The mother accused of abducting a South Elgin girl nearly six years ago has returned to Illinois to face charges after her daughter was found alive in North Carolina over the weekend.
Heather Unbehaun, who is accused of abducting her then 9-year-old daughter in 2017, was released from custody in Buncombe County, North Carolina on Tuesday after posting $250,000 bail and was in custody at the Kane County Adult Justice Center as of 3 p.m. Wednesday.
The Kane County State's Attorney's office said Unbehaun turned herself in Wednesday and appeared before a judge Thursday, where she was ordered to wear a GPS device and stay more than 1,000 feet from the father's home as he obtained an order of protection against her.
Unbehaun faces a charge of child abduction for intentionally violating "terms of a valid court order." During the time of the abduction, Unbehaun did not have legal custody of her daughter, Kayla.
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Her next scheduled hearing will be a status hearing on June 14 at the Kane County Judicial Center in St. Charles.
Kayla initially went missing in July 2017 when her father went to pick her up from an address in Wheaton before learning that Heather had packed her vehicle and left with Kayla, then 9 years old, the day before, authorities said.
The Kane County State's Attorney's office issued a kidnapping warrant for Unbehaun weeks after Kayla went missing.
Kayla's disappearance was one of several family abduction cases featured on an episode of the Netflix series "Unsolved Mysteries" in November 2022.
The two had not been located until Saturday, when a woman at a Plato's Closet in Asheville recognized Heather from "published media" and called police, according to Asheville police spokeswoman Samantha Booth.
Heather was arrested, and Kayla, now 15 years old, was placed into the custody of the North Carolina Division of Social Services. The teen was expected to be reunited with family and brought back to Illinois.
"We are overjoyed to report that the girl is in good condition and in good spirits since being reunited
with her family," South Elgin police said at the time.
Kayla's father, Ryan Iskerka, issued a statement through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, saying in part "I am overjoyed that Kayla is home safe."
"I want to thank the South Elgin Police Department, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and all of the law enforcement agencies who assisted with her case," he continued. "I also want to thank all of the followers on the "Bring Kayla Home” Facebook page, who helped keep her story alive and were instrumental in spreading awareness. We ask for privacy as we get to know each other again and navigate this new beginning.”
