com\/ab8cc34fbebd96e6c135978b4baca540\/invoke.js\"><\/script><\/center><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Utah teenager was rescued from an Oregon man&#8217;s home after she successfully contacted help from another child in Among Us. Authorities saved the 17-year-old&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":98208,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[642,28187,504,22535,5505],"class_list":["post-98207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech-gadgets-reviews","tag-among","tag-kidnapper","tag-missing","tag-saved","tag-teen","wpcat-32-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=98207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98207\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/98208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=98207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=98207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=98207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}