Lorraine Jessop — Missing Children
Active Legal Proceedings · FLDS · Three Children Missing Since February 4, 2023
Lorraine Jessop left the FLDS Church in 2020 and, after a difficult legal process, obtained sole custody of her three youngest children: Nathan, Summer, and Benjamin. On February 4, 2023, she checked on them at midnight and found her daughter awake. By 5 a.m., all three were gone. The front door was left open in the cold.
What the Case Involves
“They just went missing in the middle of the night,” she told FOX 13 News. Lorraine believes the children were given prepaid phones and instructions by FLDS members acting on Warren Jeffs’ prison revelations. She has sole legal custody. The children’s father is deceased. When she reported the disappearance, the responding officer told her that if the children were with FLDS people, “he felt like they were safe.”
“I am their only legal guardian. I have sole custody. Their father is deceased. When will this be treated as what it is?”
— Lorraine Jessop, Cedar City press conference, April 2023
Attorney Roger Hoole has represented Lorraine in her legal efforts. “These minor children don’t just run away,” Hoole said publicly. “Somebody’s helping them.” He has called on law enforcement to treat these cases as child trafficking and kidnapping. The Utah Attorney General’s office has confirmed monitoring of the situation, and Beaver County initiated a formal investigation. See: KSL NewsRadio
Sources
- Salt Lake Tribune: Ex-FLDS moms say their kids have gone missing since Warren Jeffs’ latest revelation from prison
- ABC News / Nightline: Former FLDS members fear their children’s disappearance is part of Warren Jeffs’ prophecy
- KSL NewsRadio: Parents call for help to find missing children linked to FLDS
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