A woman from Utah said End times A close woman accused of taking her four young children abroad in violation of a custody order has been arrested in Croatia, Croatian authorities said on Tuesday.
Elishia Seymour, 35, was charged in December in Salt Lake County with four counts of interference with custody by removing children out of state even though they were not eligible for custody. The Croatian Foreign Ministry confirmed via email on Tuesday that she was arrested earlier this month and detained on suspicion of violating children’s rights.
The children are being held in foster care in Croatia while her ex-husband, Kendall Seymour, works to bring them home. He told the Associated Press that he is currently in the southern European country and visiting the children while completing paperwork. He is the father of three adult children, and he said that he has power of attorney for the child who is not his.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sam Gill said his office is exploring options with federal partners to extradite Alicia Seymour. She was not available for comment while in custody in Croatia, and Utah court records did not list an attorney who could speak on her behalf.
Alicia Seymour posted videos of her own on TikTok last year describing apocalyptic dreams and urging people to prepare, according to her ex-husband, who recognized her in the videos seen by the AP.
The end times are a Christian view with varying interpretations of apocalyptic Bible passages, but many believe it involves a series of cataclysmic events before Jesus returns to Earth.
She said in one of the videos that she dreamed of an electromagnetic pulse attack that caused a plane to crash, computers to stop working, and people to lose access to food, water and heat. “God is trying to tell people that the winter is going to be cold.”
Alicia Seymour and her children were last seen in the United States in late November. They were staying with an American family in Croatia, who initially did not appear to know that they and their children were being searched, according to her ex-husband.
One of the children informed a host family member, leading to her arrest on January 16, Kendall Seymour said by phone from Croatia. “One of my kids said to him, ‘Hey, look up my name, Google my name, and you’ll find it.'”
He said the host family either handed her over or convinced her to do so.
The FBI obtained information that Alicia Seymour and the children — ages 11, 8, 7 and 3 — were in Croatia after leaving their home in a suburb of Salt Lake City in late November, Kendall Seymour said.
A former friend told police that Elishia Seymour “recently discussed obtaining passports and leaving the country, expressing concerns about Biblical events and the ‘end times,'” according to Utah court documents.
Police went to Seymour’s home in West Jordan on Dec. 2 after her friends and co-workers reported they were unable to reach her, court documents said. Officers found the apartment unlocked with no one home, as well as a notebook containing plans to shred documents, dispose of phones and take passports.
Police later found her car parked at Salt Lake City International Airport and reviewed a video showing the family entering the airport on Nov. 29 and boarding a one-way flight to Europe, according to court documents.
Alicia Seymour divorced the father of her youngest child in 2024 and Kendall Seymour in 2021, according to court documents.
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Associated Press writer Jovana Gic in Belgrade, Serbia, contributed to this report.