Utah mom runs away with her children, convinced doomsday is near. Then abandons them in a Croatian orphanage

A two-month manhunt for a Utah mother and her children has come to an end this month after authorities found the missing children abandoned in an orphanage in Croatia. Kendall Seymour’s ex-wife, Elleshia Ann Seymour left the country with her three children and their half-brother in late November as she believed that the world was coming to an end.

Kendall, who shares three of his kids with his ex-wife, first raised the alarm on December 2nd according to the New York Post. The father set up a GoFundMe where he posted updates on the concerning situation. On January 25th he wrote a post explaining that “the kids are trapped in Croatia in a state-run orphanage.” 

While the news was certainly a relief, the children’s safety still hung in the balance, being in an orphanage halfway across the world is hardly ideal. However, the most recent updates confirmed that Kendall was on his way back from Croatia with the three Seymour kids and their half brother adding, “We are all excited to get back to (mostly) normal life.” Elleshia Seymour was arrested by police prior to Kendall taking the children home.

Why did Elleshia Ann Seymour take the kids?

Elleshia Seymour, 35, was convinced that the world was coming to an end and so on November 30th, she took the four children, Landon Hal Seymour, 11, Levi Parker Seymour, 8, Hazel Rae Seymour, 7, and the youngest, Jacob Kurt Brady, 3 from their Utah home and boarded a Croatia bound flight from Salt Lake City International Airport. 

According to Kendall, the mother had managed to forge all four of the kids passports in order to smuggle them out of the country. He also claimed that Elleshia had left two notes at the home with one of them being a “delusional message from God promising her she would be in Italy by Christmas.” It isn’t clear where the mother’s delusions came from or why, but it seemed she believed them enough to allegedly kidnap her own children.

Another child

It was also revealed that a fifth American child was travelling with Elleshia and had also been left in the orphanage although the youngster’s relationship to her is unclear. Kendall explained that the fifth child was not handed over to him but he was able to set them up with a new phone and give them important contact information.

“We’ve purchased him a decent phone with a plan. Luckily, he was able to log back into his old apps and reconnect with the friends he hasn’t spoken to in a few weeks. We put our contacts in his phone so that he can reach out to us for help at any time.”

There haven’t been many updates on the fifth child but hopefully now he has a phone he can contact someone who can help. Kendall also explained his plans to “find other ways to give back” to the orphanage.