Taken Without a Trace 🌍💔 Four Kids Abducted Overseas by Their Own Mother — The Chilling Discovery That Changed Everything

Late November 2025 brought an ordinary Thanksgiving weekend to the quiet streets of West Jordan, Utah. For most families, it meant turkey dinners, gratitude, and the familiar rhythm of school breaks. But for the four young children of Elleshia Anne Seymour—Landon, 11, Levi, 8, Hazel, 7, and little Jacob, 3—that holiday marked the beginning of a two-month nightmare that would stretch across continents, entangle international law, and leave a father fighting bureaucracy and heartbreak in a foreign country.

On November 29, Elleshia, then 35, picked up her children for what was supposed to be a routine visitation period. She never brought them back.

Instead, she drove straight to Salt Lake City International Airport, parked her vehicle, and boarded a one-way international flight with all four children. Surveillance cameras captured the group moving through the terminal—four small figures trailing behind their mother, unaware they were leaving their home, their schools, their fathers, and everything familiar behind. The journey took them first to Amsterdam, then onward to Croatia, where they landed on November 30. Elleshia had no return ticket. She had no intention of ever returning.

When the children failed to come home as scheduled, alarm quickly turned into panic. By December 2, police officers conducting a welfare check found Elleshia’s house standing eerily silent—door unlocked, belongings untouched, but no trace of the mother or children. Inside, investigators discovered a notebook that would later become central to understanding her state of mind. Pages contained what authorities described as a delusional message supposedly dictated by God, promising that Elleshia would reach Italy by Christmas. Next to it lay a stark, practical checklist of steps she had already taken:

• Shred paperwork
• Destroy identifying photos
• Throw away phone
• Purchase pre-paid phone

She had allegedly forged passport documents for the children to enable their exit from the United States. Before disappearing, she left a voicemail for one of the fathers claiming she was in France and looking for permanent housing—another deliberate misdirection.

The fathers had shared legal custody. Neither Kendall Seymour (father of Landon, Levi, and Hazel) nor the father of Jacob had given any permission for the children to leave Utah, much less the country. Within days the case was elevated from a local custody dispute to an international parental abduction.

Kendall learned his children were gone on December 2. That same day he created a GoFundMe titled “Abducted Kids – Help Us Get Them Back.” The description was raw and urgent:

“She forged passport documents for the kids so they could leave the country… left behind a note dictating a delusional message from God… we are doing everything we can to bring them home.”

The page quickly gained traction. Hundreds of donors contributed, eventually raising more than $47,000 to cover legal fees, international travel, lodging, translators, therapy, and any unforeseen costs that might arise.

Meanwhile, Elleshia’s beliefs began to come into sharper focus. She had confided in a former partner that she feared an imminent biblical catastrophe centered on Salt Lake City. She spoke of needing to protect the children from coming destruction. Strikingly, none of these apocalyptic convictions had surfaced during her marriage to Kendall or in the years following their divorce.

“I didn’t know anything about her end-of-times beliefs until after this happened,” one former partner told reporters. Kendall echoed the sentiment: “It never came up—not in our marriage, not after the divorce.”

By mid-December the FBI had taken lead on the investigation. Utah prosecutors filed four counts of third-degree felony custodial interference against Elleshia. An official endangered-and-missing advisory went public on December 10. Still, no one knew exactly where the family had gone.

Seven long weeks passed in limbo.

Then came the breakthrough. On January 25, 2026, the children were located—not in hiding, but in state custody at a children’s home (the Croatian equivalent of an orphanage) in the Dubrovnik region. The discovery carried an almost cinematic twist: a 13-year-old Croatian boy and his mother, with whom Elleshia and the children had been staying, saw the American endangered advisory circulating online. The teenager alerted his mother; she contacted authorities. Within hours Croatian police moved in.

On January 26 Elleshia was arrested in Dubrovnik on charges of violating the children’s rights. She was placed in investigative detention while the four American children remained under the protection—and control—of the Croatian social welfare system.

