CEDAR CITY — Joseph Paul was working in the backyard of his Washington County home when he heard his phone emitting an odd sound.

Curious, he found his glasses and looked at the screen, finding it was an Amber Alert for four children out of Lund area in Iron County. He immediately stopped what he was doing, grabbed some coats and blankets, and bolted for the unincorporated stretch of the Escalante desert northwest of Cedar City.

"I just felt in my heart I was going to catch him," Paul said.

Paul was honored by Iron County Sheriff's Office for spotting Samuel Warren Shaffer, 34, who was wanted in connection with the Amber Alert, and alerting police. His help ultimately led to police safely locating all four missing children.

He was presented with an Outstanding Citizen award by Iron County Sheriff’s deputy Jobe Peterson on March 16, according to Iron County Sheriff’s Lt. Del Schlosser.

Finding Shaffer

In the moments after receiving the Amber Alert, Paul thought of the cold temperatures in the area. He remembers temperatures were in the teens and dropping on Dec. 4, when the alert was issued.

He called his wife and told her he was going to look for the missing children.

"I said, 'Hey, I got to get sailing. I've got to catch this guy,'" Paul told her before making about an hour-long drive to the area.

Paul played scenarios in his mind of where Shaffer could be and, sure enough, one came to fruition. He saw a man matching Shaffer’s description walking along Railroad Frontage Road near Lund.

Paul pulled up next to Shaffer, who then tried to get in his truck.

"I shut the truck off and got out and asked him what he was doing out (there) in the cold," Paul said.

Shaffer told Paul he had just left a friend's house, and Paul became quickly suspicious of that story. So, he brought up the Amber Alert.

"He goes to me, 'I don't know nothing about nothing. Can I get a ride?'" Paul said, recalling the encounter. "I said, 'I don't know if you're armed or not, but I want you to know I am. And no, I'm not going to give you a ride. And the cops are out here. If you're going to Lund, head on."

Paul immediately called authorities after Shaffer began walking away and followed him in his truck. However, since he was in such a remote area, it took authorities about 30 minutes to reach the scene.

During that wait, Paul estimated Shaffer walked about a 1/2 mile before he ran off into a ditch and hid in weeds near the road. Shaffer then hopped a nearby fence and tried to flee from Paul when Paul pulled out his gun and told Shaffer to get back toward the road he was originally walking on.

"I said, 'Get back over the fence. You ain't going,'" Paul said. "He came back and he paced around for a bit."

Shaffer obeyed, and Paul kept the man in that location until authorities arrived.

An arrest and conviction

Paul left once deputies made it to the scene. The four missing girls were located after that.

Authorities said in December that two of the girls were hidden outdoors in plastic 50-gallon barrels, and the other two were in an abandoned motor home for roughly 24 hours before they were found in zero-degree weather.

“Paul’s actions proved instrumental in the ensuing search by Iron County Sheriff’s deputies, who ultimately located the girls and led to the quick apprehension and arrest of the male, Samuel Shaffer,” Schlosser said in a statement. “Paul’s quick-thinking and intuition that night ultimately saved the lives of the four girls who had been kidnapped by Shaffer."

Shaffer, who was a leader of a small fundamentalist religion called the Knights of the Crystal Blade, pleaded guilty in February to one count of rape of a child, a first-degree felony, and one count of child abuse, a second-degree felony.

A judge threw out Shaffer’s request to withdraw his guilty plea last week. He is scheduled to be sentenced in May, according to court records.

'Drove right to the guy'

Paul doesn't view himself as a hero, and added the attention now feels weird. However, looking back at it months later, he wouldn't change what he did "in a second."

He credited the work of police and deputies for finding the children and called them the real heroes.

As for finding Shaffer, Paul said he felt it was destiny.

"I tried to figure out where he might be, and I drove right to the guy. I couldn't believe it," he said. "It was like I was led to him."

Contributing: Mark Weaver

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