In a surprising turn of events, a father has expressed his disbelief after discovering that his ex-wife took their three children on an international journey to escape what she believed to be the impending ‘end times.’ The shocking incident unfolded as the mother, Elleshia Anne Seymour, was seen on security footage at Salt Lake City International Airport, boarding a flight to Europe with the children.
Kendall Seymour, the father of the children, confessed that he was completely unaware of Elleshia’s plan until two days after the event. He had no prior knowledge of her intentions until someone stumbled upon her TikTok account, which detailed her beliefs and plans.
In an interview with KSL-TV, Kendall explained his utter surprise at the situation. “I didn’t know about any of these ideas of hers until a couple of weeks ago when someone found her TikTok account,” he shared. He further elaborated on her motivations, stating, “She thinks Salt Lake is going to be destroyed and she is trying to get the kids to safety. My only hope is that she is motivated to protect them.”
Kendall emphasized that there were no indications of such beliefs during their marriage or in the five years post-divorce. The family, which includes a child from another relationship, was later seen traveling on a flight to Croatia, with a stopover in Amsterdam, according to reports from ABC 4.
He added: ‘There were no signs of that when we were married or divorced in the last five years.’
The family – including fourth child from another relationship – was then spotted boarding a flight to Croatia, with a layover in Amsterdam, ABC 4 reports.
Elleshia had allegedly fled the country with her children because she believed the ‘end times’ were coming.
Investigators now say it does not seem as if Elleshia had any plans to return to the United States, claiming she obtained travel arrangements without Kendall or the other child’s father’s knowledge or consent, and left her vehicle at the airport.
She also allegedly left behind a ‘to-do’ list, including plans to shred documents and discard phones before fleeing the country, as well as a note ‘depicting a delusional message from God promising her she would be in Italy by Christmas,’ according to an online fundraiser.
Kendall Seymour, a father of three abducted children, has said he he did not know that their mother was planning to take them to Europe
Elleshia Anne Seymour, 35, is now facing charges of custodial interference and removing the children from the state
Kendall, who shares custody of Elleshia’s eldest three children, said the last time he saw his children was between November 24 and 25, when he dropped them off at school at the start of their mother’s scheduled custody time.
He said concerns were first raised days later, when a child care worker called asking why the children had not shown up for daycare.
Authorities then conducted a welfare search on December 2, after Elleshia’s colleagues reported that she had not shown up for work and stopped answering messages.
That same day, police claim, Elleshia left a voicemail for one of the fathers, saying she was already in France with the children.
She allegedly said at the time that she was planning to seek permanent residence abroad, and claimed she had taken the children because the apocalypse was imminent.
‘She’s been planning this because she took off on the 30th of November during my long custody break… for Thanksgiving,’ the worried father told KSL-TV.
‘It has been three weeks now. She has no family in Europe. As far as I know, no contacts out there.’
By December 10, the Utah Department of Public Safety issued an endangered missing advisory for the four children – Landon Hal Seymour, who turned 11 on December 13, Levi Parker Seymour, eight, Hazel Ray Seymour, seven and Jacob Kurt Brady, three.
Charges for custodial interference and removing the children from the state were filed six days later, and a temporary emergency protective order and no-bail arrest warrant was issued for their mother.
The no-bail arrest warrant was requested after witnesses reported she had previously suffered from emotional breakdowns and hallucinations, charging documents suggest.
Elleshia was seen on surveillance footage leading her four children through a terminal at Salt Lake City International Airport on November 30
The family then boarded a flight to Croatia with a stop-over in Amsterdam
Kendall said he now hopes the state warrant will be turned into a federal warrant, which would allow INTERPOL to create their own arrest warrant for Elleshia.
‘Hopefully the next step is I get a phone call that she’s been found and then I can fly out and find the kids,’ he told ABC 4.
‘As soon as that happens, me and my fiancé were going to drop everything and go get them.’
Once that happens, Elleshia could face serious legal consequences.
‘She’s chasing four felony counts, assuming this is the first time this has happened and [if] she has some mental health problems, then she is likely not looking at any jail time at all,’ family law attorney Marco Brown said.
‘What I think is more likely is they get the kids back to the United States and if they share 50-50 custody, then he goes and modifies the custody, so he gets the majority of it and holds the kids’ passports.’
‘If the police find her and arrest her, because they have an international warrant and work with the FBI, then they could detain her and the United States would extradite her back.’
In the meantime, Kendall is seeking to raise money for his and his fiancée’s eventual flights to Europe.
Kendall said he and his fiancée are planning to fly to Europe and collect his children as soon as Elleshia is located
‘I know someone who was dropped off in a foreign country at eight years old when they didn’t speak the language, and they strongly suggested that we personally go pick them up wherever they are found. This will minimize trauma,’ he wrote.
‘If we can be there to get them ASAP after mom is arrested, they will feel safer and will not suffer as much wondering what is going to happen to them, to their mom and to their future.’
‘Tickets to Europe are not cheap – we need two round-trip flights, perhaps a hotel and three to four one-way return flights,’ Kendall noted, explaining he does not yet know whether he or the other father will pick up the fourth child.
‘Any funds received in excess of flight costs will go towards therapy needed because of this traumatic experience.’
He concluded by writing that his ‘genuine hope is that the kids are found quickly and we can pick them up while they think they’re still on vacation.’
As of Sunday evening, Kendall had raised over $12,600 for the flights and his children’s therapy.
