Russell Ashford is due in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday afternoon for an extradition hearing after being arrested over the weekend on a Montgomery County warrant for an alleged probation violation. NBC 4 reports the hearing could move him back to Montgomery County, Maryland, while police continue searching for Antoinette Forbes.
Beaver County District Attorney Nate Bible said license plate readers were used to pick up Ashford's truck and track his whereabouts. He said Ashford left the state to travel to Maryland or the D.C. area, which triggered the parole violation.
Nate Bible on Ashford's arrest
Bible said his office helped police from D.C. and Maryland over the weekend when Pennsylvania authorities arrested Ashford. A spokesperson for the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office said the arrest came on a Montgomery County warrant tied to the alleged probation violation.
Bible said, "They worked out some agreement to transfer supervision to Beaver County, which is where he had lived. My understanding is him leaving the state to travel to Maryland or the D.C. area, where he was going, that's what triggered the parole violation. It was the use of LPRs - license plate readers - to pick up his truck, track his whereabouts."
Antoinette Forbes in Northwest D.C.
Antoinette Forbes has been missing for more than a week. Her family and friends said she was last seen at her Northwest D.C. home along Nebraska Avenue, near the American University campus, and that her disappearance is out of character.
In a statement sent Tuesday, the Forbes family said, "Her family and friends have said her disappearance is out of character, pointing to the fact she left behind her keys, wallet, both cell phones, and her car." A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Department said the search for the missing mother is ongoing.
2021 assault conviction
Court records reviewed by 7News describe a years-long custody battle over the couple's child. Those filings say Ashford was convicted of assaulting Forbes in 2021, and a statement of probable cause says he told an officer responding to the incident that he had "just beat up his ex."
Forbes told detectives Ashford threw her against a staircase and onto the kitchen floor, then repeatedly banged her head against the floor. She said he hit her head at least a dozen times before she lost consciousness, and their son was inside the home when the assault happened.
For now, the hearing in Beaver County is the next step that can determine whether Ashford remains there or is sent back to Maryland. The missing-person search continues separately, with Forbes still unaccounted for and her family pointing to the belongings she left behind.
