'Doomsday' siblings return to Arizona; woman accused of taking Blaze Thibaudeau to Canada for religious reason
PHOENIX - Two siblings are accused of taking their 16-year-old family member out of Arizona against his will are now in Maricopa County jails. Court documents say a doomsday belief system was the motive for Spring Thibaudeau and her brother, Brook Hale.
The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office finished extraditing the pair from Alaska to Arizona on December 15.
Spring Thibaudeau is housed in the same jail and on the same floor as Lori Vallow, who is charged with murder conspiracy.
As you may remember, family court documents filed by Thibaudeau's husband in October to get sole custody of their son, Blaze, mentioned Lori Vallow-Chad Daybell cases and their eerie similarities.
Thibaudeau and her brother, Brook Hale, are accused of custodial interference charges.
Prosecutors say the brother and sister hatched a plan to take Thibaudeau's 16-year-old son Blaze from his home in Gilbert to another country against his will.
"He carefully crafted this plan where he fled with this child across the border to Canada. They had passports, they turned off their cell phones, withdrew large sums of money, and had provisions to hide this young man,"
Court documents filed by Blaze's father in October say Thibaudeau and Hale believe they are chosen messengers of the "last days" and that Blaze is a "Davidic messenger" of scripture in prophecy, while his mother is a "prophetess."
Documents also reference convicted murderer and so-called "Doomsday Mom" Lori Vallow as a warning.
"How do you have two women from the same area of Arizona, thinking about these same things and kind of acting in the same ways?"
Leah Sottile is a journalist who wrote the book, When the Moon Turns to Blood, which focuses on the Vallow-Daybell saga and religious extremism.
"There's a lot of the same ideas about being the leaders of, you know, the chosen ones at the end of the world. That there is an imminent apocalypse coming and that also these children have some sort of place in that."
Blaze Thibaudeau: Missing AZ teen found; docs state he was linked to family of 'chosen' doomsday messengers
Gilbert Police officials say a teen once believed to have been taken out of state by his mother has been found.
On October 27, U.S. Customs and Border Protection found Blaze safe at the Alcan Port of Entry along Alaska's border with Canada, where authorities arrested Thibaudeau and Hale.
Melissa Benson, a senior associate with Davis Miles McGuire Gardner, focuses on family law and is not on this case.
The charges against the defendants are felonies, but Benson says a first-time offender of custodial interference is probation eligible.
"Having doomsday beliefs doesn't necessarily make it a felony. It's the fact that they left the state with him. That's what really bumps it up."
FOX 10 reached out to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for comment and have not heard back.
"I think that there is a serious reckoning that needs to happen in the LDS church about who they are and who they aren't," said Sottile.
The judge signed off on $500,000 cash bonds for both Thibaudeau and Hale. Court documents say they fled the country "into the mountains." It's unknown if religion determined their destination at the time.