Samantha Elmer, 33, was arrested by FBI agents Tuesday evening at the airport in Kansas City, Mo. She is currently held in the Leavenworth Detention Center until a detention hearing on Monday.

Kansas City, Kan. — A federal magistrate judge ordered Samantha Elmer, who recently fled to Europe with her two young daughters, released from federal custody Monday during a detention hearing in Kansas City, Kan.

New evidence presented at the hearing appeared to help persuade Magistrate Judge David Waxse to release Elmer on her own recognizance, including her explanation that she fled the country with her daughters because their father had been abusive — a claim he denies.

Elmer’s release from federal custody, however, was short-lived.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Oakley asked that the judge stay the order for a few hours and quickly filed a motion contesting the release order, effectively sending Elmer back to the Leavenworth Detention Center.

A date to hear that motion had not been set as of Monday afternoon.

Elmer, 33, of Lawrence, left the area on Oct. 26 for Europe, ahead of a child custody hearing with her ex-husband. She returned last week and voluntarily surrendered at Kansas City International Airport. She is charged with one count of taking her children out of the country with intent to obstruct the lawful exercise of parental rights.

Even if Elmer had been released from federal custody Monday, she would have been sent to the Johnson County Corrections Department, where she has two outstanding warrants against her for violating a child custody order and for not appearing for trial in a criminal credit card case. Her bond for those two counts is set at $100,000.

The two girls, both elementary-aged students, are now in the custody of their father, Justin Bush, currently of Smithville, Mo.

Bush told the Lawrence Journal-World on Monday that Elmer was fabricating the allegations of abuse.

“She’s been trying to build a child abuse case to keep the girls from me,” Bush said.

Elmer has filed two protection from abuse orders in Cass County and Johnson County. She did not show up for the hearing in Cass County, Bush said. In Johnson County, the judge determined there was no evidence of abuse, court records show.

On Monday, Elmer sat quietly during the hearing, whispering from time to time with her attorney, Tim Burdick. She was dressed in an orange jumpsuit, manacles around her wrists and ankles, her long hair pulled back.

It was quickly acknowledged that Elmer’s and Bush’s child custody fight had become extremely contentious.

“It’s very apparent,” Oakley said.

The new evidence presented during the hearing included two lengthy Missouri Department of Social Services reports and another report by a licensed psychologist.

Burdick, Elmer’s attorney, said the state reports describe a pattern of years in which Bush was mentally and physically abusive, including hitting.

In at least one situation, Burdick said, one of the girls was slapped in the face by her father. Bush has denied being abusive to the children.

The licensed psychologist recommended that the children and father be separated for awhile, Burdick said.

Bush acknowledged he had not seen the girls for eight months prior to Elmer taking them to Europe. He told the Journal-World on Monday that he thought the break was in the girls’ best interest at the time.

Also on Monday, FBI Special Agent Ashley Davis testified, laying out new details about Elmer’s trip to Europe.

Elmer and the girls had gone to Chicago, where they caught a flight that eventually took them to Austria. They then went to Italy, Davis said.

After Elmer ran out of money, she contacted a TV news reporter to help her get back to the United States, Davis said.

Davis testified that her supervisor and the reporter spoke with Elmer through Facebook. Eventually there were phone calls and the reporter was told she could not be included in the conversations anymore.

Elmer had a few conditions that were agreed to before she would surrender.

The most important one was that she would not be arrested in the presence of her children, Davis said.

“Her main focus was not upsetting her children,” Davis said.

Davis said she was involved in two interviews with Elmer when she was taken into custody.

Davis said the FBI investigation found that Elmer had planned for the trip and knew as early as Oct. 12 that she was going. Davis said Elmer had researched countries that would not extradite her, and also countries that would provide a college education for her daughters.

After the evidence was presented Monday, Waxse went to his chambers to read over the documents and consider the testimony.

When he returned he said did not consider Elmer a flight risk in part because her daughters are here.

“The idea that she would turn around and leave them is far-fetched,” he said.

He also said that Elmer doesn’t have a history of alcohol or substance abuse and has strong ties to the community and a history of employment.

She and her current husband, Rodney Elmer, had recently been evicted from their home in Eudora. They then moved to Lawrence. Rodney Elmer was not in the courtroom Monday.

Before the flight to Europe, Samantha Elmer had been charged with eight counts of credit card and identity theft in Johnson County District Court, but five of those charges have been dismissed. The day she left the country, the trial in that case was scheduled to begin.