PULLMAN, Wash. — A Moscow father accused of kidnapping his 2-year-old daughter was booked into the Whitman County Jail Wednesday afternoon.
Aaron Aung, 21, was booked into jail on an international parental kidnapping charge, which was filed in the U.S. District Court Eastern District of Washington on Monday.
Aung was found in Mexico with his girlfriend and daughter. Mexican authorities took Aung and his daughter to the port of entry near Nogales, Arizona, where U.S. Customs and Border Protection took custody of Aung and his daughter.
According to court documents, Aung and his daughter's mother, Samara Harmon, did a custody exchange of their two-year-old daughter in late May, with Aung scheduled to return his daughter to his daughter's mom on June 3 in Whitman County.
On the day of the exchange, court documents say Aung's fiancée, Nadia Cole, was reported missing after leaving the SeaTac Airport while leaving on a family trip. Cole's parents learned she was seen walking out of the airport alone, and Cole could not be found.
According to court documents, the Pullman Police Department reached out to Aung's parents to try and find Cole. His parents told investigators Aung took his daughter on a fishing trip to Montana, not knowing where Aung was or if Cole was with him.
Court documents say Harmon arrived at the Pullman Police Department for the scheduled custody exchange, and Aung and his daughter did not appear and the exchange didn't happen. Aung's parents reported him as missing, and court documents say Harmon did not speak with Aung leading up to their custody exchange.
Court documents say Harmon reported that Aung had been abusive and was not paying child support. Court documents also say Harmon was in the process of criminally charging Aung for not paying child support.