Lawyer Argues Escaped Client Was Raptured

Lyle Jeffs, brother of the imprisoned prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, disappeared June 18, leaving just an oily ankle monitor behind. Jeff “is currently not available,” his attorney, Utah federal defender Kathy Nester, wrote in a filing, “Whether his absence is based on absconding, as oft alleged by the government in their filings, or whether he was taken and secreted against his will, or whether he experienced the miracle of rapture is unknown to counsel.” The FBI suspects that Jeffs, who is wanted for a $12 million food stamp fraud scheme, used olive oil to slip his ankle monitor. The agency suspects Jeffs’ brother, Warren Jeffs, ordered him out of town following a fracture in leadership. The FBI has offered $50,000 for information leading to Lyle Jeffs’ capture.