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.
The ex-partner of missing D.C. mother Antoinette Forbes is facing new charges in Pennsylvania unrelated to her disappearance. News4’s Jackie Bensen reports.
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.
Beaver County District Attorney Nathan Bible said Pennsylvania law prohibits weapons possession by someone convicted of a felony involving domestic assault, even if it took place in another state.
“The sentence that you receive under this domestic violence statute, that is considered a conviction,” Bible said. “You know, under Maryland law, we, you know, honor that here with that being the underlying charge that would prohibit them in Pennsylvania.”
According to court documents, a woman who said she’s in an on-and-off relationship with Ashford contacted police Tuesday and told them he had dropped off multiple guns at her home last summer. The list of weapons included a Heckler & Koch pistol, a Ruger pistol, rifles and shotguns.
The woman told police that Ashford was ex-military and had retired from the FBI or CIA, which Bible said he also learned from officials in Maryland. 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.
Ashford was sentenced to 15 years in prison for a brutal assault on Forbes, but he only served nine months. Last July, a judge effectively struck the conviction from his record, over the objection of Montgomery County’s State’s Attorney, but kept Ashford on probation.
Bible said he is aware of the intense effort to locate Forbes.
“I do know that, you know, they have made some efforts to search. I don’t know how involved our local police or state police are,” he said.
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.
