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

[Deleted member 326769]

In WA we can only get into Canada with our enhanced license, but with the NEXUS card you can do both Canada and Mexico. Bonus is the shorter NEXUS lines.

Thank you. I’m a little less confused now lol

 

[OddOneOut]

IIUC Aaron Aung is also 21 years old. MOO

Which is part of the reason I believe the Aung grandparents are more likely to be behind this. 21 year olds are usually impulsive.

 

[SweetDreamsAreMadeOfCheez]

"Since her return, Nadia has been fully cooperating with authorities to help locate and aid in the safe return of Aaron Aung and 2-year-old Seraya Aung Harmon," Kirk and Beata said in a statement. "

Can we read from this that Nadia returned before they found Seraya and Aung and she helped locate them???

IMO I think her parents are just trying to do damage control. Another report floating around here, IIRC, from the authorities in Mexico stated they were all found together. Someone correct me if I am wrong.
Edited by me for typo

 

[Teche]

I wondered that too. Their statement says, “We would especially like to thank Security Services Northwest for their initial role as a central hub for tips and information as the missing persons case was progressing.”

I’m not entirely sure what that means or what the scope of being a “hub” entailed.

From the company’s website:

“We provide total security services for residential and commercial customers. We also provide nationwide dispatch and telephone answering services to a range of businesses and public utility companies.

“Our 24-hour monitoring facility allows us to receive calls and dispatch 24/7. This in-house, around the-clock capability means SSNW clients have a consistent and readily available communications link.

“We provide private, local, state, and federal government agencies with private alternatives to complex issues.”

24/7 Security Officers and Patrol Services | Security Services Northwest, Inc

Security Services Northwest, Inc. (SSNW) is your full service security company. Contact us 24/7 to help with your security needs. Call us at (800)-859-3463.

www.ssnwhq.com

Thank you!

 

[MsMarple]

Who do you mean by both sets of grandparents? Do you mean AA's and NC's parents? NC's parents are not the grandparents. I'm unaware of the maternal set of grandparents being problematic - did I miss something?

jmo

Yes, I screwed up: I originally typed parents meaning Aaron’s and Nadia’s parents but thought it could be confused with Seraya’s parents. Sorry for any confusion, I overthought it and made it worse.

Yes, I actually meant Aaron’s parents and Nadia’s parents.

 

[Inthedetails]

Yes, I screwed up: I originally typed parents meaning Aaron’s and Nadia’s parents but thought it could be confused with Seraya’s parents. Sorry for any confusion, I overthought it and made it worse.

Yes, I actually meant Aaron’s parents and Nadia’s parents.

No worries! There are a lot of people. (I sometimes get lost because I don't follow cases on social media so I wanted to make sure I didn't miss anything.)

jmo

 

[MsMarple]

No worries! There are a lot of people. (I sometimes get lost because I don't follow cases on social media so I wanted to make sure I didn't miss anything.)

jmo

Thank you! Something I love about Websleuths is how we stay on top of each other and make sure posts are clear and based in fact.

 

[katydid23]

We don’t often get to celebrate a safe return! I’m so happy for Samara.

You know what time it is?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~HAPPY DANCE TIME~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[katydid23]

Do we have a definitive statement, on whether they were detained simultaneously? Was she detained first, then him, or both at the crossing checkpoint? It's not clear.

Unless he held her against her will (how?), I don't see why she should avoid charges. Ignorance? Didn't know he didn't have full custody, didn't know he was in violation, didn't know there was a warrant, didn't know there was a manhunt? Hard sell.

She knew they weren't on vacation.

JMO

I don't think she will end up being charged with anything. AA is the one that was breaking a legal custody order. She was along for the ride but wasn't part of the custody agreement. I think she might just squeak by.

 

[Tealgrove]

I can’t wrap my head around why they were so close to the border, where it seems more likely to be spotted.

Maybe the English language and American currency are more prevalent there?

Car problems?

Or are they just . . . not that smart? No plan, no ideas for what to do or where to go?

Did they hang around that area the whole time, or did they return there?

My theory is that they got desperate and planned to try sneaking back into the U.S. — they thought it would be safer to go separately, and NC went first.

It could make the seemingly conflicting claims from both her parents and the media true: She was returning “voluntarily,” but she also got caught doing it and was subsequently “deported.”

My own ponderings . . .

I guess I’m confused.

If NC was leaving Mexico to re enter the US she wouldn’t have to be deported. Mexico doesn’t care if she leaves. They wouldn’t check her for leaving.

However, US Customs and Border Control would have arrested her or detained her coming back into the US.

If she was actually DEPORTED, she would have been detained by Mexico and then deported to the US.

So what is it? Was she detained in Mexico and then deported or was she apprehended by US Customs and Border Control as she tried to renter the US?

It kinda matters when we look at NC’s parents’ missive.

