() A criminal and cult investigator got a firsthand look at the secret caves and passageways for hiding after being given access to cult leader Warren Jeffs’ home in Arizona.

“We’ve heard about it, but they (the caves) don’t exist,” Mike King told ‘s Brian Entin at CrimeCon2025. “I would talk to leaders in the church who fell away and said, ‘No, it doesn’t exist.'”

Except, they did exist. King, who is also the host of the “Profiling Evil” podcast, spent the night in Jeffs’ home, and one of his wives handed him a key and some coordinates, which led to the caves.

A self-proclaimed prophet, Jeffs helped lead the polygamist Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which amassed more than 13,000 devoted followers, many of whom have lived under strict control in a secluded and insular society for over a century.

“Not only were they preparing for the end of the world from a religious standpoint, but they were temporarily preparing for it,” King said.

“And they started digging caves that I heard about all the years I was investigating out there, but I could never prove I could never find it when I talked to members of the FLDS.”

Warren Jeffs serving life sentence for child sexual assault

Jeffs has been serving a life sentence in jail for child sexual assault following two convictions in 2011.

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Jeffs collected more than 80 wives — also known as celestial wives — meaning that the women were married spiritually but not legally.

Two dozen of those wives were underage, also illegal, before Jeffs was hit with indictments in multiple states.