American religious leader, Warren Jeffs is renowned for having several marital relationships. Additionally, he is the prophet of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLD Church).
About 80 women were married to Jeffs before his arrest and incarceration in 2011, including Margaret Thomas, Marianne Jessop, and Alyshia Rae. Some still stand by him, while others have remarried and vanished without a trace.
Meanwhile, Jeffs lived at the Yearning for Zion Ranch outside of Eldorado, Texas, where a 2008 raid resulted in his arrest and the detention of numerous members of his flock on charges of bigamy and child sex assault. Since 2011, he has remained behind bars.
All You Should Know About Warren Jeffs’ Wives
The total number of spouses that Warren Jeffs had is 78, according to numerous sources. Furthermore, reports indicate that 29 of these spouses were previously married to Rulon Jeffs, his father. In addition, 56 of his marriages were sisters, including two young women aged 12 and 15, who Jeffs claimed to be his spiritual wives.
Meanwhile, Warren Steed Jeffs was born on December 3, 1955, to his parents Rulon Jeffs and Merilyn Steed. His Father, Rulon Jeffs became the President of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS Church) but died in 2002. Despite the similar name, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS Church) is different from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS).
Jeffs, 68, served as the church leader’s advisor before his father passed away. As Rulon’s successor, Jeffs was given the formal titles of “President and Prophet, Seer and Revelator” and “President of the Priesthood” in the FLDS Church.
After his father passed away, Jeffs said to the top FLDS authorities that he would not say much but “hands off my father’s wives.” Furthermore, he told the widows of his father that they would live as if his father were still alive and in the next room. However, except for two of his father’s wives, who refused to marry Jeffs and were thereby barred from ever being married again, Jeffs married all of his father’s wives within a week.
Meanwhile, Jeffs acquired himself many more wives over the years because in his opinion, a man needed many wives in order to become a deity. Many of his young spouses were coerced into union with him and he was well-known for his domineering and violent behavior against his wives and other FLDS church members.
In a 2011 court case, Jeffs was accused of fathering a child with a 15-year-old girl, and pictures of him cuddling and kissing a 12-year-old were submitted.
Warren Jeffs was later sentenced to life in prison plus 20 years after being found guilty on two felony charges of child sexual assault. He is currently incarcerated at the Louis C. Powledge Unit in Palestine, Texas, where he is completing his sentence. The FLDS Church, of which Jeffs was a notorious leader, continues to operate despite his imprisonment since 2011. According to sources, his church has an estimated 10,000 members.
Meanwhile, there is little information concerning the whereabouts and experiences of Warren Jeffs’ wives because the FLDS Church is a very secretive organization. However, here is what we know about a couple of his wives, who are known to the public.
1. Barbara Jeffs
The second wife of Jeffs is identified as Barbara. Despite the fact that she was out of the spotlight, her daughter Rachel subsequently told her story. Barbara died of cancer in 2004 and Rachel said Warren denied her the chance to see her mother’s body and forbade her kids from going to the funeral home to see the coffin.
Barbara was buried in the Texas ranch Yearning For Zion. Her body was dug up, nevertheless, when the state made the decision to sell the property. Barbara Barlow is now interred in Arizona next to her father, Isaac Barlow after Rachel paid the costs to move Barbara’s body there.
2. Shannon Maria Johnson
Warren’s seventh wife was Shannon and she married the so-called preacher when she was only 12 years old.
3. Vicki Thompson
Vicki Thompson was Warren Jeffs’ ninth wife. However, she was separated from her kids, Wendell and Sarah when things between her and Jeffs went south. However, after relocating to the Yearning for Zion Ranch, they were eventually reunited. Finally, Vicki and her children moved to New Harmony, Utah, away from the church.
She is currently married to policeman Aaron Thompson, and the two of them have a child. In addition, Vicki is said to have earned a nursing degree from an unidentified university in Utah.
4. Naomie Jessop
Warren considered Naomi to be more than just his wife because of her extensive knowledge of the FLDS Church. Jessop was born in a polygamous family of six wives and had 53 siblings. Her parents were Barbara Jessop and Merril Jessop. Naomie aspired to be a nurse when she was younger, but her father had arranged for her to marry Rulon Jeffs.
