Two young girls are saved in dramatic rescue after their 'Mormon fundamentalist' father who 'started polygamist cult hid them away so that he could marry them off'

  • Utah authorities raided a compound of a polygamist sect in search of four missing children, finding two boys and their two sisters 
  • An Amber Alert was canceled Monday evening for 8-year-old Dinah and 4-year-old Hattie Coltharp 
  • The girls were found with a religious leader and associate of their father, 34-year-old Samuel Warren Shaffer 
  • Their brothers, William and Seth, ages 7 and 6 respectively, were found safe and sound earlier on Monday 
  • Their father, John Coltharp, 33, was arrested last week on suspicion of kidnapping and has refused to disclose the children's location 
  • After his arrest, Coltharp refused to reveal his children's location - even after prosecutors offered to release him from jail if he told them where they were
  • Cindi Ray, Coltharp's sister, said that her brother holds fundamentalist Mormon beliefs, including support for polygamy 
  • Ray was concerned that Dinah and Hattie were being hidden by their father so that he could prepare them for marriage at an early age 

By Ariel Zilber For Dailymail.com and Associated Press

Published: 18:51 EST, 4 December 2017 | Updated: 09:43 EST, 5 December 2017

Utah authorities raided a compound of a polygamist sect in search of four missing children, finding two boys and their sisters.

An Amber Alert was canceled Monday evening for 8-year-old Dinah and 4-year-old Hattie Coltharp.  

The girls were found with a religious leader and associate of their father, 34-year-old Samuel Warren Shaffer.

Their brothers, William and Seth, ages 7 and 6 respectively, were found safe and sound earlier on Monday. 

Their father, John Coltharp, 33, was arrested last week on suspicion of kidnapping and had refused to disclose the children's location.

Spring City Police Chief Clarke Christensen says the kids, their father and paternal grandparents disappeared in mid-September.

An Amber Alert was canceled Monday evening for 8-year-old Dinah (above) and 4-year-old Hattie Coltharp
An Amber Alert was canceled Monday evening for 8-year-old Dinah and 4-year-old Hattie Coltharp (above), who were found after Utah authorities raided a compound of a polygamist sect

An Amber Alert was canceled Monday evening for 8-year-old Dinah (left) and 4-year-old Hattie Coltharp (right), who were found after Utah authorities raided a compound of a polygamist sect

Their brothers, William and Seth, ages 7 and 6 respectively, were found safe and sound earlier on Monday. All four children are seen in the above photo

Their brothers, William and Seth, ages 7 and 6 respectively, were found safe and sound earlier on Monday. All four children are seen in the above photo

John Coltharp is in jail. 

After his arrest, Coltharp refused to reveal his children's location - even after prosecutors offered to release him from jail if he told them where they were.

He is being held on a $100,000 cash bond, Christensen said.

Records do not list an attorney who could comment on his behalf.

The Amber Alert was canceled Monday evening after Shaffer was found in Lund, Utah, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. 

Shaffer was in the custody of the Iron County Sheriff's Office, though it was not known if he was charged with a crime. 

Cindi Ray, Coltharp's sister, said that her brother holds fundamentalist Mormon beliefs, including support for polygamy.

Their father, John Coltharp (above), 33, was arrested last week on suspicion of kidnapping and had refused to disclose the children's location

Their father, John Coltharp (above), 33, was arrested last week on suspicion of kidnapping and had refused to disclose the children's location

Polygamy and bigamy are illegal in the United States, although Utah, a state that is home to a large Mormon community, does not prosecute polygamists who are law-abiding. 

Coltharp and Shaffer started a movement called Knights of the Crystal Blade.

Ray was concerned that Dinah and Hattie were being hidden by their father so that he could prepare them for marriage at an early age.

The girls were found with a religious leader and associate of their father, 34-year-old Samuel Warren Shaffer

The girls were found with a religious leader and associate of their father, 34-year-old Samuel Warren Shaffer

She said that her brother has 'said to all of [his] siblings in the past that girls are meant to get married at the age of 12 - their bodies are ready.'

Ray's husband, Greg Ray, 30, told The Denver Post that his brother-in-law has said he would rather put a bullet in his daughters' head then allow the government to take them away. 

Coltharp’s ex-wife, Micha Soble, 28, of Springville, Utah, said her husband is a 'doomsday prepper' - a popular term for someone who is preparing for apocalyptic scenarios.

In divorce papers, she said he distrusted modern medicine to the point that he didn't allow her to use pain medication during childbirth.

Soble also said that Coltharp carried a pistol and that he has 'threatened to send any DCFS [Division of Child and Family Services] worker or police officer to the next life if they try to take the children from him.' 

Shaffer, meanwhile, has been referred to as the 'prophet' of the Knights of the Crystal Blade.

Also known as Fredrick Shaffer, he has written essays and done videos promoting extremist Mormon beliefs.

Despite Coltharp's unorthodox views, the judge in Soble's divorce case denied her request for a temporary restraining order that would have given her custody of all four of their children.

Coltharp’s ex-wife, Micha Soble (above), 28, of Springville, Utah, said her husband is a 'doomsday prepper' - a popular term for someone who is preparing for apocalyptic scenarios

Coltharp’s ex-wife, Micha Soble (above), 28, of Springville, Utah, said her husband is a 'doomsday prepper' - a popular term for someone who is preparing for apocalyptic scenarios

The judge who presided over the case, Derek Pullan, said that Coltharp's religious beliefs were not extreme enough to represent an immediate threat to the safety of the children.

On November 27, as the divorce proceedings wound down, Pullan eventually did grant Soble custody of the kids, but Coltharp failed to turn the children over to his ex-wife. 

Samuel Shaffer's brother, Benjamin Shaffer, denied on Monday that the children were ever in danger.

He said he believed his brother was simply looking out for Dinah and Hattie as a favor to a friend. 

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