Utah Mother Arrested in Croatia After Taking Four Children Overseas in Custody Dispute

Utah mother Elleshia Seymour, 35, has been arrested in Croatia after allegedly taking her four children overseas in violation of a Salt Lake County custody order, authorities in both countries confirmed. Prosecutors in Utah charged her in December with four counts of custodial interference after friends reported her missing and police found her West Jordan apartment unlocked, a notebook outlining plans to destroy documents and take passports, and later surveillance video of the family boarding a one‑way Nov. 29 flight from Salt Lake City International Airport. Croatia’s Foreign Ministry says Seymour is being held on suspicion of violating children’s rights, while the children — ages 11, 8, 7 and 3 — are in Croatian foster care as her ex‑husband, Kendall Seymour, travels in‑country to regain custody; he is the father of three of the children and holds power of attorney for the fourth. The case, which includes Seymour’s social‑media postings about apocalyptic "end times" and alleged talk of fleeing over biblical fears, now hinges on whether U.S. and Croatian authorities can agree on extradition, and highlights the practical difficulties of enforcing U.S. family‑court orders once a parent manages to get children out of the country. It adds to a broader pattern of cross‑border custody and child‑abduction disputes that require coordination between local prosecutors, the FBI and foreign ministries under treaties like the Hague Convention.