The Ostrobothnian District Court on Tuesday ordered the arrest in absentia of Tommy and Karoliina Karf, the parents of a large family that has been missing for more than a year.
Issuing such an order enables the issuing of a European arrest warrant, as well as a rapid extradition from another member state.
Earlier this summer, police made a public appeal for help in finding the family. At the time of their disappearance in May 2024, the family included seven children — born between 2007 and 2021 — a father and a mother, who was expecting an eighth child.
It was later revealed that the children had been placed in a child protection unit in early 2024, but four months later, the parents removed the children from the facility without permission and they haven't been seen since.
Before the family vanished, they lived in a small house in the rural Ostrobothnian municipality of Pedersöre. A neighbour suspected that the children may not have been properly cared for, and eventually contacted authorities about the situation. Not long after that, the family's children were taken into care by authorities.
Police are investigating the case as aggravated unlawful deprivation of liberty, aggravated human trafficking and aggravated assault.
Police have received more than 200 tips about the case from members of the public, but are still searching for the family.
