Who Are Kai Lawrence's Parents, Shirley and Gil McGillvary?
Who are Kai Lawrence's oldsters? He was deemed a hero after saving a lady from a drunk motive force, but then issues took a flip. Learn extra right here.


Well, here’s a reasonably feel-good story that took a drastic, chaotic, and mind-boggling turn. In the new Netflix documentary The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker, we meet Kai Lawrence, who we later be informed used to be born Caleb McGillvary. In 2013, Kai, a homeless surfer dude, become a viral sensation for a atypical interview he gave after he helped rescue a woman from an abusive drunk motive force. A couple of months later, he made headlines once more — for murder.
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What to start with made Kai such a captivating news subject at the time he went viral used to be the truth that he stated he was once homeless. "I don’t have any family. As far as anyone I grew up with is concerned, I’m already dead," he mentioned throughout the interview that made him well-known. But after all, that was a long way from the reality.
Kai grew up as Caleb McGillvary, however he gave the impression to have changed his identify and bring to a halt ties with his circle of relatives. Why did he do that? Below, we proportion information about Kai's biological oldsters, mom Shirley McGillvary and dad Gil McGillvary.
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Shirley McGillivary addressed claims that she locked her son Kai Lawrence up in his room as a child.
In The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker, we learn that Kai's parents break up up when he was once Four years outdated. After that, it is believed that Shirley became Kai's major caretaker, and from the looks of it, the mother and son had a long way from a loving relationship.
“I was locked in a cage for f---ing 4 years and treated like an animal," Kai said while describing his childhood during another 2013 newscast.
Remember Kai the Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker from WV? Well his name is really Caleb McGillivary and he's now wanted for murder in NJ!
— Kari Anderson (@WSAZKari) May 16, 2013Article continues below advertisement
His mother Shirley appeared in the documentary to address these claims, arguing that it was never as severe as Kai made it out to be. Shirley explained that while she did sometimes keep Kai in his room, it was to “stop the ability of him [Kai] getting out of the room too early" in the morning. She referred to him as a loose spirit and stated she used to be trying to offer protection to him from getting out and harming himself.
While Shirley hasn't noticed Kai in years, she did specific hobby in reconnecting together with her now-incarcerated son. She also noted that a part of the reason she believes Kai were given into trouble used to be the fact that he tends to position his consider within the incorrect people.
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Kai Lawrence's father, Gil McGillivary, claims he misplaced custody of his son once you have divorced.
Very few details are shared about Kai's father within the documentary. But according to a Daily Mail interview carried out in 2013, his organic father, Gil McGillivary, shared information about Kai's upbringing. Gil informed the hole that he lost custody of Kai after he and Shirley divorced.
He additionally stated he final saw his son in December 2010 when he confirmed up at his home to spend Christmas with him and his family.
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Furthermore, although Kai was once located within the U.S. in 2013, Gil claimed that his son grew up in Canada, where he was once shuffled thru homes for afflicted teenagers. "He was in treatment homes until he turned 18 and then they cut him loose and washed their hands of him," Gil said.
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Gil endured: "Caleb made accusations that he was physically and mentally abused at one of the homes. The system let my son down."
In a special interview with NJ.com, Gil spoke about why he concept Kai distanced himself from his family. "I believe that Caleb didn’t like the fact that I remarried, that I didn’t rescue him from the treatment home, that I have three kids from my present wife. But my children, they love their brother, and they’re shocked at what has happened," he mentioned.
In 2021, Gil shared a post on Facebook about Kai. "My CANADIAN son, an intergenerational survivor languishes in a New Jersey State Penitentiary, our family is looking for an intercessor to have him released before his granny dies. His name is Caleb Lawrence McGillivary,'" Gil wrote. Other than that, Gil doesn't seem to have had an enormous presence in Kai's existence.
The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker is now streaming on Netflix.
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