A father said his children were found in a state-run orphanage in Croatia after they were allegedly abducted by their mother.
“On Sunday Nov 30th, my ex-wife flew to Europe, kidnapping all three of my kids and her fourth child from another dad,” Kendall Seymour wrote in a GoFundMe campaign created on December 8.
In an update posted on Sunday, he said the children were trapped in the orphanage, and that he was in the country trying to get them out of the local government’s custody.
“It’s been somewhat of a nightmare trying to find out exactly what they want and who it needs to go to in the department, or whether it’s going to national offices in Zagreb, Croatia, or whether it’s going to local police, and who they want to get it from,” Kendall Seymour told Newsweek. “They’re very thorough, and they dot their i’s and cross their t’s with these documents.”
The Context
The Salt Lake County district attorney has charged Elleshia Anne Seymour, 35, with four counts of custodial interference, accusing her of taking her four children out of Utah and leaving the country, according to a charging document obtained by Newsweek.
Elleshia Seymour shares custody of three children with Kendall Seymour, the document said. Kendall Seymour said his children are ages 11, 8 and 7.
What To Know
Officers with the West Jordan Police Department responded to a request for a welfare check on December 2 after Elleshia Seymour’s friend and coworker said they had not been in contact with her since November 29, according to the charging document.
When officers arrived at 7684 S Gardner Stop Way, the door was unlocked and the apartment was empty, the document said. Officials found a notebook “containing plans to shred documents, discard phones, and take passports,” it continued.
On GoFundMe, Kendall Seymour alleged that his ex-wife “forged passport documents for the kids, left behind a note dictating a delusional message from God promising her she would be in Italy by Christmas, and a to-do list that mentioned ‘shred paperwork, destroy identifying photos, throw away phone, purchase pre-paid phone.'”
Police opened a missing persons investigation and learned that Elleshia Seymour’s vehicle was parked at the Salt Lake City International Airport, the charging document said. She and her four children boarded a one-way flight to Amsterdam and ended up in Croatia, it added.
Kendall Seymour said he learned about the children’s disappearance from their babysitter.
“She made it sound like there were some concerning things that Elleshia said to her in the past, and she had a hunch that they were on the run. So the more I looked into it that day, the more it proved to be true,” he said.
Kendall Seymour said he learned around January 16 that his ex-wife and the children had been found in Croatia, and that Elleshia Seymour had been taken into custody. He said he learned the children’s location from a German attorney who offered her services pro bono after seeing the GoFundMe.
“She was in contact with a member at the FBI and forwarded to me what they had said about the location that the kids were in, so we actually figured that out on one of the layovers on the way to Dubrovnik,” Kendall Seymour said.
He said he saw his children every day for a limited amount of time.
“I’m caught between still being emotionally wrecked thinking about what condition they’re in and also happy that they seem relatively untraumatized by the events. They’ve got lots of stories to tell me, but they seem to be doing OK,” Kendall Seymour said.
What People Are Saying
Kendall Seymour, the father of three missing children, told Newsweek: “I’m immensely grateful for everyone who’s donated so far. It’s made this trip emotionally easier knowing that I’ve got the funds to pay for the attorneys I’ve hired and pay for the translators, and because I don’t know how long I’m going to be here. So it’s taken a big mental burden off of things, having those funds available to stay here and keep paying for things and keep hiring people to help.”
West Jordan Police Detective Adam Horman said in a charging document: “There is substantial evidence to support the charges of Custodial Interference based on the Defendant boarding a one-way flight to Europe with her four children and indicating her intention not to return to the United States, thus violating the court-ordered custody agreements with the fathers of her children.”
What Happens Next
Kendall Seymour said on GoFundMe that he now needed funds to hire Croatian lawyers who specialized in child abduction, create and submit Hague Convention applications, hire court-approved translators, and extend his trip for an unknown amount of time. The fundraiser has raised over $35,000 and now has a goal of $100,000.
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