Seraya Aung Harmon, left, was last seen with her father, Aaron Daniel Aung, far right. Nadia Cole, Aaron Aung’s fiancee, next to him, above, is believed to be traveling with him. (Pullman (Wash.) Police Department)
Authorities are searching for a young father from Idaho believed to be traveling with his 2-year-old daughter and his fiancee after he failed to make a scheduled custody exchange with the girl’s mother.
Aaron Daniel Aung, 21, was being sought on a warrant for first-degree custodial interference for violating a parenting plan for retaining custody of Seraya Aung Harmon, police said in a news release.
The case came to light on Tuesday. The Pullman Police Department announced it was working with the Moscow Police Department in Idaho and the FBI to investigate Seraya’s disappearance.
She was last seen with her father on May 29. They were supposed to show up to a scheduled custody exchange on Monday with the girl’s mother in Pullman, Washington, about 285 miles east of Seattle, after a planned fishing trip in Montana, police said.
The girl’s mother says she’s baffled — and sick with worry.
“I physically felt my heart hit the floor, and I felt pain and fear and confusion like I’ve never felt coursing through my whole body,” Samara Harmon told Seattle ABC affiliate KOMO News’ Lynnanne Nguyen. “I just didn’t know how to process it. I was kind of just trying to figure out what had happened, where she was, why she was ever in Montana, why I hadn’t been told about this beforehand.”
Harmon said on Facebook that her daughter is sick, and if she’s not given proper medical treatment, it can be fatal.
In another Facebook post, she addressed her daughter directly, saying, “there’s nothing in this world I won’t do for you, just always know and remember mommy loves you more than life itself and I will never stop looking for you. I hope and pray you come home to me and soon.”
Authorities believe Aaron Aung may be traveling with his fiancee, Nadia Cole, 21.
Her parents told local media that they last saw her on May 29 when she told them she had to use the restroom at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, where the family was set to travel to Italy to celebrate her graduation from Washington State University. Surveillance video showed her leaving the airport, getting on the light rail, getting off at the University Street stop and walking toward the Seattle waterfront, her parents said.
“The main thing is just try and find her, our daughter, and hope she’s safe,” her father, Kirk Cole, told the Peninsula Daily News. “She left her phone, which I thought was odd, and her carry-on (a small backpack) and went to the bathroom and never returned.”
In a statement, Cole’s parents said, “Nadia is cherished by the hundreds of people who know her, and the circumstances surrounding her disappearance are entirely out of character for her.”
“We are utterly devastated by her disappearance and are fervently praying for her safe return,” the statement also said. “Any piece of information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, could be crucial in bringing Nadia back to us.”
Cole’s friend, Korin Urtezuela, told KOMO it doesn’t make sense.
“We’re all just really confused,” Urtezuela told the outlet. “We don’t know what was going on in her head, but all we care about is her safety and at the very least, knowing that she’s OK.”
Anyone with information about Seraya’s location is asked to call the Pullman Police Department at 509-334-0802 or their local law enforcement agency.
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