UPDATE: The Whitman County Prosecutor’s Office has deferred the case to the U.S. Department of Justice for federal prosecution.
The criminal case against the Moscow man accused of kidnapping his two year old daughter and fleeing to Mexico might be elevated to federal court.
The U.S. Department of Justice charged 21 year old Aaron Aung with international parental kidnapping Monday in federal court in Spokane. Aung shares custody of his child with the girl’s mother who lives in Pullman. They exchange custody on alternating weeks. Aung began a week with his daughter on May 29th and never returned her to her mother as required on June 3rd. Court documents show that on May 29th Aung’s fiancé 21 year old former Pullman resident and recent Washington State University graduate Nadia Cole was reported missing from Sea-Tac airport. Cole was seen walking out of the airport alone.
Court documents show that Aung’s parents Jaimes and Judith in Moscow reportedly told Pullman Police that he went fishing in Montana. Border Patrol cameras allegedly caught Jaimes’s Cadillac crossing the border into Mexico on June 1st. Mexican authorities located Aung and Cole and his daughter in early July and Cole was deported back to the U.S. The little girl and Aung were turned over to U.S. Border Patrol on July 7th. Aung was allegedly driving his father’s Cadillac when he was caught in Mexico.
Court documents also reveal that the girl’s mother told Pullman Police that Aung had been abusive and was not paying child support.
The Whitman County Sheriff’s Office is currently extraditing Aung back to the jail in Colfax on the arrest warrant for a local charge of child custodial interference. He is expected to arrive at the jail sometime this week.
The Whitman County Prosecutor’s Office and the U.S. Department of Justice are working together to determine which jurisdiction is the most appropriate for this case. A federal warrant has also been issued for Aung.