SEATAC, Wash. — A recent Washington State University graduate has been reported missing after she was last seen leaving SEA Airport last week. Now, her fiancé, who she is believed to be traveling with, is wanted for custodial interference by the Pullman Police Department.
Nadia Erika Cole, 21, was last seen leaving the airport just after 3 p.m. on May 29 and was believed to be traveling with her fiancé, identified as Aaron Aung of Moscow, Idaho, and his 2-year-old daughter.
“There is a relationship between the two Nadia Cole and Aaron Aung do have a significant dating relationship and it’s more than coincidence that she went missing at the same time," said Operations Commander Aaron Breshears of the Pullman Police Department.
Breshears said there is an arrest warrant for Aung for first-degree custodial interference.
Aung and his daughter, named Seraya, should have returned from a trip to Montana on Monday and met the girl's mother at a scheduled custody exchange. The mother reported the two missing when they failed to show up.
Aung is now wanted for retaining custody of his 2-year-old daughter. Cole's whereabouts also remain unknown. She was potentially last spotted in Fife, according to a tip provided to the Fife Police Department.
According to a press release from a private investigator for Cole's family, Cole left her belongings at an airport gate to use the restroom but never returned. She was then seen leaving the airport with "a distressed expression." The last photographed sighting of her was outside the airport near the light rail platform north of the parking garage.
Cole's father told KING 5 that she was last seen departing the light rail at the University Street Station in downtown Seattle on May 29.
The missing flyer being distributed by authorities says Cole is from Port Angeles and recently graduated from WSU. She was last seen on security camera footage wearing a black North Face jacket, a sage green hoodie, black yoga pants, a tan shoulder bag and white Converse sneakers. Authorities said she also might be wearing prescription glasses.
After recently graduating college with honors, Cole was also preparing to go on a family trip to Italy. In the press release, her family called the circumstances leading up to her disappearance "entirely out of character for her." She was set to take the LSAT in August, her father said.
"We are utterly devastated by her disappearance and are fervently praying for her safe return," her parents, Beata and Kirk Cole, wrote.
Anyone with information about Cole's whereabouts is asked to call Port of Seattle Police, which is leading the investigation, at 206-787-5401. No piece of information is insignificant.
Anyone with information about Seraya's location should contact the Pullman Police Department at 509-334-0802 or reach out to their local law enforcement agency.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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