In a dramatic turn of events, a Utah mother and her four young children have disappeared overseas, leaving behind a trail of questions and concerns. Surveillance cameras at Salt Lake City International Airport captured Elleshia Anne Seymour calmly leading her children through the terminal, each carrying their belongings as they prepared to board an international flight.
The footage, now a crucial piece of evidence for authorities, shows a seemingly routine family trip. However, investigators suggest this was far from ordinary. According to them, Seymour’s actions violated joint custody agreements, and her departure was part of a meticulously planned abduction.
Reports indicate that Seymour harbored unfounded fears of an impending Biblical apocalypse that would devastate Salt Lake City. These fears appear to have driven her decision to flee, marking the culmination of a plan that had been discreetly orchestrated over several weeks.
Police have revealed that Seymour shares custody of the children with two fathers. In a move that caught them off guard, she managed to secure travel arrangements without their consent. Her car, left in the airport parking lot, stands as a silent testament to her swift exit.
Authorities are increasingly concerned that Seymour has no intention of returning with the children to the United States, adding urgency to their efforts to locate the family and ensure their safety.
Investigators believe she has no intention of returning the children to the US.
Days after the flight, on December 2, Seymour left a voicemail for one of the fathers claiming she was already in France with the children.
In the message, she said she planned to seek permanent residence and had taken the children because the ‘end times’ were coming.
Law enforcement later determined Seymour had discussed obtaining passports for the children and had made plans to shred documents and discard phones before leaving the country.
Elleshia Anne Seymour is seen walking through Salt Lake City International Airport with her four children in newly released surveillance footage
Elleshia Anne Seymour, 35, is charged with four counts of custodial interference after police say she removed the children from the country without the consent of either father
For Kendall Seymour, the father of three of the children, the airport footage is devastating.
‘We’re hoping to get a state warrant turned into a federal warrant, turned into an INTERPOL warrant out there,’ he told ABC4.
‘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. As soon as that happens, me and my fiancé were going to drop everything and go get them.’
Kendall last saw his children 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 raised days later when a babysitter called asking why the children had not shown up for daycare.
‘She’s been planning this because she took off on the 30th of November during my long custody break… for Thanksgiving,’ he told KSL-TV.
‘It has been three weeks now. She has no family in Europe. As far as I know, no contacts out there.’
Charging documents say Seymour had recently discussed fleeing the country while expressing fears about biblical events and the ‘end of times.’
Detectives later found a notebook in her West Jordan apartment outlining plans to shred documents, discard phones and take passports.
Airport surveillance shows Seymour and the children boarding a one-way flight bound for Amsterdam, with a final destination in Croatia. In her voicemail, she later claimed to be in France, telling the children’s father she was looking for permanent residence.
Kendall said the beliefs outlined in the documents came as a shock.
‘She’s not in the right mind,’ he said.
The footage captures Seymour appearing calm as she and the children move through the airport, days before police issued an endangered missing advisory
The four children were reported missing in December after police say they were taken overseas in violation of a joint custody agreement
‘I didn’t know about any of these ideas of hers until a couple of weeks ago when someone found her TikTok account… 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.’
‘There were no signs of that when we were married or divorced in the last five years.’
Authorities appear to share concerns about Seymour’s mental state. According to charging documents, a no-bail arrest warrant was requested after witnesses reported she had previously suffered from emotional breakdowns and hallucinations.
On December 10, police issued an endangered missing advisory for the four children, listing Seymour as the abductor. Charges for custodial interference and removing the children from the state were filed six days later.
Family law attorney Marco Brown said Seymour could face serious legal consequences once located.
‘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,’ he told ABC 4.
‘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.’