Inquiring minds want to know.

MOO

 

[Inthedetails]

I don't think she will end up being charged with anything. AA is the one that was breaking a legal custody order. She was along for the ride but wasn't part of the custody agreement. I think she might just squeak by.

That's what I'm thinking too, but maybe obstruction charges for NC?

The ultimate goal was to return the child and that has been accomplished. Perhaps a goal now is to re-coup some of the expenses spent on finding Seray, and maybe AA and NC will be given a bill to pay - though I have no idea if that is a thing.

jmo

 

[katydid23]

That's what I'm thinking too, but maybe obstruction charges for NC?

The ultimate goal was to return the child and that has been accomplished. Perhaps a goal now is to re-coup some of the expenses spent on finding Seray, and maybe AA and NC will be given a bill to pay - though I have no idea if that is a thing.

jmo

I think the biggest punishment will be felt by AA and his family because they will likely not see the child for awhile and then it will be supervised visitation, for AA anyway.

 

[JerseyWasHome2]

I don't think she will end up being charged with anything. AA is the one that was breaking a legal custody order. She was along for the ride but wasn't part of the custody agreement. I think she might just squeak by.

But… surely she knew what he was doing was wrong and against the law. Aiding and abetting a criminal of sorts? She could have refused to go along with them, or turned him in a few days later. She was helping them hide for weeks even if indirectly. I’m sure they looked online in some capacity and knew they were being sought out. That alone seems like she should face some charge. She wasnt a clueless bystander he met and picked up in mexico.

 

[Seni]

Hope that the charge will go for kidnapping

 

[NCWatcher]

R

That's what I'm thinking too, but maybe obstruction charges for NC?

The ultimate goal was to return the child and that has been accomplished. Perhaps a goal now is to re-coup some of the expenses spent on finding Seray, and maybe AA and NC will be given a bill to pay - though I have no idea if that is a thing.

jmo

Since we really don't know exactly what NC did, it hard for me to say she committed a crime, much less guess which crime. I'm not an attorney and state laws vary but one general definition of obstruction of justice is Legal Definition of OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE

"willfully interfering with the process of justice and law especially by influencing, threatening, harming, or impeding a witness, potential witness, juror, or judicial or legal officer or by furnishing false information in or otherwise impeding an investigation or legal process."

I can't see how that could fit what we know now.
MOO

 

[clorenc]

If NC was leaving Mexico to re enter the US she wouldn’t have to be deported. Mexico doesn’t care if she leaves. They wouldn’t check her for leaving.

However, US Customs and Border Control would have arrested her or detained her coming back into the US.

If she was actually DEPORTED, she would have been detained by Mexico and then deported to the US.

So what is it? Was she detained in Mexico and then deported or was she apprehended by US Customs and Border Control as she tried to renter the US?

Great points!

 

[katydid23]

But… surely she knew what he was doing was wrong and against the law. Aiding and abetting a criminal of sorts? She could have refused to go along with them, or turned him in a few days later. She was helping them hide for weeks even if indirectly. I’m sure they looked online in some capacity and knew they were being sought out. That alone seems like she should face some charge. She wasnt a clueless bystander he met and picked up in mexico.

Oh I agree with you, I'm just guessing about what they will do.

My experience with how most DA's are charging people these days tells me everything is usually DOWNGRADED, never upgraded, unless they are trying to hold someone in jail while they find more evidence.

But with jail overcrowding and low budgetary concerns about prisoners, everyone seems to be getting very light sentences or probation, or dropped charges. So I think they will just let her squeak by with a warning and a slap on the wrist.

It wasn't really a kidnapping. AA is her bio father so it is custody interference. And NC was not a party to that legal agreement so th courts will shrug and say 'whatever', imo.

 

[PommyMommy]

JUL 9, 2024

Missing 2-year-old WA girl found alive with pair who fled to Mexico

The search a missing 2-year-old girl from Pullman and the couple last seen with the child ended when they were all found alive in Mexico.

mynorthwest.com

Authorities in Mexico detained Aung, Aung Harmon and Cole and turned them over to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the city of Pullman reported.

https://www.facebook.com/PullmanPD/posts/868622641964375

 

[Seni]

We have not heard whether Seraya is back with her Mother. Must have been very stressful for this little one, being taken out of her normal surroundings in such a manner by father plus arrests and being taken into care by authorities.

 

[mst]

what bothers me is if AA's parents were so helpful and helped create the plan to send them to Mexico, why would they be so stupid as to send them in a car registered to the family and a cadillac at that?!?! Any chance that someone in the family (maybe the elder Aung's) owned a property in Mexico and had often driven over the border in that car?

Nadia's parents are making sure that the statements made about their daughter are positive so that she can have the future as a lawyer that they all dreamed of. Law schools probably don't love to admit students involved in international child kidnappers