A recent Washington State University graduate who vanished from a Seattle airport more than a month ago may be traveling with a 21-year-old man wanted for failing to return his 2-year-old daughter to the child's mother.
Nadia Erika Cole, 21, disappeared on May 29 after security camera footage showed her leaving the Seattle–Tacoma International Airport at 3:08 p.m., the Fife Police Department said on X.
She was wearing a black North Face jacket, a sage green hoodie, black pants and white sneakers at the time. Authorities said she may have been seen in the area of Fife, a suburb of Tacoma.
Police in Pullman said they believe Cole may be with Aaron Aung, whose 2-year-old daughter Seraya Aung Harmon was reported missing.
Aaron Breshears with the Pullman Police Department told NBC affiliate KING-TV of Seattle that Cole is in a relationship with Aung and "it’s more than coincidence that she went missing at the same time."
Aung, of Moscow, Idaho, and his daughter were last seen on May 29, the same day Cole vanished, according to authorities. Aung reportedly took Seraya to Montana on a fishing trip and was supposed to return the child to her mother in Pullman on Monday, police said. Aung never showed up for the scheduled custody exchange, according to authorities.
On Wednesday, an arrest warrant was issued for Aung for first-degree custodial interference after police said he violated a Latah County District Court parenting plan.
Cole's family said the circumstances surrounding her disappearance are "entirely out of character for her," KING-TV reported, citing a statement released by a private investigator they hired. On the day she vanished, the family said she left her belongings at an airport gate to use the restroom and was seen leaving the airport with "a distressed expression."
"We are utterly devastated by her disappearance and are fervently praying for her safe return," her parents, Beata and Kirk Cole, said in the statement.
Cole had recently graduated from Washington State University, authorities said. There is a $1,000 reward for information leading to her safe return.
Pullman police said they are working with the Moscow Police Department in Idaho and the FBI in Seraya's disappearance.
