This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The brother and wife found traveling with fugitive Warren Jeffs are known for their loyalty to both the FLDS prophet and his late father.

Discovered with Jeffs in the Cadillac Escalade stopped Monday night, the two were identified as Naomi Jessop Jeffs, one of Jeffs' wives, and his brother, Isaac Steed Jeffs, both 32, said FBI spokesman David Staretz.

Steve Martinez, FBI special agent in charge for Las Vegas, said the pair was interviewed by the FBI and released. An FBI officer "did confer with our counterparts in Utah and Arizona, and it was determined at that time they would not be charged for harboring [a fugitive] or any other offense," Martinez said.

But Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard and Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff were unclear why Isaac Jeffs and Naomi Jeffs were released.

Goddard said, "I would hate to second guess, but it seems to me there might have been some ground[s] to hold them for investigation."

Paul Murphy, a spokesman for Shurtleff, said: "We don't know how big a deal it was to have Isaac and Naomi. Today the focus is on Warren Jeffs."

Former members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints said Isaac serves as Jeffs' secretary. He filled a similar role for Jeffs' father, the late Rulon Jeffs.

"It's not surprising to find those two together, because Isaac had been an extension of his [Jeffs] arm for a long time," said Ezra Draper, who left Colorado City in 2002, disillusioned with Jeffs.

Ward Jeffs, a half-brother of Jeffs living in the Salt Lake Valley, said Isaac "was almost robotlike" in his devotion to Jeffs.

Ken Wallentine, chief of investigations at the Utah Attorney General's Office, said Isaac "has not been a real player" in FLDS operations, but added: "He's been a faithful lap dog to Warren.”

Naomi Jeffs also is one of Jeffs' most staunch supporters, said Richard Holm, an excommunicated church member who lives in Colorado City. Holm said that a month or two after Rulon Jeffs died in 2002, Naomi - in an unusual move - stood up at an FLDS meeting and confirmed that Jeffs was to be his father's successor as president and prophet.

Isaac and another wife stood and gave the same testimony.

Carolyn Jessop, a Salt Lake City resident and former FLDS member, said Naomi married Rulon Jeffs when she was 17 and he was nearly 90. Later, Naomi and her sister, Paula, were the first among Rulon Jeffs' wives to become Warren Jeffs' wives, Jessop said.

The father of the two sisters is Jessop's ex-husband, Merrill Jessop, who is based at the FLDS ranch in Eldorado, Texas, she said. Jessop said Jeffs is married to approximately nine of Merrill Jessop's daughters.

"That's one of the reasons I left. I didn't want him to marry my daughter," said Carolyn Jessop.

She described Naomi as kind and beautiful, with hair down to her knees. As a child, Naomi tended to be the target of other mothers, who seemed to resent her because she was so pretty, Jessop said.