FREDONIA, Ariz. — Three American Fork children taken over two years ago by their father and members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints are back with their mother, thanks to the two-man police force in a small Arizona town on the border with Kanab.
Police say the disappearance of the Barlow brothers on October 29, 2022 was orchestrated by their father and members of the fundamentalist church being run by Warren Jeffs behind bars.
American Fork Police Lt. Stuart Fore confirmed the brothers were safe and with their mother, who left the FLDS church..
Police in Fredonia, Arizona - on the other side of the border from Kanab - said they received information in late August on the location of the children.
Fredonia police said they received information in late August that the children who had been missing were in the town.
In all, the discovery and return of the children all occurred within three days.
"It was very short, very quick," Fredonia police officer Andrew Smith said of the operation. "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."
Smith is part of the two-man police force. The other officer, Jason Peterson, is also the police chief.
“It feels good to be able to actually get them and get them back to the parent that they belong to,” Smith said. “That's why we're out here.”
A grandmother and aunt who were overseeing the children while they were with the FLDS group were arrested while the father remains at large.
