PHOENIX — When a Gilbert father alerted police last week about his missing son and wife, comparisons surfaced of another East Valley family’s plight.
“Mother started forming beliefs in end-of-the-world scenarios, eerily similar to the well-publicized Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell saga… which culminated in murdered children,” wrote attorney Mark Shields in an emergency motion for sole custody on behalf of the teen’s father, Ben Thibaudeau.
The teen was found safe Friday night near the Canada-Alaska border and the FBI arrested the teen’s mother, Spring Thibaudeau, and her brother, Brook Hale, for custodial interference.
A researcher of religious extremism said the two cases reflect a pernicious “doomsday” movement among some members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, commonly referred to as the LDS or Mormon Church. Some followers adhere to extreme teachings not officially endorsed by the Salt Lake City-based church.
“In Idaho, Utah, Arizona, there seems to be this pipeline of conferences, authors and this culture that is very fringe but kind of masquerading as mainstream,” said Leah Sottile, author of “When the Moon Turns to Blood”, an account of the Vallow Daybell murders.
Tim Ballard movement also linked to extremism?
Sottile said fringe LDS teachings also underlie the movement by author Tim Ballard.
Ballard portrays himself as anti-sex trafficking crusader and launched a film about himself this past summer, “Sound of Freedom.” He frequently portrays his activities in stark, spiritual terms involving good versus evil and has written revisionist U.S. history books in a Mormon context.
According to Utah investigative records, Ballard told supporters he received visions from an ancient Book of Mormon prophet and considered himself a messianic figure. Ballard is now accused in lawsuits by seven women who worked with him of sexual assault and misconduct. He denies wrongdoing.
“Where he (Ballard) found footing for himself was on the very set of prepper conferences where people were getting together to talk about these ideas,” said Sottile.
Those ideas include prophecies of a "Davidic servant," visions of an apocalyptic America and Q-Anon teachings, Sottile said.
The LDS Church publicly disavowed association with Ballard in September. The church’s media office did not respond to an emailed request for comment about this story. The church instructs members to sustain the law and live peacefully.
“Dark topics really corrupted them”
According to court records, Hale wrote a letter to his family last week that referred to the family’s LDS (Mormon) theology, including beliefs in a Heavenly Mother, the ability to receive personal revelation from God, and the importance of making preparations for a “Second Coming.”
“I have been called to assist in preparing the way for his return,” Hale wrote. “The things I have learned will NOT be taught at the pulpit in church, and not in General Conference.”
Hale and Spring Thibaudeau are accused of attempting to travel to a secret location and taking the teen against his will. The pair allegedly believed the teen was supposed to personally help Jesus during an impending apocalypse.
“Getting into these dark topics has really corrupted them in a really horrible way,” the teen’s father, Ben Thibaudeau, said last week.
Sottile: Bundy standoffs a product of extremist views
Sottile also links fringe LDS teachings to the standoffs between Bundy family militia members and the feds in 2014 and 2016. The 2016 standoff in Oregon lasted 40 days. Arizona militia member Lavoy Finecum was killed by police shortly after the standoff ended and was declared a martyr by followers.
“Their standoff with the federal government was also motivated by their interpretation of LDS scripture,” Sottile said.