Recently, one of my buddies was distraught. I’ve known him for almost 20 years; I could tell something was weighing heavily on his mind. I asked what was going on, and he said one of his children got into a bit of hot water due to their cellphone usage at school. We talked it through, and he realized the issue wasn’t that detrimental in the grand scheme. Sometimes we all need a bit of objectivity.
A cellular stalker
Still, I don’t blame him for being worried. Kids and cellphones are a combustible combination. If you feel differently, watch the recent Netflix release Unknown Number: The High School Catfish and report back. Or just read the rest of this column.
Unknown Number: The High School Catfish is a documentary that follows a group of students in Beal City, Michigan, as they navigate a townwide mystery as to who’s harassing junior high student Lauryn Licari. Two things need clarification. One, the town where the “townwide” mystery happens is an unincorporated community with a population of 312 as of 2023, according to open-source platform Data Commons. It has one building that houses all the students, grades K-12. Two, the “harassment” is bad; Lauryn receives some of the most hideously hateful, demeaning and graphic text messages you could imagine.
In classic teenage fashion, the first questionable messages appear right before a Halloween party Lauryn hasn’t been invited to. Her boyfriend, Owen McKenny, was invited, though, and he plans on bringing her along, regardless. However, an unknown number begins texting Owen and Lauryn in a group thread with threats that Owen is going to break up with her. The messages are mean, but nowhere near what they would become.
When the text messages pick back up, they are extremely alarming. Reading the content, you genuinely feel sorry for Lauryn, as the messages attack every level of her being. Moreover, the language the unknown sender employs is very vulgar and extremely sexually graphic.
As the messages continue over the following months, Owen and Lauryn begin to receive upwards of 30 to 40 messages per day. Still, the number isn’t the primary concern: The content gives the impression the sender knows Lauryn and Owen on a personal level, using nicknames and commenting on details such as conversations from school and outfits Lauryn would wear.
It’s clear the sender is someone close to the two with intimate knowledge of their day-to-day lives. After some time, the messages begin to take on an even more sinister tone, including threats against Lauryn’s life. Understandably, the families push for a resolution.
With Beal City being such a small community, the local superintendent and sheriff thought they’d get to the bottom of the problem by simply investigating around the school. Various leads point to other students, but investigations into them provide little to no clarity. The sheriff hits a brick wall; it’s been 18 months since the text messages started, with no resolution. It’s obvious a larger agency’s assistance will be beneficial. Enter the FBI.
Digital investigative techniques
The sheriff sends the FBI 720 pages of messages. The bureau knows the messages aren’t as crucial to the investigation as the digital information attached to them, so it requests a forensic examination, known as a “dump,” of Owen’s phone.
The production team missed an opportunity to really dive into the ins and outs of cellphone forensics, especially regarding what can and can’t be discovered and recovered. It presents a brief overview, but a more thorough explanation would have been welcomed. After all, I’d bet 99% of its audience possesses a cellular mobile device. I’m sure they would be interested in the topic.
Often, people fail to realize, or conveniently forget, how much of their lives are contained in their phones. It would have been eye-opening for many viewers to learn the depth and scope of digital investigations when agencies get their hands on a person’s mobile device or the cellphone data itself. I make that distinction because, for law enforcement purposes, they are not one and the same.
If an investigating agency hopes to gain the most information possible regarding a suspect, they’ll want access to both the phone and the cellular provider records. The phone itself will show every bit of data that’s been received or transmitted by the device; nothing is ever really “deleted.” The actual cellphone data from the cellular provider, as opposed to just the mobile device, presents an opportunity to more or less track a person’s every movement based on the towers their phone connects with during its regular operation.
Cellphones in school
Ultimately, the documentary was a sad look at the prevalence of technology and the toll it takes on people. I won’t ruin the reveal regarding the perpetrator. The culprit is one of the last people most would expect, and the revelation is worth the watch. It’s quite a bit of food for thought.
Which got me thinking. As a parent, I’m not looking forward to the time when my son is old enough to have his own phone. At least I might not have to worry as much about him having one in school, though.
Here in Oklahoma, our state legislature passed Senate Bill 139, known as the “bell to bell” no cellphone policy for the 2025-2026 school year. The law prohibits the use of cellphones, smartwatches and other electronic devices that can connect to the internet or a smartphone. The state is giving the law an initial one-year trial run with the possibility of future enforcement and modification.
There was and still is some backlash among students and parents. Some adults feel their children should always have cellphone access. Count me among those who don’t see the need for cellphones in classrooms. Cybercrime doesn’t care about the setting or location. I can’t begin to recount the number of teenage defendants I’ve seen with criminal cases that started with a cellphone and ended with a felony charge.
As Unknown Number: The High School Catfish goes to show, too much cellphone access creates the potential for far too many problems—not only for the students who are directly harmed by the crime but also those who are indirectly scarred during the investigation.
With every student seemingly possessing a cellphone at all times, every student can become a suspect at some point. After all, it’s easy to spoof a cellphone number. Just ask your kids.
Adam Banner
Adam R. Banner is the founder and lead attorney of the Oklahoma Legal Group, a criminal defense law firm in Oklahoma City. His practice focuses solely on state and federal criminal defense. He represents the accused against allegations of sex crimes, violent crimes, drug crimes and white-collar crimes.
The study of law isn’t for everyone, yet its practice and procedure seem to permeate pop culture at an increasing rate. This column is about the intersection of law and pop culture in an attempt to separate the real from the ridiculous.
