MALHEUR COUNTY, Oregon — A 39-year-old man was in custody in eastern Oregon on Monday, held on a federal warrant in connection with the recovery of a Garden City teenager who had been missing for nearly a year and a half.
According to the Malheur County Sheriff’s Office, Adam Harmel was booked into the Malheur County Jail in Vale, where he is being held on a federal warrant through the FBI.
The arrest follows the weekend recovery of 17-year-old Kylie Arellano, who disappeared in late May 2025 from her home Garden City. Local authorities located the teenager safely in a small town in neighboring Baker County, Oregon.
Arellano’s mother, Stephanie Kaye, celebrated the development in a post to a social media support page dedicated to locating her daughter, writing: “My babygirl was found SAFE today!! We did it KOAS ARMY.”
In a statement on the social media platform X, FBI Director Kash Patel said local police in Oregon brought the minor to safety Saturday night after receiving information from the FBI’s Salt Lake City Field Office.
Patel emphasized law enforcement’s commitment to tackling child exploitation linked to violent online networks. “To anyone using gore groups to target and exploit children: the FBI and our partners are coming for you,” Patel said. “We are using every tool at our disposal to combat nihilistic violent extremism, bring offenders to justice and protect America’s children”.
The FBI and the Oregon State Police declined to release additional details regarding the circumstances of the teenager’s recovery, citing an active and ongoing investigation.