Four children from Utah, allegedly taken to Croatia by their mother amid fears of an impending apocalypse, find themselves in an orphanage following her arrest.
Last month, 35-year-old Ellishia Anne Seymour caused alarm when she whisked her children—Landon, 10, Levi, 8, Hazel, 7, and Jacob, 3—away to Europe, driven by beliefs about the ‘end times.’
Seymour reportedly relocated the children to live with another woman and her 13-year-old son. This family eventually realized that the mother and her children were the focus of an international search effort.
After being persuaded to surrender, Seymour was detained in Croatia. Meanwhile, her children are caught in a bureaucratic bind, residing in an orphanage while their father strives to bring them back to the United States.
In a GoFundMe update shared by Seymour’s former spouse, Kendall, he explained that although Ellishia is now under arrest, the children remain ‘trapped’ in a state-managed orphanage.
“We are in the country, working to release the children from the local authorities’ care,” Kendall stated.
‘We have to hire Croatian lawyers who specialize in child abduction, create and submit Hague Convention applications, hire court-approved translators, and extend our stay here by an unknown amount of time. All to work on getting the kids released from government custody.’
Kendall – who previously spoke of his shock at discovering his ex-wife had taken the children to Croatia – added that they are also hoping to return the other child, who is an American, back to the US, but his ‘situation is even more difficult than my own kids’ status.’
Utah siblings (seen with their father Kendall Seymour) who were allegedly abducted to Croatia by their mother because she feared an impending apocalypse have now been left stuck in an orphanage
Elleshia Anne Seymour, 35, was arrested in Croatia after allegedly abducting the children
The mother was said to have become obsessed with an incoming apocalypse, leading her to allegedly take her kids on an international flight in December 2025 with no plans to return.
After realizing the children had been whisked away to Europe, Ellishia’s family said they discovered her fears of the apocalypse based on her social media, evidence found in her home, and statements she made to others, reports ABC4.
Kendall told KSL-TV last month that he had seen his children days before they flew with their mother, and had no idea of her plans to abruptly leave.
‘I didn’t know about any of these ideas of hers until a couple of weeks ago when someone found her TikTok account,’ he said.
‘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.’
He added: ‘There were no signs of that when we were married or divorced in the last five years.’
This week, Ellishia’s family said they discovered she and the children had been staying with a woman and her 13-year-old child.
The children’s father Kendall said there were ‘no signs’ that his ex-wife was becoming a ‘religious zealot’ when they were together, but said she is now said to have become obsessed with an incoming apocalypse
Seymour allegedly took her children Landon, 10, Levi, 8, Hazel, 7, and Jacob, 3, to Croatia to escape the ‘end times’, sparking a month-long international manhunt
Kendall said he is fighting to return his children to the US, but he said the process is lengthy as he has to ‘hire Croatian lawyers who specialize in child abduction, create and submit Hague Convention applications, hire court-approved translators, and extend our stay here by an unknown amount of time’
Due to the international manhunt for the children, the 13-year-old reportedly discovered there was an endangered and missing advisory for the children, and told his mom.
The woman then convinced Ellishia to turn herself into police, and both women were taken into custody. The four Seymour children and the 13-year-old were placed into a local orphanage.
It appears that the 13-year-old is the fifth child referenced in Kendall Seymour’s fundraiser update, who he described as being in a ‘situation even more difficult than my own kids’ status.’
Kendall’s father told ABC4 that the situation has forever changed how he sees the mother of his grandchildren, who he says became a ‘religious zealot’ in recent times.
He said she had been posting to TikTok about how she believed America would be destroyed in an imminent apocalypse.
The grandfather, also called Kendall, said his son is now fighting to return the children back to the US through a complex legal system in Croatia.
‘From what we found out today, there needs to be a judge in Croatia that’s going to sign a form of some kind that allows them to be released to their father, which is so frustrating,’ the grandfather said.
‘(Kendall) has their birth certificates with him, and he’s got court documentation saying that he’s the father and he has custody of them, but it’s not good enough.’
He described the ordeal on the family as ‘devastating’, and said at first they feared not even knowing if the children ‘were alive or dead.’
‘We had no idea what living condition they were in. We had no clue… Couldn’t tell you how many hours of sleep I lost worrying about them.’
Elleshia was seen on surveillance footage leading her four children through a terminal at Salt Lake City International Airport on November 30
He said the family has been left frustrated by how much harder it has been to take the children back from Croatia, compared to how easy it appeared for Ellishia to take them.
‘The frustrating part is… she got them there with no problem, but it’s been horrible trying to get them out of Croatia back home,’ he added.
‘Part of the problem is nobody in Croatia, at least in the government, has had this happen before to them, so they don’t know what to do. Nobody in the orphanage knows what to do as far as releasing the kids.’
Kendall’s sister McKenzie Diaz added that the family is ‘happy to know where the kids are’, but the ordeal has weighed on the youngsters.
‘We’re allowed to be with them for two hours each day, which is wonderful based off of not knowing where they were before, but not what we’re going for,’ she said.
‘So, it’s so close to reunification, but having to say goodbye every single day after only such a short amount of time is really difficult.’
