A mother, suspected of taking her children to Europe without their fathers’ consent, has been apprehended and charged.
In late November, 35-year-old Elleshia Anne Seymour allegedly flew with her four children to Amsterdam, Netherlands, and then to Croatia, without the approval of their fathers.
Within days, the fathers realized their children were unaccounted for, prompting one to start a GoFundMe campaign in hopes of reuniting with them.
This father also claimed that the mother ‘left behind a note with a delusional message from God, assuring her she would be in Italy by Christmas’.
On Monday, January 26, the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office confirmed to FOX 13 Utah that the mother has been detained.
Seymour faces four third-degree felony charges for ‘Custodial Interference – Remove Child from State’ and was arrested on January 16 in Dubrovnik, Croatia.
Nevertheless, a GoFundMe page set up by the father of three of the children, Kendall Seymour, asserts the children are still ‘trapped in Croatia’.
As of January 25, the latest update claims the children are housed in ‘a state-run orphanage’.
Kendall Seymour is reportedly in Croatia, attempting to ‘extricate the kids from the custody of the local government’, though the process is ongoing.
The GoFundMe page outlines: “We must hire Croatian lawyers skilled in child abduction, complete and submit Hague Convention applications, hire certified translators, and prolong our stay indefinitely to work on getting the kids released from government custody.”
The financial burden has prompted an increase in the GoFundMe’s donation target.
The father noted: “The amount of money needed for therapy for the five of us, once this ordeal is over, is unknown.”
“Additionally, there is a fifth American child in the children’s home. My kids were traveling with him and his mother. The fifth child’s situation is even more challenging than my own kids’ status.”
“We aim to assist him as much as possible, as his circumstances will require more legal help and planning than ours.”
The Croatian Ministry of the Interior has addressed the father’s assertions about the children being ‘trapped’.
In a statement given to FOX 13 News, the ministry explained that merely having the fathers arrive in the country wouldn’t suffice for releasing the children. It emphasized the necessity for ‘the competent authorities of the country from which the children came to the Republic of Croatia to conduct the procedure of verifying all relevant facts and circumstances and to make a valid decision on the handover of the children’.
This verification is described as a standard measure in international cooperation cases, designed to ensure the continuous protection of children’s rights.
The statement further detailed that the ‘father of the children is aware of the procedure and documentation needed to retrieve the children’.
Contact has been made with the Ministry of the Interior of the Croatian Republic of Serbia for further comments.