Amber Alert canceled in search for missing girls and man after raid at religious compound

IRON COUNTY, Utah -- (KSTU) -- An Amber Alert has been cancelled for two missing Utah girls from Spring City.

According to Del Schlosser of the Iron County Sheriff's Office, 34-year-old Samuel Warren Shaffer was arrested, and the two girls were found safe.

Authorities searched Monday for for Shaffer who was believed to have 4-year-old Hattie Briella Coltharp and 8-year-old Dinah Elizabeth Coltharp with him.

The Amber Alert was issued after the girls' father, John Coltharp, was arrested when authorities raided what is believed to be a religious compound.

The girls' mother, Micha Coltharp, said she has not seen her children since Sept. 10 when she said her ex-husband, John, took them.

She told Fox 13 she believes her ex-husband joined Shaffer in a religious sect called the "Knights of the Crystal Blade."

"They are with a man that calls himself Samuel 'The Seer,'" Micha said. "His name is Samuel Warren Shaffer and he believes he holds the keys of this dispensation and he has been many people throughout the history of time and that he has been reincarnated. They are following his prophecies and I believe he is with them and helping hide the children."