An Ex-Member of 'Zizians' Group Reportedly Faked Their Own Death. They Weren't the Only One

A former member of the ‘Zizians’ — now connected to the killing of a border patrol agent in January — likely faked their own death after defecting from the group, their family says.

Maryland State Police arrested three members of the group — Jack Amadeus Lasota, Michelle Jacqueline Zajko and Daniel Arthur Blank — on Feb. 16 in connection with the Jan. 20 killing of U.S. Border Patrol Agent David Maland during a traffic stop in Vermont, the Maryland State Police previously told PEOPLE.

The group has now been connected to six deaths across the country, per the Associated Press.

Meanwhile, two of the group’s members may have faked their own deaths.

Since the arrests earlier this month, the father of a former Zizian has spoken out, claiming that his child, reported to have died by suicide around 2022, is alive and in hiding.

The former member, Gwen Danielson of Washington State, played a crucial role in the group from its earlier years, including protests in 2019, according to an extensive report by WIRED and the San Francisco Chronicle.

Danielson and LaSota, the group’s leader, spent years together, documenting their journey of trying to build a “cabal” before she reportedly died by suicide, per WIRED.

Danielson’s father Brett now says he believes she is alive, he told the Chronicle.

Gwen appears to be working constructions jobs under a fake name as she tries to stay off the grid, afraid members of the group might hunt her down, Brett said.

LaSota herself also appeared to fake her own death.

In August 2022, the Coast Guard received a distress call from LaSota’s sister, who was on a boat in the San Francisco Bay; she claimed LaSota had fallen overboard,WIRED reported. Following an 18-hour-long search, LaSota was presumed dead after Coast Guard officials said she could not have survived that long in the water.

An obituary was published, remembering LaSota for her love for adventures and blueberries. A tribute under LaSota’s name on the obituary website Legacy.com has since been removed.

Less than two months later, LaSota resurfaced alive at the scene of a gruesome crime linked to Zizians’ alleged members, per a PBS timeline.

In November, 2022, a Vallejo, Calif., landlord was attacked after he tried to take members of the group to court for non-payment of rent. The landlord, Curtis Lind, shot and killed a Zizian but was impaled with a sword in the process; officials ruled Lind’s conduct self-defense.

Two group members were charged in the attack on Lind but LaSota did not face any charges, per PBS. Danielson was also at the scene and not charged, the Chronicle reported. It was her last known sighting.

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Following LaSota’s arrest last week, Brett Danielson has started feeling hopeful that his daughter can now come forward and “get things cleaned up,” he told the Chronicle.

LaSota, 34, Zajko, 32, and Blank, 26, are being held at the Allegany County Detention Center in Maryland on multiple charges including trespassing, obstructing and hindering, firearms possession and resisting arrest, according to online jail information.

It wasn’t immediately clear if they have entered pleas or retained attorneys to speak on their behalf.