A look at the religious circle surrounding Chad and Lori Daybell

In our coverage of Chad and Lori Vallow Daybell and her missing children, JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan, people who have known them say they have extreme religious beliefs and are members of a doomsday "cult."

But the nature of the reported cult is hard to define, especially since the Daybells have not spoken to the media. We have tried.

What we do know is Chad and Lori are or have been members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and they are also affiliated with several informal groups whose teachings go contrary to what one would hear in a typical Latter-day Saint congregation.

We reached out to several people in east Idaho who were or are part of these semi-secretive groups. Several have agreed to go on the record with their names, and others have agreed on the condition of anonymity, as they are still active Latter-day Saints or fear retaliation from other members of these groups.

There doesn't appear to be any sort of formal organization or clear doctrine among these nonconventional groups of Latter-day Saints. In fact, many of the people interviewed by EastIdahoNews.com reported vastly different experiences.

"I think 'cult' is such a weird word because it doesn't accurately describe what's happening," a woman we'll call Jessica said. "An 'extremist group' is a better term."

It started when Jessica and her husband moved to eastern Idaho in 2015. A man in their new congregation -- called a ward -- approached her and said he was "spiritually prompted" to offer her a job.

She accepted the job and worked at the business, which was out of the man's home.

She found her new boss had beliefs that were different than what's typically taught in the church. For example, Latter-day Saints believe God gives people spiritual gifts to help them serve others. The man who hired her took this belief to an extreme.

He claimed to have power to see spirits and cast out evil spirits from people. He would counsel with people in his home who were supposedly struggling with evil spirits inside of them, and he would claim to cast the spirits out. She said he wasn't fulfilling a church role or acting in any official capacity.

"His friends knew about his spiritual gifts, and they would tell their friends, so it was all word of mouth," she said. "People came to him to be healed."

He even appeared to heal Jessica of her celiac, blood sugar and thyroid issues. As a result, she stopped taking all her medications and supplements and ate gluten products again.

Her boss's gifts seemed to extend into the digital realm too. Once when the business was having computer problems, he invoked his spiritual power to repair a broken computer server. Other times, if there was a bad internet connection, he might blame it on some sort of spiritual interference.

"I knew it was different, but at the time, I wasn't going to judge what works for somebody," Jessica said. "In my mind, I was working there because God wanted me too, and I wasn't going to question God."

Go to EastIdahoNews.com for the complete story.