DUBROVNIK, CROATIA—A Utah father said four children missing from West Jordan since late November have been found at an orphanage far from home, while their biological mother is in Croatian custody.
Prosecutors in mid-December charged 35-year-old Elleshia Anne Seymour with four counts of third-degree felony custodial interference, after investigators say she took her four children on a flight to Amsterdam in violation of a custody agreement.
Undated photo of Utah father Kenny Seymour, the biological father of three of the four children missing from West Jordan since late November and who police say have been found at an orphanage far from home, while their biological mother is in Croatian custody. (Kenny Seymour)
Charging documents said Seymour had talked about leaving the country over “concerns about biblical events and the ‘end of times.’”
Kenny Seymour revealed on Monday that he learned earlier this month that his ex-wife was in custody in Dubrovnik and he had been in the city for the past eight days to try to secure the release of his three biological children as well as a fourth child from a different father.
“You have to remind yourself this is our reality,” Seymour said during an interview with KSL. “This isn’t some Netflix documentary you watched. It happened to us.”
Seymour said he was only receiving second-hand information about why his ex-wife was being detained, but he believed it was ultimately related to the charges filed in Utah and the warrant for her arrest.
“It sounds like she met this other American citizen in Croatia under the pretense that she was bringing the kids here legally and once the other citizen, American citizen found out that it was not, you know, saw basically what she saw in the news articles in Utah, she either convinced my ex to turn herself in or they got into a disagreement and the police ended up being called and resulted in her being taken into custody by Dubrovnik police,” Seymour said.
An attempt on Monday afternoon to reach police in Dubrovnik had not yet resulted in a response.
The FBI declined to comment about the situation Monday and referred KSL to Croatian authorities.
Kenny Seymour said the children were “warm” and were “fed,” but have told him during his daily visits that their facility feels like a jail.
“There’s a little play area that’s multi-tiered, but they can’t take them out to go see the sights or go shopping or anything,” Seymour said.
Seymour said he initially thought bringing the children back to America would be wrapped up in a two-to-three-day visit, and now after eight days he doesn’t know how long it will take.
He said costs were already stacking up and were likely to rise much further, which is why he set up a GoFundMe* account to help deal with expenses.
“It’s just frustrating that there’s no real precedent for this,” Seymour said. “It’s not like it’s going to be a very common situation in the future, but if there was somebody out there who had done this before, I would want to hear from them.”
Other reading: Utah GOP senator criticizes Trump administration, calls for investigation into Minneapolis shooting
*KSL TV does not assure that the money deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisors and otherwise proceed at your own risk.