GILBERT, Ariz. — The man accused of taking his teen relative from Arizona out of the country while guided by "doomsday" delusions was booked into the Maricopa County jail overnight Thursday. His sister, was also extradited to Arizona.
The incident happened in October 2023. At the time, there was a high level of concern from investigators, who feared the child was in danger.
The teen from Gilbert was ultimately found safe, but now two of his adult relatives are facing charges for custodial interference.
Brook Hale and his sister Spring Thibaudeau were extradited to Maricopa County from Fairbanks, Alaska this week.
Hale and Thibaudeau were arrested in October after trying to cross the Alaskan border with a teen relative. The teen was reported missing to Gilbert police the same week and investigators believe the family was in Idaho before going into Canada and ultimately toward Alaska.
Court documents accuse Hale and Thibaudeau of having extreme doomsday beliefs and that they were trying to hide the teen, believing he was the “Davidic herald of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.”
"This was a calculated effort by Mr. Hale and his sister to essentially kidnap a 16-year-old boy because of beliefs they had about him," a prosecutor said during Hale's initial appearance in court.
Hale appeared before a judge overnight Thursday for one count of custodial interference and one count of conspiracy to commit custodial interference.
The prosecutor asked the judge to keep the bail at $500,000.
"We believe that this man poses a great flight risk and also poses a danger to the victim and also to the community," the prosecutor said.
But a victim’s representative asked the judge for leniency and Hale’s attorney said Hale had never been in trouble with the law before.
"This incident was the result of what I believe to be a very complex family history and family dynamic that does not involve the threat of harm to anybody – especially not the community or the public," Hale's attorney said in court.
At the end of the hearing, the judge chose to keep Hale’s bail at half a million dollars.
Spring Thibaudeau is facing the same charges and was booked into Maricopa County Jail on Friday, a day after her brother. MCSO said that under the extradition orders, they couldn’t bring the two suspects together because they’re co-defendants in this case.
In a phone conversation Thursday afternoon, Hale's attorney said his suspect maintains his innocence and that they would fight this case to the end.
Hale is due back in court next week.