Former Mayor Candidate Who Went Missing Turns Twelve Tribes Member; Arrested for Homicide in Tennessee
“All of us are deeply worried. Just hoping he’s off on an adventure,” stated a missing person’s post when former Gainesville mayor candidate Adam Aruthor Rosenthal, 39, was reported missing in June 2024.
Rosenthal’s “adventure” consisted of going to Tennessee, joining the Twelve Tribes, and being arrested for homicide, aggravated assault and evidence tampering.
According to the Pulaski Citizen, “Giles County Sheriff Joe Purvis said his department was notified of a dead body just after lunch Tuesday, which prompted the execution of two search warrants, one on property on a road marked Ichabod Lane just off William Whitworth Road and the other a residence on Glendale Drive in Pulaski…. Purvis said, to his knowledge, the victim had been a member of the [Twelve Tribes] group for several years, and the suspect, Rosenthal, has been affiliated with the group for possibly six-nine months."
Rosenthal’s missing persons post states he disappeared in April and was last seen at the (now-shut down) Space Bar.
The Twelve Tribes website states they are a “confederation of twelve worldwide self-governing tribes, made up of self-governing communities.” The Twelve Tribes believe “everything that is written in the Old and New Covenants of the Bible.”
An article by the Denver Post states, “New [Twelve Tribes] members must give up their possessions and names, live in one of the Twelve Tribes’ three dozen worldwide communes, and follow the cult’s strict rules, which, former members say, dictate everything from how much toilet paper a member should use (two sheets) to the shape of a member’s eyeglasses (round). Followers are encouraged to cut off all contact with the outside world.”
Rosenthal has been accused of committing sex crimes. A TikTok video by Beyond Florida states, “After the story of his disappearance came out, several women posted that he had behaved inappropriately, at least and perhaps criminally.”
According to social media comments after Rosenthal went missing, he “pushed boundaries and escalated to a very terrifying power dynamic” that was not consensual.
Rosenthal has an arraignment scheduled for his Tennessee homicide case on December 10.
If Rosenthal is charged for crimes he committed in Alachua County, this page will be updated.
