Utah mom who believed in ‘end of times’ is arrested over taking kids to Croatia

A Utah woman who said the end times were near and is accused of taking her four young children abroad in violation of a custody order was arrested in Croatia, authorities said Tuesday.

Elleshia Seymour, 35, was charged in December in Salt Lake County with four counts of interference with child custody by removing the children from the state when they were not entitled to custody. The Croatian Foreign Ministry confirmed via email on Tuesday that she had been arrested earlier this month and detained for violating children’s rights.

The children are in foster care in Croatia while her ex-husband, Kendall Seymour, works to bring them home. He told The Associated Press that he was currently in the southern European country, visiting the children while completing paperwork. He is the father of the three oldest children and declares that he has power of attorney for the child who is not his.

Salt Lake County Prosecutor Sam Gill said his office is exploring options with federal partners to extradite Elleshia 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.

Elleshia Seymour posted videos of herself on TikTok last year describing apocalyptic dreams and urging people to prepare, according to her ex-husband, who identified her in videos viewed by the AP.

The end times is a Christian view with varying interpretations of apocalyptic biblical passages, but many believe it involves a series of cataclysmic events before Jesus returns to Earth.

In one video, she said she dreamed of an electromagnetic pulse attack causing a plane to crash, computers to shut down and loss of access to food, water and heat. “The Lord is trying to tell people that winter is going to be cold.”

Elleshia Seymour and her children were last seen in the United States in late November. They lived in Croatia with an American family who apparently did not know at first that she and her children were wanted, according to her ex-husband.

One of the children informed a foster son, leading to his arrest on Jan. 16, Kendall Seymour said by phone from Croatia. “One of my kids told him, ‘Hey, look up my name, Google my name, you’ll find it.'”

The foster family either reported her or convinced her to do so, he said.

The FBI had received information that Elleshia Seymour and the children — ages 11, 8, 7 and 3 — were in Croatia after allegedly leaving their home in suburban Salt Lake City in late November, Kendall Seymour said.

A former boyfriend told police that Elleshia Seymour had “recently discussed getting passports and leaving the country, expressing concerns about biblical events and the ‘end times,'” according to Utah court documents.

Court documents say police went to Seymour’s home in West Jordan on Dec. 2 after friends and co-workers said they could not reach her. Officers found the apartment unlocked with no one home, along with a notebook listing plans to shred documents, throw away phones and take passports.

Police later found their car parked at Salt Lake City International Airport and viewed video showing the family entering the airport on Nov. 29 and boarding a one-way flight to Europe, according to court documents.

Elleshia 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 Gec in Belgrade, Serbia, contributed to this report.