Ely fugitive found in central Utah after allegedly taken daughter

Over a month ago Shawn Ashdown took his 3-year-old daughter and went on the run after allegedly stealing a car from a family member. According to a booking affidavit, Ashdown stole a family member’s red Hyundai Santa Fe and took his three-year-old daughter from their Ely, Nevada residence. Since then, her mother Lisa Barbero has been worried sick. Lisa found out that her daughter was missing after her mother, Jan called Lisa’s 15-year-old son and informed him what was going on. At the time Ashdown had full custody of his daughter and Lisa had one hour visitation a week and phone calls. Lisa said that she always thought Ashdown would do something like this, noting that in the last few weeks Ashdown had started forgetting visitation times and was acting strange. After Lisa was made aware of her daughters alleged kidnapping, she kept in contact with the White Pine Sheriff’s office, getting updates every other day. Unfortunately, her daughters not fit the criteria for an Amber Alert, so Lisa used social media platforms to get the word out.

Ashdown and his daughter were found Thursday, February 22nd, after the stolen SUV was spotted leaving a convenience store. The child was in a car seat in the back seat of the SUV. According to the probable cause record, Ashdown was wanted out of Ely for taking his daughter and fleeing in a stolen vehicle. Ashdown had been staying in campsites with his daughter in the Beaver County, Utah area. Ashdown said he had only been going into town for food and supplies when needed. The arresting officer noted that temperature had been extremely cold for the past few weeks, frequently below freezing. When interviewed by officers, Ashdown said he had taken his daughter away from a dangerous environment. The arresting officer wrote in the affidavit “he stated he believed that the mother of his 3-year-old daughter was exposing her to THC”.

Lisa was informed of her daughter’s recovery by a phone call from a White Pine Sheriffs officer. He told her to wait for a call from the Beaver authorities and they would let her know when she could pick up her daughter. After getting that call Lisa got a ride to Beaver to pick up her daughter the same night. Lisa said her daughter was a little standoffish after not seeing her for so long, but that she quickly warmed up to her. Lisa is now home with her daughter, getting her back into a routine bedtime and trying to get back to normal.

Ashdown was being held in the Beaver County Jail without bail but was scheduled to appear in front of a judge February 26th.