WA WA - Seraya Aung Harmon, 2, Pullman, 29 May 2024 *father and daughter went on a fishing trip in Montana but did not return*

[CHEL]

Arrest warrant issued for Aaron.

 

[momsof3]

Arrest warrant issued for Seraya's father Aaron Aung. Posted on the Pullman Police Department page (hope I'm linking correctly).

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ETA - From the post "The Pullman Police Department was issued a warrant for the arrest of 21-year old Aaron Daniel Aung, for Custodial Interference 1st Degree. Aung is in violation of a Latah County District Court parenting plan for retaining custody of 2-year old Seraya Aung Harmon."

Looks like the waited until he was in violation of the custody agreement. I have to say I'm happy the FBI is involved here - so many states involved as well as two missing young adults (Aaron and his fiancee).

Credit to @CHEL for posting this on the Nadia Cole thread.

 

[Bluebear15]

<modsnip: no source link> It's all about control imo, and he'll lose custody now.
Jmo, moo.

 

[StarRemy8]

Port Angeles woman missing, last seen at SeaTac Airport

This story has been updated with a statement from the missing woman’s family. SEATAC — A recent Washington State University graduate from Port Angeles has been reported missing after being last seen leaving SeaTac Airport last week.

www.myclallamcounty.com

I also find it very disheartening that she left her mother at the gate. The two of them had planned a trip to Italy upon her graduation for over a year and were at the airport waiting to board the plane. That takes a lot of...I'm not even sure of the word here...to just up and leave your mother alone right before you are about to take off to go overseas.

They had spent a lot of time and money planning this vacation. For NC to decide to pack, go to the airport, check bags, go through security, and wait at the gate with her mom to then all of the sudden say she has to use the restroom and will be right back but instead leaves the airport and all her belongings behind except one bag is very telling of something being completely off/wrong as you just don't do that like one might say they have to run an errand bc they need some space or something.

I cannot imagine the nerves her mother probably already had about traveling internationally and going on such a big trip with her daughter for her to just completely leave her at the gate on her daughter's own volition for whatever reason. Her poor mother must have been terrified once she never came back, they began to board, she still wasn't there...I'm sure they called her name over airport speakers and she just never returned. Must have been and still be devastating.

 

[aggiekel2005]

I'm a 59 year old mom with 4 grown children. I'm trying to put myself in the mom's shoes. They are going off to Italy, probably as a graduation present to Nadia. Mom probably paid for the airline tickets, hotels, etc. ahead of time. Mom is at gate and very excited to spend time with her daughter to Italy, what a dream vacation. They are at the gate and Nadia goes to restroom, but never returns to gate? Mom must have been hysterical by the time boarding was done. If this was planned, how could Nadia have her mom pay for all that, knowing trip wasn't going to happen? And to have her mom involved, hopefully innocently, is very, very cruel. I just can't fathom how both the fiancee' and his daughter are missing at the same time as Nadia and that they are not connected. They must be. Us sleuthers have seen this scenario way too many times and the outlook doesn't look good. Best scenario is two aren't connected: fiance got lost "fishing" and will be safely found with daughter and Nadia will be found at a friend's house. I live in the area and if the sightings are that she has been seen in Fife, then that could be troubling. Fife is very teeny and known for having a huge casino, along with cheap motels, prostitution, and drugs. I wonder if this was planned and they are holed up in a cheap motel there.

Unless she didn't plan it at all. My theory is that this was planned by him and she was not a part of it until the last minute. I believe she received distressing news possibly from him and she left in a panic to help him without realizing what she was getting herself into. It's also possible that once she met him, she is also being held against her will.

 

[CrimeDawg123]

Maybe she was none the wiser to her fiance's plans until he hit her with the news of what he'd done when she was in the airport, which is why she bailed out of there so quickly to join him. That still doesn't make sense though how/why she'd abandon her mom with no explanation. To leave suddenly like that makes me think she had decided, either before or there on the spot, that she was going on the lam with him. When she got the phone call, she sprang into action. But who knows.

 

[sasha17]

Maybe she was none the wiser to her fiance's plans until he hit her with the news of what he'd done when she was in the airport, which is why she bailed out of there so quickly to join him. That still doesn't make sense though how/why she'd abandon her mom with no explanation. To leave suddenly like that makes me think she had decided, either before or there on the spot, that she was going on the lam with him. When she got the phone call, she sprang into action. But who knows.

