Featured Image Credit: YouTube/Explore With Us
Police in Utah captured on bodycam footage the moment officers discovered two abducted girls concealed in barrels.
Found in a secluded section of the Utah desert, the two young girls, previously reported missing by the ex-wife of John Alvin Coltharp—a member of the cult group known as The Knights of the Crystal Blade—were located.
John Alvin Coltharp’s wife reported the children missing. Credit: KSTU
Described by his sister as a ‘doomsday prepper,’ Coltharp’s wife informed authorities that he had absconded with all four of their children following the loss of custody in divorce proceedings.
In December 2017, law enforcement issued an Amber Alert for the children and successfully pinpointed their whereabouts to the isolated region of Lund, approximately 275 miles south of Salt Lake City.
Video footage posted on the YouTube page Explore With Us captures the moment police sighted one of the girls while approaching two blue barrels situated in the middle of the freezing desert.
Discovered barefoot and clad in scant clothing, the two girls were found inside empty 50-gallon water drums, where it is presumed they had stayed for several hours.
The children were left in freezing temperatures. Credit: YouTube/Explore With Us
During the encounter, one of the children communicated with the officers and disclosed that additional girls were concealed in a red storage container.
Authorities successfully located the other two children, hidden in a single-wide trailer, after having tracked down Coltharp’s two sons earlier on the same day.
Upon their discovery, all four girls were transported to the hospital for medical treatment, with one of them airlifted to Primary Children’s Hospital owing to her more critical condition.
During the investigation, Shaffer confessed to law enforcement that he had been attempting to conceal the presence of the girls when they were discovered inside the barrels.
Coltharp and Shaffer were both apprehended and faced charges for their mistreatment of the children.
Initially, Shaffer received a sentence of 25 years to life in prison for committing first-degree felony rape of a child and one second-degree felony count of child abuse.
Subsequently, he pleaded guilty to felony sodomy on a child, leading to a sentence of 15 years to life in prison. This sentence ran concurrently with his previous one.
Coltharp pleaded guilty to to sodomy and child bigamy charges, and received a sentence of at least 25 years in prison.
If you’ve experienced any of these challenges and wish to discuss the well-being of a child confidentially, reach out to the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1.800.422.4453. Trained crisis counselors are accessible around the clock, seven days a week, and can assist in over 170 languages.
Every call is handled confidentially. The hotline provides crisis intervention, information, and referrals to numerous emergency, social service, and support resources.
