Latter-day Saint Teen Abducted for Doomsday Fears Found Safe

Update; Blaze Thibaudeau was found safe in Alaska late Friday night when he was recognized by US Customs and Border Protection agents. Spring and Brook have been arrested and charged with felony conspiracy to commit custodial interference and felony custodial interference.

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Blaze Thibaudeau, a 16-year-old from Arizona, has allegedly been abducted by his mother and uncle, East Idaho News reports. 

Blaze’s father Ben, and his brother-in-law, Braydon Snarr, have slowly watched as their family members have become more and more fascinated with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and doomsday teachings from fringe Latter-day Saint authors. 

Ben and Brayden claim these family members have taken Blaze in order to avoid events related to the end of the world. These family members are Spring Thibaudeau, Blaze’s mother, Brook Hale, Spring’s brother and Blaze’s uncle, and Abi Snarr, Blaze’s sister and Braydon’s wife. 

“My wife, Abi, and their uncle, all believe in this rapture and this doomsday scenario that’s about the happen according to the the beliefs they have,” Ben told Nate Eaton in a video interview. “They three made the decision that now was the time to go gather and Blaze’s role in all of this, they believe he is something called a Davidic servant, so they feel like they need to protect him and they needed to take him to this undisclosed location where he would receive his calling and understand his role in the Second Coming and the Savior’s return to the earth.” 

According to Ben, a Davidic servant is one who will play a significant role in the Second Coming. FairLatterDaySaints.org writes, “Some Old Testament scriptures tell about a latter-day ‘Davidic King,’ ‘Davidic Servant,’ or ‘Marred Servant.’ Mainstream scholarship and consensus teaching from LDS Church leaders is that this refers to Jesus Christ, when He rules the earth after His Second Coming. But some apostates and dissident scholars have claimed the ‘Servant’ will be a mortal man whose identity won’t be known ahead of time.”

Another apostate Latter-day Saint, Chad Daybell, claimed to be the Davidic servant. 

In another connection to the infamous Daybell case, Ben claims Spring began to follow Julie Rowe, a friend and author of Chad Daybell who claims to be a prophetess of sorts. 

“[Spring] was asked to be a scribe for some of these revelations Julie Rowe was receiving,” Ben told Eaton as he described his wife’s journey into extremism in 2015. 

Concerned, Ben and Spring visited their bishop to talk about it. The bishop told her she needed to stop if she wanted the marriage to survive. Spring stopped following Rowe, but continued to be fascinated with the end of days. 

About two and a half years ago, Spring began to involve Abi in her beliefs and the two began claiming to have revelatory dreams. Brook Hale, Spring’s brother, became involved and “took with it and run with it.” 

On October 23, Braydon Snarr, Abi’s husband, received a call from her that said he needed to come home from work and take her to the hospital. When he arrived, Abi was frantically packing. 

Abi told Braydon they need to go to Boise, where Brooke would pick them up. She refused to say where the group would travel afterwards. 

“I love her. She’s the love of my life. And she comes in and says, ‘It’s time to go, and I’m not coming back.’ It’s one of those experiences where part of you is like, ‘I can’t let you go. I have to go with you even if it makes no logical sense’ because that’s the one you love. She’s everything that I have,” Braydon told Eaton. “But deep down inside of me, I knew that this couldn’t be. The world is going to continue to keep spinning. I told her I just can’t do it. I can’t do it.”

Abi called Brook had him try to convince Braydon to come with them.

“He was basically telling me that I will receive a witness after the trial of my faith and to trust God — that I’m a part of this with them, and it’s supposed to be the five of us,” Braydon said. 

Upset, Braydon went to his car to clear his mind. At that time, Spring and Blaze arrived to pick Abi up. According to Braydon, he was told Blaze was coerced into coming by the promise of an early birthday trip. Which family member told him this information is unclear. 

Abi texted Braydon after they left telling him she loved him and that “we will be back in a few years. And if you’re still around, I’ll come find you.” 

Other evidence, including a “last will and testament” left behind by Brooke has concerned the family and the police are now involved, listing Blaze as a missing juvenile, who was in the temporary custody of his father. 

Ben said, “There was a petition filed for a dissolution [of marriage] last week between her and I. She’s been wanting to divorce me, but she did not want to be the one to file because it’s public record in Arizona.”

In a statement, the Gilbert Police Department said:

The Gilbert Police Department is actively pursuing all leads that can assist us in safely locating 16-year-old Blaze Thibaudeau. On Wednesday, October 25, 2023, the Gilbert Police Department received a report of alleged custodial interference involving Blaze who is believed to have been taken out of Arizona by his mother, Spring Thibaudeau. Due to concerns expressed by the teen’s family regarding his welfare, we are requesting that anyone with information regarding his whereabouts call the Gilbert Police Department at 480-503-6500.