Kidnapped By The Mormons!

Tearful bride testifies against her parents

There have been a few of you writing me about this story of a woman, 21, kidnapped the day before her wedding by her disapproving parents. That they used scripture to justify the kidnapping should be an eyebrow raiser.

Criminal charges were filed and the parents are now standing trial for the kidnaping.

In true Mormon fashion, the kidnapped woman has married and is due in “late May”. That’s not a dis, just reportage of a stereotype coming true.

C r a z y.

  • http://mostsincerely.blogspot.com Maggie Ann

    Hmm. I wonder what, “special religious clothing” are exactly?

  • PixelFish

    Maggie Ann: They are probably referring to garments, the special Mormon underwear that one begins wearing once you’ve gone through the temple the first time. (Since this doesn’t happen until you either A) get married, or B) go on a mission or C) take out your endowments, she was probably going to get hers before she went through the temple for the first time.)

    (For the curious, the garments tend to be plain cotton, and come in one and two piece varieties.)

    More about them can be found here:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_garment

  • http://rivetergirl.blogspot.com rivetergirl

    Yeah, the parents brought the daughter here to Grand Junction so the story was all over the news here. I can only imagine the dispair of parents who would go so far as to kidnap their own daughter to prevent her from marrying. The saddest part is that the parents, if found guilty, face a still prison sentence.

  • http://rivetergirl.blogspot.com rivetergirl

    or a stiff prison sentence — which ever.

  • http://mastrippolito.net unremarkable

    At least she didn’t date a non-Mormon for two years and then break up with the guy only to get married two months later to a recently-returned Mormon missionary.

    True story! It happened to a… “friend” of mine.

  • http://www.eighthourlunch.com Eight Hour Lunch

    Hmmm…lets do the math…sounds like her second child will be due around January 2008, with number three showing up later that year in September.

  • SuperJesus

    Hey PunkBoyTM!

    Cool blog.

    I am a ghost from your past. Yes, even Andy the saxophone player from Swim. Of course, I am off topic for your entry, and this post definitely sucks. So go ahead and delete it. But I stumbled across your blog this afternoon and I would love to hear what you are up to and whatever happened to everyone else in the band. I see that your family and religious life has really changed….that makes two of us.

    Anyway, I need to get going–drop me an email if you are so inclined.

    Laters.

    –Andy.

  • http://verygeorge.com GEORGE!

    My mom is naturally one of the queens of gossip in the home ward, being there for 14+ years now… so I love it when someone gets married shotgun style and has a baby 5 months later. She always tells me not to laugh, but I really just can’t help it, I mean come on, who cares? They’ve been waiting 21 years to have some sex, cut them a break.

  • MarathonGirlJess

    Actually, if she’s due in late May, she was married by the time she got pregnant…they said in the article that she was married on August 8.

    It’s just now going to court–and therefore getting publicity.

    Maybe they were rushing to get married so they could have sex and get kid #1 out into the world…ASAP!

  • http://www.blurbomat.com Jennifer in Ohio

    I don’t get it. Isn’t it every Mormon parent’s dream to have your daughter get married in the temple as soon as they’re able? She could have (GASP) left the church and married an atheist.

  • http://www.patatomic.com patatomic

    Following Jennifer in Ohio’s logic it sounds to me like the parents are probably a couple of ex-Mo types (Born Again, Atheist or otherwise) all threatened that their child will (GASP) be Mormon.

    With a name like Lemuel, what else was the father supposed to do?

    Oh yeah, “special clothing” could also refer to temple clothing worn in the (GASP) temple.

  • http://www.blurbomat.com Jennifer in Ohio

    I hadn’t read much about this story before I read this post- so I did a little bit of digging and damn near shit myself when I happened upon this link:
    http://tinyurl.com/yhk32d

    Apparently, misery isn’t the only one to love company, insanity likes it too. I’m just stunned by the comments. I’m not mormon, nor do I know any mormons personally… Is this the mainstream thought process for the majority?

  • staceymay

    Did anyone see her when she was on The Today Show? Matt Lauer was asking her something about pressing charges and if she would drop them and the daughter looked over at her lawyer and said ‘Can I?’, meaning can she drop the charges. Any person who doesn’t know that they have the right to drop charges probably doesn’t know what’s really going on anyway. (In my opinion). I’m a card carrying Mo and I hate publicity like this. This naive (dumb really) girl just looks like the stereotypical Mormon who gets married to po out kids and doesn’t question or do anything other than what other people tell them. I have no respectt for this girl, nor do I have any sympathy for her. From people who live in Utah and actually know them, I have heard her parents aren’t all that sane. This is just a sad situation.

  • http://www.blurbomat.com blurb

    Staceymay, you are making some pretty big leaps. I wouldn’t assume she was asking her lawyer about dropping charges. I would assume she was asking her lawyer if she could talk about the case.

    What about obeying the law? Isn’t that important? Or does the church stand above those laws? Parents or not, they took her across state lines against her will.

  • staceymay

    I don’t think that I’m making any leaps. In the interview with Matt Lauer he asked her if she would drop the charges. She looked at her lawyer and said “I don’t know, can I?”. I can’t find the video for it otherwise I would post the link. She has made it clear in numerous interviews that she really doesn’t know what is going on. She has even mentioned that the State is in charge of this and has basically said she is only doing at the States’s urging.

    I don’t think what her parents did was right, but like a previous person posted, why didn’t she say anything to anyone? If they were at a gas station, I’m sure there were other patrons there that she could have said something to. Her parents are definitely not above the law, and whether they feel like what they did was for religious reasons (which I think is bogus), doesn’t change the fact that they took her against her will.

  • http://www.mytiroo.com Mytiroo

    Now that qualifies as insane. There is being against a marriage and then there is being AgAiNsT a marriage. Sounds like the fight for freedom must go on in country. . . .

  • http://www.blurbomat.com blurb

    Local news video:
    http://tinyurl.com/ybwl4j

    The allegedly kidnapped woman says that the point in all of this is to get her mother some “mental help”. She also claims that she has a sister who didn’t get married because of her mother. That may explain why she’s continuing to press charges and testify against her mother.

  • http://www.blurbomat.com Jennifer in Ohio

    I’m sure the woman had a conflict of conscience, which would explain why she didn’t ask for help at the gas station. You’re conditioned to love and protect your parents, and frankly, some parents don’t deserve protection.

    Did they take her someplace against her will? Yes. Therefore, a crime has been committed and charges should be filed. The fact that a Mormon is involved just makes it interesting fodder, it doesn’t affect anything. There are plenty of loons in every faith.

  • http://www.patatomic.com patatomic

    Yeah, I wonder if this is newsworthy because of the Mormon angle. Kinda reeks of “well, those nut job Mormons are at it again”.

    Having said that, it does present an interesting legal dilema.

  • http://www.blurbomat.com blurb

    My headline was meant to be a play on the movie of the same name.

    If this is the only way the mom can qualify for state aid or mental health benefits, then going to court, while sad, will ultimately be a good thing. Or if this is an intervention via the courts, so be it. What better wake up call?

  • http://thewaghorns.blogspot.com Leslie

    I’m not convinced the Mormon angle that many see as being prevalent in this story is the reason why it’s getting so much press. When I first read the AP story in October the headline made no reference to Mormonism and subsequent headlines — with the exception of the blogosphere — in print haven’t made reference to the church of LDS. If anything it seems to be the second or third angle taken in various stories after the criminal act and the family strife.

  • http://whitterer-autism.blogspot.com/ mcewen

    Who’ll lay odds on ‘immaculate conception.’
    Cheers