SALT LAKE CITY — A woman who has worked to get her missing aunt's name and face into the public since her disappearance in 2021 has been charged in federal court with a kidnapping case.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said 42-year-old Seraphine Warren-Begay (also known as Seraphine Warren) of Tooele was indicted by a grand jury earlier this month on charges of kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping.
Three of Warren's family members are also charged with the same crimes: Her husband Orlando Begay of Salt Lake City, her sister Josephine Bekay, and Bekay’s husband Nelton Alex Bekay (both from Gusher, between Roosevelt and Vernal).
Warren's aunt, Ella Mae Begay, disappeared in June 2021 and has still not been found. Warren helped Begay’s story make national news when she walked from the Navajo Nation to Washington D.C. to spark awareness.
In March of this year, 23-year-old Preston Tolth was arrested and charged with carjacking and assault. Federal investigators believe Tolth took Begay’s truck across state lines “with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury.” However, he has not been charged with killing her, and there's still no sign as to where Begay could be.
The U.S. Attorney's Office announced Warren's charges on Wednesday. They stem from an incident in March 2021 — three months before Begay's disappearance — but it's not known whether the cases are connected in any way.
The charges state that Warren and the three others drove to a man's house in Arizona on March 29, 2021. They allegedly entered the home, hit the man in the head with a blunt force object, shot him with paintball guns, then handcuffed him and put him in the back of a vehicle. Prosecutors say they took him to Shiprock, New Mexico, then eventually released him on April 1 in Farmington, New Mexico.
There was no public information about who the victim was, how he was connected to Warren and the others, nor any possible motive.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said each suspect faces up to life in prison if convicted.
