Woman accused of Fleeing Country With Daughters Indicted

A Lawrence woman accused of fleeing to Europe with her two daughters has been indicted for kidnapping.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Samantha Elmer was indicted Thursday on charges of parental kidnapping, making a false statement on a passport and aggravated identity theft.

Prosecutors say Elmer took the girls in October and boarded a flight from O’Hare International Airport in Chicago to Vienna, via Istanbul, ahead of a custody hearing and a trial on theft charges in Johnson County in early November.

Elmer returned to the U.S. with her daughters earlier this month, and was arrested.

She faces up to three years in prison for the kidnapping charge, and a maximum of 10 years in prison for the passport charge.