A Utah mother with a fixation on doomsday predictions has been detained in a foreign country after allegedly abducting her four young children and leaving them in a Croatian orphanage. This incident has sparked an international legal struggle to reunite the children with their families in the United States.
Elleshia Anne Seymour, aged 35, was arrested in Dubrovnik, Croatia, on January 16, as confirmed by the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office. Authorities are currently collaborating with federal agencies to investigate options for her extradition, although a specific timeline for her return has not yet been established.
In Utah, Seymour faces charges of custodial interference, specifically four counts related to removing children from the state without permission, all classified as third-degree felonies. Officials report that she took her children out of the country without their fathers’ consent and did not adhere to court-mandated visitation schedules.
Authorities revealed that Seymour departed Salt Lake City on a one-way flight to Amsterdam on November 29, continuing her journey to Croatia with the children. Investigators state that the deadline for returning the children to their fathers had long passed, and both fathers confirmed they never consented to their children leaving the state or country.
A family photo displays Seymour’s children alongside her ex-husband, Kendall Seymour. It was later discovered that the children were residing in a Croatian orphanage after their mother took them abroad.
Kendall Seymour, father to three of the children, disclosed that the family was unaware of the children’s absence until several days after they had been taken overseas.
“On Sunday, Nov. 30, my ex-wife flew to Europe, kidnapping all three of my kids and her fourth child from another dad,” Seymour wrote in his original GoFundMe post. “We didn’t learn until Tuesday, Dec. 2, that anyone was missing.”
Court records show a no-bail arrest warrant was issued in December after prosecutors argued Seymour posed a flight risk and a danger to her children.
Photos show the missing Seymour children alongside a separate image of their mother. Authorities said the children were allegedly taken abroad by their mother and later found at an orphanage in Croatia. (GoFundMe)
According to charging documents, officers later found Seymour’s apartment unlocked and abandoned, her vehicle parked at Salt Lake City International Airport, and a notebook outlining plans to discard phones and documents. Kendall Seymour said his ex-wife allegedly forged passport paperwork for the children and left behind what he described as a delusional note claiming she had received a message from God promising she would be in Italy by Christmas.
He also said police found a handwritten to-do list that included instructions to “shred paperwork,” “destroy identifying photos,” “throw away phone,” and “purchase pre-paid phone.”
In a voicemail left for Kendall Seymour days after disappearing, Elleshia Seymour allegedly claimed she was in France and said she needed to get the children out because the “end times” were coming, according to police.
Kendall Seymour is shown with his children in an undated family photo taken prior to their alleged abduction. (GoFundMe)
The children were eventually located in Croatia and placed into a state-run orphanage.
Now, Kendall Seymour has flown to Europe in a desperate effort to bring them home.
In a Jan. 25 update posted to a GoFundMe campaign, Seymour said the children remain “trapped in Croatia in a state-run orphanage” as he works to secure their release from government custody.
“We are in the country, trying to get the kids out of the custody of the local government,” he wrote, adding that the family has been forced to hire Croatian lawyers who specialize in international child abduction cases, file applications under the Hague Convention, pay for court-approved translators, and extend their stay overseas indefinitely.
Seymour said the fundraiser’s original goal has already been consumed by travel costs alone and warned that future expenses — including therapy — remain unknown.
“Who knows how much money is going to be needed for therapy for the five of us, after this is all over,” he wrote.
He also revealed that a fifth American child, who had been traveling with Seymour and her children, is housed at the same orphanage. That child has not been publicly identified, and Seymour said his legal situation is “even more difficult,” requiring additional legal strategy and assistance.
Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.
