The four children from Utah who were allegedly abducted by their mother and taken to Croatia have finally reunited with their father.
Last December, Kendall Seymour accused his ex-wife, Elleshia Anne Seymour, of abducting their children, aged between 7 and 11, due to fears of the apocalypse.
The three eldest are Kendall and Elleshia’s children, while 3-year-old Jacob, the youngest, was born from another marriage.
Highlights
- Four Utah children abducted by their mother over apocalyptic fears were returned to their father.
- The children had been taken to Croatia and placed in an orphanage following the mother's arrest.
- A 13-year-old boy was key to the case after discovering an international missing persons advisory online.
Image credits: Kenny Seymour
Kendall claims the 35-year-old woman took the minors to Europe without his authorization and that he only learned of her plans once they were already overseas.
After arriving in Croatia, Elleshia took the children to live with a woman from Georgia, USA, and her 13-year-old son.
When the teen learned that Elleshia was the subject of an international manhunt, authorities arrested the Utah mother and placed her four children in an orphanage in the city of Dubrovnik.
Image credits: KSL News Utah
The minors have since been released into Kendall’s custody, including Jacob, over whom he has been granted power of attorney.
Kendall explained that Croatian Social Services informed him and his fiancée, Heather, that they had concluded their investigation into the case, returned the children's passports, and “gave us the go ahead to pick up the kids from the children's group home.”
On Sunday (February 1), he announced, “WE ARE TAKING THE KIDS HOME!”
Image credits: KSL News Utah
The distraught father had set up a fundraiser to help cover his and his fiancée's trip to Europe.
“Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who has helped us locate and fight for these kids,” he expressed.
“In no way, shape or form could we have done this without all of you and our amazing network of family and friends. We don't even know where we would be (or where the kids would be) without you all.”
Image credits: GoFundMe
Kendall added that he and Heather had bought items for the children at the orphanage “based on what they have said is needed.”
“We hope to find other ways to give back, not only because they served our kids with love and care, but also to try to improve the lives of those children left behind,” he wrote on the online fundraiser.
The page has raised $57,000 from 930 donations.
Kendall was reunited with the children and granted permission to fly them to the United States
Image credits: GoFundMe
Elleshia remains in custody in Croatia as Salt Lake County District Attorney Sam Gill's office works with federal authorities to extradite her back to the United States, where she is facing four counts of custodial interference, as per The Daily Mail.
After traveling to Croatia, Elleshia and her four children moved in with a fellow American woman who reportedly shared her apocalyptic fears, along with her 13-year-old son.
Image credits: GoFundMe
One of Elleshia’s children reportedly told the teen to Google his name, leading him to discover that an endangered and missing advisory had been issued for the Utah family.
The 13-year-old then alerted his mother, identified as 49-year-old Lovie McVeigh, who convinced Elleshia to go to the police department, ABC4 reported.
Ultimately, both mothers were taken into custody, and the 13-year-old was also placed in a local orphanage.
Image credits: GoFundMe
After Elleshia took their children to Europe, Kendall discovered her belief that the “end times” were coming.
The 35-year-old’s fears were reportedly reflected in statements made to others, evidence found in her home, and social media posts describing an imminent apocalypse in the United States.
When investigators searched her apartment, they found a notebook that mentioned plans to shred documents, discard phones, and take passports.
Image credits: adaughteroflight
“I didn't know about any of these ideas of hers until a couple of weeks ago when someone found her TikTok account,” Kendall told KSL-TV last month.
“She thinks Salt Lake is going to be destroyed and she is trying to get the kids to safety,” he said, adding that he hoped the children would be “protected.”
“There were no signs of that when we were married or divorced in the last five years.”
Image credits: KSL News Utah
In her videos, Elleshia urged people to stock up on essentials and described dreams she had about an electromagnetic attack that caused aircraft to crash and people to lose access to natural resources.
Jill Seymour, Kendall’s sister and the children’s aunt, said the minors had been told “that America was going to be destroyed.”
Speaking with ABC4, Kendall referred to Elleshia as a “religious zealot” and said, “I don’t care if I ever see her again, ever in my life… I don’t even consider her the mother of the kids anymore. I just consider her a criminal.”
Image credits: GoFundMe
Jill told the outlet that the family plans to use the GoFundMe funds to support the 13-year-old who alerted his mother to the abduction.
“He’s so instrumental in us finding the kids. He’s the whole reason that we’re here, so we really want to take care of him and use some of those funds to provide as much success as we can for him in his life,” she said.
In his GoFundMe update, Kendall shared that he had purchased a phone for the 13-year-old to communicate with his family and school friends.
Lovie McVeigh, the teenager’s mother, posted similar social media content to Elleshia and is believed to share her apocalyptic views.
Image credits: GoFundMe
She and the teen had been living in Croatia for a year, as McVeigh believed it was the safest place to be during the end of times.
The 13-year-old’s family is trying to get him home and is currently working with the US Embassy and Croatian authorities to return him to Georgia, shared Saige Cruz, McVeigh’s former stepdaughter.
“He needs to have a stable home, environment and an everyday school. Just your average childhood life,” she said.
Image credits: ABC4 Utah
McVeigh is facing child endangerment charges. She also has two pending felony cases and an active misdemeanor criminal trespassing warrant in Coffee County, Georgia, and previously had a run-in with Croatian authorities.
