A 17-year-old Utah girl who had been missing for more than 17 months was rescued from an Oregon home after connecting with another young player in Among Us. She told the player she was being held against her will. The player’s mother contacted the FBI, according to a federal criminal complaint reviewed by People.
The case highlights both the risks young people can face when talking with strangers online and the difference it can make when someone takes a plea for help seriously. In this case, a fellow player listened and told a parent, who got the information to authorities.
How an Among Us Player Helped Get Word to the FBI
The girl was 15 when she disappeared in May 2025. On October 15, 2026, she began talking with another young player through Among Us, according to the federal criminal complaint.
Characters from Among Us – YouTube, GameSpot
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Among Us is an online multiplayer game from Innersloth in which Crewmates work to finish their tasks while secretly assigned Impostors try to sabotage them and eliminate players. When someone reports a body or calls an emergency meeting, players can use the built-in text chat to compare accounts, question alibis, and decide whom to vote out. That discussion is part of how players figure out who the Impostors are.
By October, the teen had access to a phone that could connect to the internet over Wi-Fi, according to the complaint as reported by People. After meeting in the game, the two continued talking on a separate social media app. There, the girl said she was being held against her will at a man’s home in Oregon, according to reporting that cited Newsweek and KUTV.
She pointed the other player to news coverage of her disappearance. The player told their mother, who contacted the FBI.
What Investigators Knew Before the Rescue
The FBI’s Salt Lake City field office received information about the teen’s disappearance around August 20, 2025, roughly three months after she went missing. During the investigation, agents learned that she had allegedly been approached on gaming platforms before the contact moved to other social media apps, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
A killer in Among Us, YouTube – GameSpot
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On November 1, 2026, the FBI received a tip about the teen’s possible location. That day, the other player’s mother reached the girl by video while FBI investigators listened, the Associated Press reported, citing court records. During the call, the teen said she had met Adam Hunter Harmel through social media in May 2025. She told them he had driven her from Utah to Oregon and thrown her original phone into a river.
The FBI passed information to Oregon State Police, who found the teen at Harmel’s home in Huntington that day. Authorities arrested Harmel during a traffic stop about 30 miles from the home, according to the AP. The FBI’s Salt Lake City field office and Joint Terrorism Task Force are investigating the case with assistance from Oregon State Police.
Oregon Man Faces a Federal Charge
Federal prosecutors charged Harmel, 39, with transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. The complaint alleges that Harmel met the teen online in May 2025, drove to Utah to pick her up and took her across state lines to his home. Prosecutors also allege that he took steps to keep her from leaving.
The complaint was filed in the District of Utah. Harmel made his initial court appearance on November 4 in Boise, Idaho, according to the Justice Department. He is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
A cartoonish character death in Among Us – YouTube, GameSpot
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“Our priority in this case was the safe return of the minor victim,” said Melissa Holyoak, U.S. attorney for the District of Utah, in the department’s statement. She thanked the FBI and Oregon law enforcement for their work in recovering the teen.
More than a year after she disappeared, the teen found a way to tell someone where she was and what was happening. The player took her seriously, brought in a trusted adult and helped get that information to the people who could act on it.
Does this incident change how you feel about young people using social media? Sound off and let us know!
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