From West Jordan to Croatia: Detective Awarded for Bringing Four Children Home

West Jordan Police Chief Jeremy Robertson presented Detective Adam Horman with the Meritorious Service Medal for his "outstanding effort" in working to return four children to their homes in West Jordan after being taken out of the country to Croatia.

The children were reported missing from daycare on Dec. 2, 2025. West Jordan Police officers were called to do a welfare check, and after a few days the case landed on Detective Horman's desk. He started tracking the steps of the children's mother and eventually tracked her and the children to Croatia.

While the children shared a mother, they had two different fathers. Both men were increasingly frantic over their children's safety.

"She had a journal talking about doomsday prophecies, end-of-the-world ideology that she believed in," Horman said.

Once someone leaves the state, let alone the country, it gets harder and harder for a city to follow them. Horman needed the help of the FBI, but he wasn't about to turn the case over to them and just let it go.

"I don't prefer to hand my cases to another agency if I can help it," he said. "These kids were in danger. We didn't know what the mother was capable of. The kids are a priority. We needed to get the kids in safe custody."

The FBI then used their resources through Interpol and helped West Jordan and the family locate the mother and children in Croatia.

"This was a good collaborative effort with local and federal authorities," Horman said. "I know the area. I can collect as much evidence from here. They have a different role to play."

This took hundreds of hours: writing search warrants, deep-diving into social media and cell phone data, tracking movements, reaching out to family and friends, and meeting with them.

Now the children are home safe and the mother is in custody, awaiting extradition and trial.

We applaud Detective Horman and his dedicated service to returning four of our smallest residents to the loving arms of their fathers.

By Erin Dixon