Kansas mother faces federal charges for fleeing US with her 2 children

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — An eastern Kansas woman was charged in federal court Thursday for fleeing to Europe in an effort to avoid losing custody of her two daughters.

These charges resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); the FBI; the Kansas police departments of Lawrence, Overland Park and Eudora; and the Kansas district attorney’s offices of Douglas and Johnson counties.

Samantha Elmer, 33, of Lawrence, Kansas, was charged with one count of obstructing the lawful exercise of parental rights by fleeing the United States with her two children. Elmer was arrested Dec. 8 at the Kansas City International Airport, following her return with her children.

A criminal complaint alleges that on Oct. 26, Elmer and her 11- and 9-year-old daughters boarded a flight from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport to Vienna, Austria, via Istanbul, Turkey. A week earlier, Elmer’s ex-husband and father of the two girls had filed for full custody in Johnson County District Court. The court had scheduled a hearing for the first week of November. Elmer also was scheduled to appear for a hearing on felony theft charges in a separate Johnson County matter.  

On Oct. 29, a Lawrence police officer visited Elmer’s house to perform a child-welfare check. Investigators determined that Elmer’s daughters had missed the past six days of school. They also learned that Elmer had been driving a rented vehicle and had dropped the vehicle off at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport before boarding the flight to Austria.

If convicted, Elmer faces a maximum penalty of three years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Oakley, District of Kansas, is prosecuting this case.