Police have confirmed that three children who went missing from their family home have been found alive after a years-long search.
The sibling trio vanished from their home in Beaver County, Utah, in October 2022 and sparked an extensive search that ended in a small desert community south of the Arizona-Utah border.
A late August tip-off led United States authorities to the children’s potential location. Initially, it was suspected by law enforcement that the father of the children might have “orchestrated the disappearance and subsequent hiding” of his offspring.
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The siblings were eventually located in Fredonia, Arizona, a mere stone’s throw from the Arizona-Utah border, under their grandmother’s care.
(Image: Google Maps)
Further inquiries by the Fredonia Police Department revealed a deliberate effort to shield the children from public view, with relatives playing a part in concealing their whereabouts. The childrens’ grandmother and aunt have been arrested while authorities are still seeking the father.
The children were believed to have been living within the confines of a Fundamentalist Latter-day Saint church movement.
It’s often likened to a cult due to its involvement in illegal activities such as human trafficking, child marriages, sexual assault, and child abandonment.
(Image: KTVX/KUCW)
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A statement from the Fredonia Police Department expressed gratitude for the support received during the investigation and confirmed the children’s safe return to their mother, reports the Mirror.
The statement read: “The Fredonia Police Department would like to thank all involved for their assistance. As of today, the children are safe with their mother as this investigation continues.”
The small town of Fredonia, home to 1,203 residents according to the United States census bureau, is recognized as the gateway to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, located in Arizona.
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