I'm just here to clear up some of the confusion about the religious beliefs. I'm a lifelong Mormon and I live in Utah, although I stopped believing and practicing several years ago. My Mormon "credentials" include serving as a full-time church missionary for two-years, serving in various callings in the church, and getting married in the temple (which I will talk about below).
Idk about this particular “group” if there is such a group or just a few individuals who may follow Chad’s beliefs. However; there are several fundamentalist groups in northern Arizona and I think (not sure) South Utah.
JMO but I see this more as a select very few who may follow Chad’s beliefs and not convinced they would have many places to hide. After all, we still have not been given any vehicle descriptions.
The fundamentalist groups you mention here are polygamist sects like the FLDS. It seems unlikely that Chad and Lori were part of such a group (why kill your wife when you can marry more than one?).
Likewise, these are FLDS groups and probably not related.
Thank you! I know how much LDS hates being linked to FLDS, but wasn’t sure if they were similar to the FLDS. My husband was raised LDS in Provo (Mormon capital) and his family practices (he does not).
Mainstream LDS (or members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, headquartered in Salt Lake City - I'll call them MLDS hereafter for brevity) do not like being linked to the FLDS or other polygamist groups, but it is unavoidable as they all trace their roots back to Brigham Young and Joseph Smith who introduced and advanced the practice of polygamy in Mormonism.
Per that DM timeline, does that mean the children weren’t present at Chad and Lori’s wedding? Is that typical for their religion? Did they have a courthouse wedding or a ceremony, do we know? (I haven’t checked to see any corrections they’ve made overnight yet so I may be wrong...)
ETA: were any of Chad and Tammy’s children present for Lori and Chad’s wedding either?
Mormon weddings are complicated. MLDS temple weddings can only be attended by adults who are "worthy" to enter the temple. Chad's children are adults, and presumably could have attended a temple wedding. That said, there is some speculation that Chad had been excommunicated from the MLDS church and therefore would not have been worthy to be married in the temple. Also, temple divorces can take quite a while to complete - several months or longer. I am not sure the circumstances of Lori's marriage to Charles, but assuming they had a temple wedding, she would have had to have it annulled. Chad, on the other hand would not have needed to annul his marriage to Tammy, as in Mormon theology men are able to marry more than one wife (MLDS does not currently practice polygamy in an active sense, but allows it passively especially with widowers).
A Mormon friend once explained to me that Mormons have an annulment process. She completed it following her divorce to enable her to be re-married in a Mormon temple and described the process as taking up to a year and requiring a considerable amount of personal participation.
Though she did not say anything about annulments after two divorces, an annulment declares that a valid marriage did not exist. Therefore, multiple annulments are possible- well, at least in theory.
This is accurate and consistent with my comment above.
It is probably different in this radical sect that they are a part of but in the LDS church, divorce is highly frowned upon, and marriages take place in the temple - and only active members of a certain age etc. are allowed to be there. They generally hold a reception afterwards. The husband and wife are "sealed" in the temple in a secret ceremony of some sort (I'm not Mormom so I've never been allowed to see one). This sealing ensures that your spouse and children are connected to you for lack of a better word and that 'families are forever' (a popular phrase in the LDS church) which means that when you die, you and your family will essentially have your own planet in the celestial kingdom. Read more here:
Mormon temple sealing
This is also accurate. It seems to me that Chad and Lori essentially eloped and did not have a traditional Mormon wedding. It's also possible that their wedding was held in a private setting that only members of their "cult" were able to attend. Some of these new Mormon movements, like the Remnant, have taken to conducting meetings and ceremonies in their own homes and other spaces rather than in MLDS chapels or temples.