I agree. From what her family has said in the media, it sounds like Nadia and her family are very close and have a great relationship. If Nadia got an urgent call from the boyfriend while she was in the bathroom, you'd think Nadia would quickly go back to her mom for support or advice, not just walk away from the airport leaving her mom and her belongings behind. If she wasn't part of planning a disappearance and instead was just responding to a sudden emergency phone call from him, what would he have had to say to her to make her just abandon ship there?

 

[iusedtofloat]

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[sunflowermomma]

MOO speculation only:

What if she received an alarming phone call or text and told there was no time to tell her mom, her mom would stop her from going, she was needed somewhere immediately, and when she got there it was not the situation she was initially told it was?

I feel sad for so many people in this situation, especially the baby at the center of it - praying for their safety.

 

[Tealgrove]

Arrest warrant issued for Seraya's father Aaron Aung. Posted on the Pullman Police Department page (hope I'm linking correctly).

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ETA - From the post "The Pullman Police Department was issued a warrant for the arrest of 21-year old Aaron Daniel Aung, for Custodial Interference 1st Degree. Aung is in violation of a Latah County District Court parenting plan for retaining custody of 2-year old Seraya Aung Harmon."

Looks like the waited until he was in violation of the custody agreement. I have to say I'm happy the FBI is involved here - so many states involved as well as two missing young adults (Aaron and his fiancee).

Credit to @CHEL for posting this on the Nadia Cole thread.

Some interesting comments.

 

[Cedars]

Unless she didn't plan it at all. My theory is that this was planned by him and she was not a part of it until the last minute. I believe she received distressing news possibly from him and she left in a panic to help him without realizing what she was getting herself into. It's also possible that once she met him, she is also being held against her will.

I hope it's not that dire, but I speculate that perhaps some men, who aren't very stable,
wouldn't be keen about their fiance going off on a trip to Italy without him. They might manufacture a crisis as a sort of tantrum, to bring her back.

She might buy in to it, though.

JMO

 

[StarRemy8]

She certainly could have received an alarming/distressed call but there is no way in my mind to justify not taking the time, courtesy and respect to at least tell your mother that you need to leave and will have to take another flight. I'm just not buying anything that would make you abandon your mom at the gate by herself ready to board an international graduation celebratory trip you both planned for an entire year...especially since they were very close, I just cant wrap my head around that.

Do we know specifically what personal belongings she left behind? Has it been stated that she left her phone and/or wallet or is that just speculation based on "personal belonging" and no public info of her using phone/cards since she left?

 

[Howl]

"On Wednesday, Pullman Police issued an arrest warrant for Aaron Daniel Aung, for first-degree Custodial Interference. Police say Aung is in violation of a Latah County District Court parenting plan for retaining custody of his missing 2-year-old, Seraya Aung Harmon...KREM2 spoke to the mother of the missing two-year-old child, Samara Harmon, who said she was never informed that her daughter and Aung were going to Montana."

I strongly suspect (MOO) "gone fishing in Montana" is the cover story for Aung going west to Seattle, not east to Montana.

The good? MOO, It's looking like there is a good possibility Nadia is on the lam with the fiancé and daughter Seraya, and hasn't been abducted.

The bad? Apparently she still hasn't contacted family in some way to let them know she's OK.

The really bad? Men who abduct their children aren't emotionally grounded and stable; there was a shared parenting plan in place and he decided not to abide by it. If Nadia Cole is on the lam with him, she could be facing legal issues of her own when apprehended.

The linked article does note that the ex is 20 weeks pregnant but makes no reference on who the bio dad is.

 

[Cedars]

Do we know specifically what personal belongings she left behind? Has it been stated that she left her phone and/or wallet or is that just speculation based on "personal belonging" and no public info of her using phone/cards since she left?

Yes, missing poster says she left her phone.

IMO, abandoning her phone was deliberate, so that she couldn't be tracked through pings.

JMO

 

[Bahshudc]

I agree. From what her family has said in the media, it sounds like Nadia and her family are very close and have a great relationship. If Nadia got an urgent call from the boyfriend while she was in the bathroom, you'd think Nadia would quickly go back to her mom for support or advice, not just walk away from the airport leaving her mom and her belongings behind. If she wasn't part of planning a disappearance and instead was just responding to a sudden emergency phone call from him, what would he have had to say to her to make her just abandon ship there?

