'16 and Pregnant' Star Says Ex's Family Is Withholding Contact With Her Child

By Allison Schonter

16 and Pregnant alum Nikkole Paulun has contacted police after her ex Ryan Rice's family allegedly began withholding contact from her 6-year-old daughter Ellie Jade Rice. The ordeal began over Christmas weekend when little Ellie traveled to be with her father's family for a Christmas visitation, with Paulun alleging that she has had no contact with her child since she last saw her. In an emotional social media post, Paulun told her followers that her daughter went "missing" and she does not know her whereabouts.

Opening up about the ordeal, Paulun shared a screenshot of a text exchange with Rice, with whom she welcomed Ellie back in 2015, spanning two days. In one message, according to The Sun, the former MTV star wrote that Rice "ignored" her text from "an hour and a half ago and now you've ignored my FaceTime." She went on to point out that "per the court order, you have 30 minutes to have [redacted] call me back. Thank you." In identical texts sent 30 minutes later and then again the following morning, Paulun wrote, "please have [redacted] FaceTime me." Another message read, "Hi. It's been 2 days since I've heard anything from you now. I'd like to talk to our daughter. When will she be available to do so? Thanks," with a final text reading, "[Redacted] Now I'm getting worried. Where is [redacted]?"

According to Paulun, Ellie left on Christmas Day "to spend their holiday time with their other family." However, she hasn't heard anything since. Amid the lack of communication with her ex's family, Paulun said she contacted local police and requested a welfare check, and authorities told her "the apartment looks abandoned and nobody was there."

Paulun went on to write in a separate update that while she had not made contact with her daughter, she was able to contact Rice after using "somebody else's phone to be able to get ahold of him and he said that he's not with my child and that my child is with his mother. And I said, 'You know I've tried contacting her and I've even sent someone over there to check there and nobody's home.' And he asked why I would do that and I said 'because I haven't made contact with anybody' and he said that he doesn't want to talk to me and hung up." She said Rice later texted her "saying that I need to quit being goofy and he'll have her call me tomorrow."

In an update shared Tuesday night, Paulun revealed that the only contact she has had is a single text sent from her child's grandmother to her own mother stating the family would be visiting a "cabin on lake superior until Jan. 2." The text alleged there is "no cell phone signal at the cabin." Paulun later shared that she "filed what I needed to file and now I basically have to wait." She said she still had "no contact from anyone including my child and I have no idea the location of this cabin." Paulun has not provided any further updates.

Paulun appeared in a 2009 episode of MTV's 16 and Pregnant that documented her pregnancy and the birth of her first child, son Lyle Thomas Drummonds, whom she shares with her then-boyfriend, Joshua Drummonds. She welcomed Ellie in 2015. She is also a mom to her 5-month-old son Bodhi John, whom she gave birth to in July.

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