Joe Yates
Three children have been returned safely home to their mom in Utah after disappearing in 2022, police have said.
The children were first reported missing back in October 2022, with their last known location being Beaver County, Utah.
However, Fredonia Police Department Chief Jason Peterson received a tip off of their whereabouts in August 2024.
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Authorities suspect that their dad 'orchestrated the disappearance and subsequent hiding' after they were found in Fredonia - less than five miles from the Arizona border, according to a press release from Fredonia police, as per ABC 4 Utah.
Fredonia is located just over 30 miles from Colorado City where self-proclaimed FLDS prophet Samuel Bateman previously lived, according to WYMT.
The police's press release also says that the father had supposedly received help from family members from the Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saint (FLDS) Church.
According to ABC 4, police in Utah and Arizona conducted a multi-agency investigation to retrieve the three children, with the press release stating that 'Coconino County Sheriff's Office, Kanab City Police Department, Kane County Seriff's Office, Kane County SWAT, Washington County Sheriff's Office, Homeland Security Investigation, and volunteers from the children's family' were all involved in the plan.
On September 1, the children were successfully returned to their mother.
The statement continues: "On September 1, 2024, officers from the above agencies retrieved the three minors, returned them to their mother, and apprehended the children's grandmother and aunt who appeared to be overseeing the children.
“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.”
However, according to Newsweek, they are still searching for the children's father.
Fredonia police officer, Andrew Smith, told KSTU that the operation was 'very short, very quick'.
"So, that's just how that works. It's not necessarily the FLDS group, but anybody gets wind that there's more than just the normal force in town, especially in a small town like this, things start to move." he said.
"It feels good to be able to actually get them and get them back to the parent that they belong to. That's why we're out here."
The statement also added that due to the 'sensitive nature' of the current investigation into the children's disappearance, 'certain information is, and will continue to be, withheld to protect the innocent'.