The ex-partner of missing D.C. mother Antoinette Forbes is facing new charges in Pennsylvania unrelated to her disappearance.
Russell Ashford appeared in a Pennsylvania courtroom Wednesday. Court documents obtained by News4 state that investigators found multiple guns while executing search warrants after Ashford’s arrest over the weekend.
Police are not calling him a suspect in the disappearance of Forbes, 53, who was last seen Sept. 4 near her home in Northwest D.C.
He was expected to be extradited back to Maryland after his arrest for allegedly violating his probation, which stems from his conviction for assaulting Forbes in Chevy Chase, Maryland, in 2021.
Antoinette Forbes’ whereabouts are still unknown. Court documents tell why ex-partner Russell Ashford was arrested on a probation violation.
But Ashford remains in custody in Pennsylvania in light of the new gun possession charges. Investigators said he wasn’t allowed to have a firearm under the terms of his probation.
According to court documents, Ashford’s current girlfriend contacted police Tuesday and told them he had dropped off multiple guns at her home last summer.
The girlfriend told police that Ashford was ex-military and had retired from the FBI or CIA. She said Ashford asked her if he could store his guns at her home, court documents say.
Ashford is the father of Forbes’ 10-year-old son.
Forbes was last seen nearly two weeks ago in her Northwest D.C. neighborhood near American University.
D.C. police have been monitoring Antoinette Forbes’ home as the search for her continues. News4’s Megan McGrath reports.
In a statement Wednesday, her family addressed the 2021 assault that left her with permanent injuries to her eyes and hands.
“In 2021 a jury convicted the man who assaulted Antoinette. It was brutal. The justice system did not protect my sister then. We are asking it to protect her family now,” Forbes’ sister Aileen Forbes said in the statement.
The family said it’s working to raise funds to help with search efforts in D.C., Maryland and Virginia. The family said their search has included hospitals, airports and areas around her home.
They’re asking people who live in Tenleytown, Spring Valley, Wesley Heights, Friendship Heights or near American University to check their doorbell cameras and security cameras from Friday, Sept. 4 through Monday, Sept. 7.
D.C. police haven’t released any information about a suspect in her disappearance.