Girl Missing 6 Years From West Suburbs Found Safe In NC, Mom Arrested

ASHEVILLE, NC — A South Elgin girl abducted nearly six years ago by her mother, who did not have custody of the child, has been found safe in North Carolina, according to authorities.

Kayla Unbehaun was 9 when she disappeared July 5, 2017, with her then-35-year-old mother, Heather Unbehaun, of Wheaton, according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Police in Asheville, North Carolina, responded to a shopping center Saturday evening after an employee at Plato's Closet recognized Heather Unbehaun, authorities said. The case was recently featured on the Netflix series “Unsolved Mysteries.”

Officers confirmed the identity of both Heather and Kayla Unbehaun, and took Heather Unbehaun into custody on an extradition warrant out of Illinois, booking her into the Buncombe County jail on $250,000 bond, according to police. She has since posted bond and been released, authorities said, and her next court appearance is July 11 in Buncombe County.

Two counts of child abduction were filed against Health Unbehaun in July 2017, according to Kane County court records. When her warrant was issued, her bail was set at $10,000 with 10 percent to apply for bond, authorities said.

“I’m overjoyed that Kayla is home safe,” her father, Ryan Iskerka, said in a prepared statement, thanking the agencies that assisted with the case. “We ask for privacy as we get to know each other again and navigate this new beginning.”

Iskerka has continued to search for his daughter over the years, creating a GoFundMe to support the effort. A Facebook page called Bring Kayla Home has over 5,000 followers.

In 2017, the mother and daughter were last seen at a Fourth of July parade in Wheaton before leaving for a camping trip to Wisconsin, from which they never returned for a court-ordered exchange the next day with Iskerka, Patch previously reported. Heather Unbehaun also canceled her social media accounts and turned off her phone around the time of the disappearance.

South Elgin police traveled the country investigating Kayla Unbehaun's case, the department said in a news release, adding the now-15-year-old is in good condition and in good spirits, and that police are working to provide social services to the family.

“Thanks to all of the law-enforcement agencies around the country who have assisted in the search for this child and Heather Unbehaun over the last six years,” Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser said Tuesday in a news release.

The investigation is ongoing, police said. Anyone with information is asked to contact South Elgin police at 847-741-2151.