Ruby Franke, Elleshia Seymour, and the Utah Fathers Who Say They Didn't See It Coming

Ruby Franke's twelve-year-old son escaped through a window with duct tape on his wrists. Elleshia Seymour's eight-year-old told a stranger in Croatia to Google his name. Two Utah kids. Two different families. Both figured out how to rescue themselves.

Their fathers? Kevin Franke hadn't seen his children in over a year. He told police his only job was paying bills. Kendall Seymour was in Utah while his kids sat in a Croatian orphanage after his ex-wife allegedly fled the country on TikTok doomsday prophecies.

Both women were raised LDS. Both became apocalyptic extremists. Both fathers...