Father of Missing DC Mom’s Son Held on Probation Warrant as Violence, Custody History Surface

Russell Ashford, the father of Antoinette Forbes’s 10-year-old son, is jailed in Beaver County, PA on a Montgomery County, MD warrant for a probation violation. Authorities say no charges have been filed in Forbes’s disappearance, and there’s no public link between Ashford’s arrest and the case. Forbes was last seen in Northwest DC, with Forbes’ family noting her belongings left behind. Court records reviewed by 7News show Ashford was convicted of first-degree assault in 2021 after a violent incident with Forbes, which left her with serious injuries, and a custody dispute between the two extended through at least 2025. The defense and prosecutors have described ongoing custody conflicts and alleged boundary-crossing, while investigators caution that previous violence does not prove what happened in Forbes’s disappearance. Ashford remains in custody awaiting extradition to Maryland.