WEST JORDAN, Utah — A Utah woman who police believe took her four children out of the country is now being charged in court.
Elleshia Anne Seymour, 35, was charged Tuesday by the Salt Lake County District Attorney with four counts of "Custodial Interference - Remove Child From State."
According to court documents, a friend and a coworker of Seymour said they had been unable to get in touch with her since Nov. 29, so police officers went to her home in West Jordan on Dec. 2 to conduct a welfare check on her and her four children. They found the apartment door unlocked and nobody inside.
In addition, Seymour's ex-boyfriend told police that she had recently talked about getting passports and leaving the country, saying she was worried about "end of times" and biblical events.
Police began investigating and found Seymour's car in a parking lot at the Salt Lake City International Airport. Video footage from the airport showed her and her four kids — whose ages range from 3 to 11 years old — boarding a one-way flight to Amsterdam and then Croatia on Nov. 29.
On Dec. 2, one of Seymour's ex-husbands said she left him a voicemail saying she was in France with the kids, and she needed to get them out of the country because the "end times" were coming.
Police also said they found a notebook in her apartment with plans to shred documents and discard phones.
Last Wednesday, the Utah Department of Public Safety issued an Endangered Missing Advisory for Seymour's four children:
- Landon Seymour (11) 4'8", 105 lbs., gray eyes, light brown hair
- Levi Parker Seymour (8) 3'10", 50 lbs., blue eyes, light brown hair
- Hazel Raye Seymour (7) 3'4", 40 lbs., hazel eyes, light brown hair
- Jacob Kurt Brady (3) 3'0", 35 lbs., brown eyes, light brown hair
Charging documents say Seymour has court-ordered custody agreements with her two ex-husbands (the fathers of her kids), and that by last Wednesday, the time for her to return her kids to her ex-husbands for visitation "had long since elapsed." Both dads told police that they never agreed to allow her to take their kids out of the state or country.
Prosecutors wrote that Seymour "appears to have no intention to return the children to the United States." They also said they believe her children could be at risk because witnesses told them she has "emotional breakdowns and hallucinations" and "appears to have adopted extreme beliefs" about the "end of times."
A no-bail warrant for Seymour's arrest has been issued for the state of Utah; however, it's not yet known if a national or international warrant is in effect.
