Kimberly Dell Davidson-Drolet has been arrested and charged in her daughter’s kidnapping to a religious cult in Missouri (Pictures: Buchanan County Sheriff’s Office)
A mother allegedly kidnapped her 4-year-old daughter with the help of her sons and sister and hid the child in a religious cult compound.
The girl, now 5 years old, was missing for more than a year after her mom, Kimberly Dell Davidson-Drolet, 53, used burner flip phones and lied to evade capture, according to the US Attorney’s Office, District of Utah last week.
Davidson-Drolet was in a divorce custody battle with her husband, Laurence Drolet, when she abducted her non-custodial daughter and took her from Utah to Springfield, Missouri, state court documents.
Assisting Davidson-Drolet in the kidnapping were her sons Jaxson Davidson, 30, and Dallas Davison, 23, and her sister Kristine Merrill, 53, according to the documents.
Davidson-Drolet had spent 14 months planning the abduction and sold her vehicle for $13,000 and deposited the money in her bank account, states a federal indictment. She withdrew $16,000 and transferred the rest of her balance to Merrill.
On January 23, 2023, Davidson-Drolet allegedly packed her bags and put them into Jaxson’s truck and drove to Missouri along with her daughter, while leaving her cell phone at her Utah home.
More than a year later, Davidson-Drolet’s daughter was found at ‘a compound run by a religious cult leader Paul Dean who is the founder of an FLDS religious type cult’, states a complaint against the mother.
It references the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Dean is a white and Christian and founded two Native American churches in Missouri. He said in a 2017 podcast that he believes bitcoin will stop the federal government from ‘robbing us, stealing our value from us… through inflation’, Law & Crime reported.
Davidson-Drolet ‘was observed with the child who was located at a religious compound led by a religious cult leader, who is also related to’ her, according to the US attorney’s office.
An arrest warrant for the mother and she was arrested on December 20.
In addition to using burner phones, Davidson-Drolet allegedly mailed letters home to her other kids through her sister.
Kimberly Dell Davidson-Drolet has been charged with kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping (Picture: Buchanan County Sheriff’s Office)
Her daughter was identified as Gracyn Andersen Drolet by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
‘Daddy misses you and loves you so much. Big hugs are waiting for you,’ said Laurence through the center in April.
The center wrote on X (formerly Twitter) at the time that ‘Laurence refuses to give up hope and continues to search for his daughter’.
Davidson-Drolet, both her adult sons, and her sister have been charged with kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping.
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