Justin Bush just wants his daughters to come home.

His girls, 11-year-old Taylor and 9-year-old Morgan, were last seen in Lawrence with their mother, Samantha Elmer, on Oct. 26.

After a few days of the girls missing school in Eudora, Bush, of Smithville, Mo., grew concerned. Elmer told him the girls were ill, but after about four days with no doctor’s note, Eudora Elementary and Middle schools changed the girls’ absences to “unexcused,” Bush said.

On Oct. 29, Bush called Lawrence police, who checked Elmer’s Lawrence home but were unable to find his daughters anywhere in town, Lawrence Police Department spokesman Sgt. Trent McKinley said. As it turned out, authorities would not be able to find them anywhere in the United States, let alone in Lawrence. Investigators tracked Elmer and found she’d taken the girls to Europe, McKinley said.

Elmer, 33, had apparently left with the girls in anticipation of a custody hearing with Bush, Bush said. At that time, the two had joint custody, but Elmer was facing criminal charges of identity theft, felony theft and criminal use of financial cards in Johnson County, so Bush expected to receive sole custody. Elmer was set to stand trial for those charges Nov. 2, according to Johnson County court records.

According to Douglas County District Court records, Elmer had also been evicted from her Eudora home, owned by Stonehouse Rentals Inc., the day before she and the girls went missing. Bush said she’d moved the girls to Lawrence for about two days before vanishing.

“Instead of confronting her criminal past she decided it would be best to snatch these children away from their lives, families, homes and friends and put them in a life of fear and on the run,” Bush alleged.

Bush learned she had rented a car in the Kansas City area, driven to Chicago and somehow gotten her daughters passports without Bush’s consent, he said. They then boarded a plane on a round-trip ticket to Turkey, then Austria. Their return flight was supposed to come back Thursday, but the plane left without them.

Bush said he was “devastated” when he got the news that they wouldn’t be returning Thursday. Still, he had assumed they wouldn’t be on the plane; Elmer may have never intended to return, despite purchasing round-trip tickets. Round-trip tickets are often cheaper than one-way tickets and cause travelers less hassle with customs.

Still, McKinley said police “have not heard any mention that (Elmer) is never returning.”

Now, the investigation has gone international, as investigators have worked to create missing person profiles for the girls on Interpol, the intergovernmental criminal police organization that assists in solving international crimes. McKinley said the LPD is in contact with the FBI, who is dealing with authorities abroad.

Bush now spends his days awaiting investigation updates from his Smithville, Mo., home with his wife, Stephanie.

“We were just shopping for furniture for their rooms last week,” Bush said. “We just sold their bunk-bed; they were excited to pick out their own beds.”

The family is currently raising money to travel overseas once the girls are found. Attorneys have told Bush that he will likely need to spend “many days” wherever the girls are to handle paperwork, as the girls may be put in foster care once found. And should Elmer take the children to a country where criminal and custodial law may differ from the U.S., Bush may have to stay even longer and find a foreign attorney to pursue civil action.

“These trials could span months or years, depending on the country, with many trips traveling back and forth just to prove my girls should have never been drug from their home so their mother could avoid the consequences of the law,” Bush said.

With the help of his congressman, Sam Graves, Bush recently drove to Chicago to get an emergency passport in case the girls are found. Bush said it will be costly to get a last-minute flight when the time comes, but there’s “no way” he would let the girls be alone once found.

“Once I get that call, I’ll be on the next flight to Europe,” Bush said.

Additionally, a pancake breakfast fundraiser will be held at the Louisburg American Legion on Nov. 15 from 8 a.m. to noon. Donations of any amount will be accepted and in return attendees will have access to all-you-can-eat pancake and sausages. All of the proceeds will be given to the Bush family to help them find Taylor and Morgan.

Lawrence police are seeking a warrant on Elmer for aggravated interference with parental custody, McKinley said. As of Thursday afternoon, she has not been charged in Douglas County with any crimes in connection with the alleged abduction, according to court records. However, Cheryl Wright Kunard, assistant to the Douglas County district attorney, said the D.A.’s office is currently reviewing the case.

Elmer is set to have a hearing next Thursday to settle damages with the rental agency, according to Douglas County District Court records.

Taylor has blond hair and blue eyes, is approximately 4 feet tall and weighs about 75 pounds. She has a scar on her right knee and forearm, according to Interpol. Morgan has blond hair and green eyes, is 3 feet, 6 inches tall and weighs about 65 pounds. She may be wearing glasses. Elmer has blond hair and blue eyes, is 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighs approximately 160 pounds.

Elmer is a baker who had owned The Elm Bakery in Cleveland prior to her move to Eudora in August. Before that, she’d owned a bakery in Louisburg. Bush said he suspects someone in the area may have heard Elmer planning the trip to Europe, and hopes any such information would be shared with police.

Those with any information about Elmer and the girls’ whereabouts should call 911 or the Lawrence Police Department at (785) 832-7509.