If she got the call in the bathroom, how did her phone get back to where she left it?

 

[whitelilac]

Let me get this straight.
Nadia and her mother were at SeaTac ready to take a flight to Italy.
Nadia leaves her phone and belongings with her mother at the gate, while Nadia goes to the restroom.
Nadia leaves the airport in a "distressed state"

If Nadia received a phone call (or made a call to Aaron) in the restroom, but didn't have her phone, does that mean she had a burner phone? If so does that imply some subterfuge involved? Who carries around a burner phone in addition to your own phone, if not for secretive motives. Wouldn't Aaron know she was going on this Italian trip with her mom? If something was planned, why didn't she call off the trip before she and mom even went to the airport?
If there was something unexpected eg. she didn't know Aaron would vanish with the child and this was a surprise to her while at the airport, why would she have a burner phone in the first place? (if she did)

I'm trying to make sense of this.

 

[Bahshudc]

Let me get this straight.
Nadia and her mother were at SeaTac ready to take a flight to Italy.
Nadia leaves her phone and belongings with her mother at the gate, while Nadia goes to the restroom.
Nadia leaves the airport in a "distressed state"

If Nadia received a phone call (or made a call to Aaron) in the restroom, but didn't have her phone, does that mean she had a burner phone? If so does that imply some subterfuge involved? Who carries around a burner phone in addition to your own phone, if not for secretive motives. Wouldn't Aaron know she was going on this Italian trip with her mom? If something was planned, why didn't she call off the trip before she and mom even went to the airport?
If there was something unexpected eg. she didn't know Aaron would vanish with the child and this was a surprise to her while at the airport, why would she have a burner phone in the first place? (if she did)

I'm trying to make sense of this.

I always thought they were texting over the course of her travelling through the airport - more easy / discreet and (as this all seems so planned out to me) IMO he did not ring her in a panic, rather had managed to convince her to “leave her life behind” as some sort of romantic gesture, perhaps in the weeks or months before the trip. However, calling is a possibility, as is a burner phone. Hadn’t considered this.

Editing to add: if there were messages on her phone discussing some sort of plan, would she have left it with her belongings where police or family could potentially find something? This makes me lean towards having a burner phone or some other form of communication, e.g. a laptop in her carry on or something. MOO

 

[sasha17]

If she got the call in the bathroom, how did her phone get back to where she left it?

We don't know where the phone was found. Maybe it was left in the bathroom or elsewhere in the airport.

 

[marloweclover]

If Nadia disappeared on the afternoon of the 29th, and hypothetically met up with Aaron, who was last seen on the 29th in Pullman, the timing of the last sighting of him might be of interest. It's about four and half hours by car.

The light rail trip from SeaTac to University Station is 36 minutes and leaves ~every 8 minutes. Granted, it gets delayed sometimes, and theoretically she could have gotten off somewhere and gotten back on without being seen. If she was at the SeaTac station at 3:08pm, she would possibly have been able to get the 3:16 and arrive at 3:59. Sound Transit

The University Street area is the downtown business district. You could walk down to the tourist waterfront, or find a hotel. Hotels in that area are mostly pretty fancy and expensive. Example: Closest hotel

Buses run between Seattle and the Spokane area more or less all day. You can get on at the airport though, and she went past multiple other stops where she could have made the change. The options for going all the way to Pullman are much more limited than getting off in Spokane (74 miles in between). She wouldn't have been able to get one the whole way on the 29th as they're all morning departures. bus times

University Station is not the closest light rail stop to the ferry docks. However, (MOO as a former Seattle resident) some people might be uncomfortable using the closest station at Pioneer Square and would rather backtrack on foot, especially without luggage. Light Rail map

Edited to correct date.

 

[Cedars]

If Nadia disappeared on the 28th in Seattle, and hypothetically met up with Aaron, who was last seen on the 29th in Pullman, she had to go *somewhere* in between. He couldn't have picked her up that afternoon.

Actually, I think May 28 was an error by Pullman Police - her missing poster upthread says May 29, as does this thread title.

JMO