A chance encounter in social deduction game Among Us led to the discovery of a Utah teenager who had been missing for over 500 days. The 17-year-old was found in Oregon after information passed along by a family of another young Among Us player reached federal investigators.

The teenager, Kylie Arellano, disappeared from Garden City in Northern Utah on May 29, 2025, aged 15. Authorities located her on November 1, 2026, exactly 521 days later. The breakthrough came through a multiplayer lobby in Among Us.

A missing teenage girl flees 500 miles from her family and brings her Nintendo Switch along, unknowingly allowing her concerned parents to locate her.

Arellano began communicating with another minor through Among Us around mid-October 2026, Newsweek reports, citing federal court documents. She allegedly had access to a phone without cellular service but with Wi-Fi connectivity, allowing her to play the social deduction game online. Among Us supports both public and private lobbies, allowing players to join strangers or specific individuals, respectively. However, the precise circumstances of the two teenagers' initial encounter remain unclear. The two teenagers eventually continued their conversation on another app, where Arellano disclosed her real identity and said she was being held against her will in Oregon. She also expressed concern that authorities had stopped searching for her after more than a year had passed since her disappearance. The other teenager alerted their mother, who contacted the FBI.

On November 1, federal agents arranged a video call with Arellano, who recounted her disappearance and described conditions at the Oregon residence.

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