Kendall and family members had already flown to Croatia. They had been in the country for more than a week when the location was confirmed. Every day since, Kendall has been allowed one tightly regulated visit with his children. He describes the facility as clean and safe—“they’re warm, they’re fed”—but emotionally devastating. The children perceive the environment as prison-like despite the staff’s efforts. Visitation rules have been slightly relaxed in recognition of the extraordinary circumstances, yet the one-visit-per-day limit remains.

“You have to remind yourself this is our reality,” Kendall told supporters. “This isn’t some Netflix documentary you watched. It happened to us.”

The natural beauty of the Croatian coast stands in painful contrast to the family’s inner turmoil. “We’re in one of the most beautiful places on earth,” he said, “and we’re living in mental hell.”

Resolution now depends on the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction—a treaty both the United States and Croatia have ratified. The convention exists precisely for cases like this: to secure the swift return of children wrongfully removed from their country of habitual residence. The process, however, is rarely swift.

Kendall’s team has retained experienced Croatian attorneys who specialize in international child abduction. They have filed the formal Hague application, arranged certified court translators, and extended their stay in a region where daily expenses run high. Croatian authorities, through the local Institute for Social Work, have made their position clear: before the children can be released to their father, U.S. officials must verify the relevant facts and circumstances surrounding the custody arrangement and the abduction.

“Given the international element of the case, it is essential that the competent authorities of the United States of America conduct a review of all relevant facts and circumstances before making a decision to hand over the children to the father,” the institute stated.

Adding further complexity is the presence of a “fifth American child” who traveled in the same group and is now also in the children’s home. Kendall’s updates indicate that this child and his mother were part of the journey from the beginning. The fifth child’s situation is described as even more legally entangled, requiring separate strategy and additional resources. Portions of the GoFundMe proceeds have been earmarked to assist with that family’s return as well.

The emotional and psychological toll cannot be overstated. Four children—aged 3 to 11—were suddenly taken from their homes, flown across the Atlantic, placed in an unfamiliar institution, separated from their primary caregivers, and now must navigate daily visits from their father under supervision while waiting for courts on two continents to decide their fate. Experts in international abduction cases stress that even when children are physically safe, prolonged separation and uncertainty frequently cause deep trauma. Long-term therapy for the children—and likely for Kendall and the extended family—will be essential.

This single case illuminates broader patterns. Each year thousands of children are wrongfully removed across international borders, often by a parent who believes he or she is acting in the child’s best interest. The Hague Convention provides a legal pathway for return, yet success depends on countless variables: the speed of central authorities, the quality of legal representation, the willingness of the requested state to act promptly, and the absence of exceptions (such as grave risk of harm or the child’s objection if old enough).

When a parent’s actions are driven by severe delusional beliefs—as appears to be the case here—the situation becomes even more delicate. Untreated apocalyptic or messianic convictions can lead to extreme protective measures that place children in genuine danger, even if the parent perceives those measures as lifesaving.

As of late January 2026 the children remain in the Dubrovnik children’s home. Elleshia remains in custody. The Hague process continues. The FBI and Utah law enforcement defer comment to Croatian authorities. The U.S. Embassy in Zagreb and the State Department have offered only limited public statements, citing the ongoing nature of the matter and privacy considerations.

For Kendall, hope has not wavered, even as weeks stretch into months. He initially dreamed of a swift reunion—perhaps one in which the children still believed they were simply on an extended vacation. Reality has proven far more complicated, yet he continues to post updates, thank donors, and spend every permitted minute with his children.

When Landon, Levi, Hazel, and Jacob finally step off a plane in Utah, the homecoming will mark the end of one ordeal and the beginning of another: healing from the confusion, fear, and loss they have endured. Their story is a sobering reminder that love can drive both the most selfless and the most destructive acts, that borders and treaties can protect or delay, and that even in the safest of suburbs, a single decision can shatter a family and send it halfway around the world.

The fight to bring them home is not over. It is simply entering its next, painstaking chapter.

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