Aaron Aung, International Parental Kidnapping, Washington 2024

Aaron Aung, a father from Pullman, Washington, has been charged with international parental kidnapping after allegedly taking his child from the United States to Mexico.

According to the complaint, on June 3, 2024, Aung was supposed to travel to the Pullman Police Department for a custody exchange of the victim with the victim’s mother. However, Aung and the victim never arrived for the custody exchange.

Instead, agents with the FBI and U.S Customs and Border Protection (CBP) obtained photos of a vehicle Aung was allegedly driving, which had crossed into Mexico on June 1, 2024, at the Andrade, California, Port of Entry.

The complaint further alleges that on July 4, 2024, Aung, the victim, and Aung’s fiancé, Nadia Cole, were contacted by Mexican officials in Mexico. Cole later was deported from Mexico to the United States, while Aung and the victim remained in Mexico at that time.

Three days later, on July 7, 2024, Aung and the victim were encountered by Mexican officials near the United States-Mexico border in Nogales, Mexico. Aung and the victim were then deported by Mexican officials to the port of entry near Nogales, Arizona, where they were presented to CBP officials.

CBP then took custody of both Aung and the victim. CBP also detained Aung on an outstanding felony warrant issued out of Whitman County, Washington for custodial interference first degree.

The case is being investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Rebecca Perez and Michael J. Ellis.

Aung was arraigned in federal court on August 2, 2024. The charge against him is merely an allegation, and he is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.