E1 - What Lies Beneath

The Zion Society, a secretive cult operating in the Northwood subdivision of Ogden, Utah, during the 1980s and 1990s, utilized manipulation and grooming to exploit vulnerable families. Led by Arvin Shreeve, a charismatic landscaper who presented himself as a benevolent father figure, the group enforced a doctrine of plural marriage and doomsday preparation. Former members Ron and Jackie Van Beekum describe how Shreeve used financial dependency and social isolation to exert control, while investigator Mike King recounts the 1991 breakthrough when a former member, Aaron Anderson, exposed the group's systemic ritual sexual abuse. The cult maintained a sophisticated, interconnected network of homes designed to monitor the neighborhood and store stockpiles of weapons and supplies, effectively hiding their criminal activities in plain sight for over a decade.