A cultlike group leader named Jack LaSota, also known as “Ziz,” was arrested in Maryland on charges of trespassing, firearms possession, and obstructing and hindering authorities. Two other individuals associated with the group were also arrested on similar charges. LaSota had previously been thought to have died in a boating accident in August 2022 but continued to be linked to violent attacks, including a stabbing and a fatal shooting. LaSota was found at the scene of one attack just three months after her supposed death. In January 2023, Michelle Zajko’s parents were found shot to death in Pennsylvania, leading to LaSota being charged with obstruction of their investigation. Zajko was later released and has not been charged in her parents’ deaths. Another follower of LaSota, Ophelia Bauckholt, was killed in a shootout with Border Patrol agents in Vermont. Bauckholt and a Border Patrol agent died in the exchange of gunfire. Zajko was identified as a person of interest in the fatal shooting of the agent and is under investigation. The circumstances of the shooting are still being investigated, and Teresa Youngblut, who was with Bauckholt during the incident, has pleaded not guilty to firearms charges. Authorities are working with federal law enforcement and the state’s attorney office on an ongoing investigation of the cultlike group and its connections to violent crimes.
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