5. Josephine Jessop
Warren had a wife named Josephine. Josephine, Naomi, and Della were ejected from the church following the arrest of the spiritual leader. Della Black, Josephine Jessop, and Naomi Johnson Jessop tragically perished in flash floods, according to NBC News. They passed away in two different vans with their nine children.
6. Alyshia Rae, Nolita Collen, and Millie Blackmore
Three sisters from the polygamous Blackmore family in Canada, Alyshia, and Nolita-were purportedly wed off to Warren Jeffs at the ages of 12 and 13. The three sisters are thought to still be devoted to Jeffs despite their whereabouts being unknown.
7. Lynette Warner
After eight years of brutality and mistreatment at the hands of Warren Jeffs and his followers, Lynette, who had married Warren Jeffs as his 65th wife when she was 18 years old, and Briell were able to escape the property by scaling a window and escaping to safety barefoot. In Tennessee, Lynette later changed her name to Brielle Decker. She was adopted and officially changed her social security number.
Since then, Brielle has bought the former FLDS home in Colorado City, Arizona, and turned it into The Short Creek Dream Center, a haven for FLDS-exiled women, kids, and victims of sex trafficking. According to a mission statement on her website, Briell’s goal is to offer a safe refuge for people in need who have been harmed by FLDS Church activities.
8. Mildred Blackmore
Mildred Blackmore, famously known as Millie, married Warren in 2004 when she was 13 years old. She married the Jeffs alongside her two sisters, Alyshia Rae and Nolita Collen Blackmore.
9. Sheena Roundy
Sheena was one of Warren’s numerous wives as well. She was denied access to the hospital, which caused her cancer to spread quickly and cause her death.
10. Marianne Jessop
Marianne was born to Barbara and Merril Jessop on July 3, 1994. According to reports, she married the sect leader when she was only twelve years old and she is Jeffs’s youngest wife.
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Meet the Children of Warren Jeffs, Whose Revelations have Exposed the Evil and Abusive Activities of the FLDS Church.
From his several spouses, Warren Jeffs fathered at least 60 children. It is believed that he had roughly 60 offspring, though the precise number is difficult to ascertain considering the numerous women and kids he had.
Some of Jeffs’s children have boldly come out about the cruelty and isolation they endured while growing up in the FLDS religion, despite leading quiet lives. Meet some of them
- Roy and Becky Jeffs
One of Warren Jeffs’ sons, Roy Jeffs, quit the religion in 2016 and spoke with CNN about his reasons for doing so. He spoke about how his father kept him apart from others and stopped him from interacting with people.
Of Warren’s children, Roy was the first to abandon the FLDS. Sadly, in 2019, Roy committed suicide, which his sister Rachel announced in a Facebook post. Meanwhile, Becky, Roy’s older half-sister who has left the church, also alleges Warren Jeffs sexually molested her.
- Raymond Jeffs
Raymond Jeffs, another one of Warren Jeff’s kids who left the FLDS, also claims he does not regret his choice. In an interview from 2018, he said it was like “entering a whole new world.”
- Rachel Jeffs
Another of Warren’s children, Rachel Jeffs, maintains a blog and wrote a book on life in the FLDS. Rachel admitted that her father began to sexually abuse her when she was around eight years old.
- Naomi Jeffs
Another of his children, Naomie Jeffs, hasn’t talked to him since she was 11 years old and doesn’t want to. Her attempt to distance herself from her former FLDS life involves changing her identity.
- Wendell
Another of Jeffs’s sons, Wendell, adopted the last name Jeffson and left the church with his mother Vicki, sister Sarah, and other family members.
Although Many of Jeffs’ children are still inside the church, unable to break the cycle of abuse and control, a few have managed to leave and speak out against the torture they endured. Numerous criminal allegations against the FLDS church have been made, including those of child abuse, forced marriages, and other forms of exploitation.
However, The harsh and terrible activities of the FLDS church, which have long been under scrutiny and investigation, have been brought to light, ultimately leading to Warren’s incarceration and prison sentence.
