A federal appeals court has vacated kidnapping convictions in a case involving the death of a 3-year-old boy who went missing from Georgia in 2017 and later turned up dead at a squalid compound in New Mexico. The boy’s father and other family members were sentenced to life in prison in 2024 after jurors convicted them in what prosecutors described as a “sick end-of-times scheme.” In a decision issued Tuesday, the appellate court found there was no evidence of a federal kidnapping crime when the family took the boy. The court also vacated terrorism-related convictions that stemmed from allegations that the father and his brother-in-law were conducting firearms and tactical training to prepare for attacks against the government.

An assault and kidnapping case against a leader of a secretive North Carolina religious group appears to be finally returning to the courtroom…