UT - Hazel 7, Levi 8 & Landon Seymour 10 & Jacob Brady 3, Endangered, mom forged docs, took kids to Europe, Elleshia Seymour, SLC, 29 Nov 2025

[tricia]

Big update. Great news that the kids have been found. Normally, we pull a thread after the kids have been found to protect their identity, but in this case, the kids are still in Croatia. When the kids are back in the US, and mom is arrested, then we will pull the thread.

 

[Sillybilly]

'It's not over yet.' Family fights for return of Utah children found in Croatia - East Idaho News​

Jill spoke with EastIdahoNews.com on Monday, just up the hill from where the children are being kept in a children’s center. She says she, Kendall, and Kendall’s fiancée, Heather, flew to Croatia as soon as possible, arriving last Sunday afternoon, Jan. 17.

“We are able to see the children for a whole two hours a day. I wouldn’t say they’re OK,” Jill says. “They are, of course, safe. They are eating. They have somewhere to sleep. They are together, which is huge, they’re out of physical harm’s way, but I wouldn’t say they’re OK by any means.”

Jill says they have learned what occurred between when Elleshia took the children from Utah on a one-way flight to Europe.

According to Jill, Elleshia had met an unidentified woman living in Croatia over TikTok, and had planned to bring the children to live with her and the woman’s 13-year-old son, which they did for nearly two months.

The woman reportedly did not know that Elleshia did not have full custody of her children. The woman’s son, who has not been named, reportedly discovered the children had been kidnapped, and sent news articles about it to his mother.

 

[Unalienable Rights]

From this KSL-TV interview with the dad, it seems as if the mom, Elleshia, met a person online who offered Elleshia and the children a safe place in Dubrovnik. The person, an American citizen in Croatia, was under the impression that the mom and children were traveling legally. After they arrived, the person read the circumstances in the news, and apparently contacted authorities. Elleshia was apparently arrested in Dubrovnik based on the warrants in Utah. The father of the three oldest children, Kenny, has been in Dubrovnik for the past eight days.

Father: Missing West Jordan kids located in Croatia - KSLTV.com

Four West Jordan children who were allegedly kidnapped by their mother were found in a Croatian orphanage Sunday.

ksltv.com

*****
Kenny Seymour revealed on Monday that he learned earlier this month that his ex-wife was in custody in Dubrovnik and he had been in the city for the past eight days to try to secure the release of his three biological children as well as a fourth child from a different father.

“You have to remind yourself this is our reality,” Seymour said during an interview with KSL. “This isn’t some Netflix documentary you watched. It happened to us.”

Seymour said he was only receiving second-hand information about why his ex-wife was being detained, but he believed it was ultimately related to the charges filed in Utah and the warrant for her arrest.

“It sounds like she met this other American citizen in Croatia under the pretense that she was bringing the kids here legally and once the other citizen, American citizen found out that it was not, you know, saw basically what she saw in the news articles in Utah, she either convinced my ex to turn herself in or they got into a disagreement and the police ended up being called and resulted in her being taken into custody by Dubrovnik police,” Seymour said.

An attempt on Monday afternoon to reach police in Dubrovnik had not yet resulted in a response.

The FBI declined to comment about the situation Monday and referred KSL to Croatian authorities.

*****

 

[mickey2942]

What a mess. I hope all of the children are safe, and will soon be back in the United States resuming their lives.

And as for their "mother". I hope that she provides answers for her actions.

 

[swanniee11]

I'm reading that the 3 oldest has family there but the youngest isn't blood related to the dad so does he have family there as well? Will they release the youngest to them? I can't seem to find anything on that. Praying this gets resolved quickly IMO

 

[Unalienable Rights]

I'm reading that the 3 oldest has family there but the youngest isn't blood related to the dad so does he have family there as well? Will they release the youngest to them? I can't seem to find anything on that. Praying this gets resolved quickly IMO

The father of the youngest boy hasn't spoken publicly. In one of the linked videos, the aunt of the oldest three children said that the father of the three-year-old hasn't traveled to Croatia.

 

[Rikissa]

The children’s exact location remained a mystery for weeks, but an update made Sunday on the GoFundMe page created by the family says they have been located in Croatia.
“The kids are trapped in Croatia in a state-run orphanage. We are in the country, trying to get the kids out of the custody of the local government,” the update reads.

This does sound as if those relatives expected to have the (three) children handed over to them directly when they showed up, without allowing the local government doing any kind of investigation into the legal status of the custody of the children. When all papers are translated, and the legal status is confirmed, I would guess that the children will be given over to their father(s). Have the mother's legal custody rights been severed, or does she still have a say in the childrens lives?

I doubt that if it was a reversed situation, a Croatian child in a custody situation, taken to the US, and parent arrested there, that the child would be handed over to the other parent, without a lot of paperwork and legal matter.

Just because someone claims that they have the "right" to a child, they do have to show proof of their claim. They can't just come, swoop up the children, and take the next plane back to the US.

 

[Fantastic]

This does sound as if those relatives expected to have the (three) children handed over to them directly when they showed up, without allowing the local government doing any kind of investigation into the legal status of the custody of the children. When all papers are translated, and the legal status is confirmed, I would guess that the children will be given over to their father(s). Have the mother's legal custody rights been severed, or does she still have a say in the children's life?

I doubt that if it was a reversed situation, a Croatian child in a custody situation, taken to the US, and parent arrested there, that the child would be handed over to the other parent, without a lot of paperwork and legal matter.

Just because someone claims that they have the "right" to a child, they do have to show proof of their claim. They can't just come, swoop up the children, and take the next plane back to the US.

That's true Rikissa, your point is well made. I'm relieved they're all found safe and sound at this point. It's risky taking off to another continent with kids like that, anything could have happened. Things could have spiralled out of Elleshia's control very easily.