HIGHLAND | Tony Hofstra doesn't buy it. The 22-year-old Highland man learned Wednesday that his long-lost grandfather, former Hammond pastor Don LaRose, claimed to have abandoned his family in 1980 and never made contact with them out of a fear a clandestine band of Satan worshippers.

The former pastor of Hessville Baptist Church admitted to newspaper reporters Tuesday that he secretly moved south, took a new name, remarried and eventually became mayor of Centerton, Ark.

LaRose -- who now goes by the name Ken Williams -- told The Times he never contacted his family or told them the full story because he feared for their safety. Hofstra said he finds that hard to believe.

"I don't know if he's crazy or if he's lying to everybody about this satanic attack and all these threats," Hofstra said. "I don't know if he just didn't want to pay child support and disappeared or what happened."

LaRose's family and in-laws are scattered in several states, with relatives living in Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and in Northwest Indiana. Several of them declined to comment Wednesday about LaRose's admission.

"This has caused a big turmoil in the family with this coming out and everything, and I just cannot give out any information," said LaRose's sister-in-law, Carol Miller, of Michigan.

Hofstra said those who were closest to LaRose are embittered by the whole episode, particularly LaRose's ex-wife, who got a divorce after about six years and still lives in the region.

Hofstra said the matter has made him curious.

"I'm not embarrassed by it. I've been curious," Hofstra said. "I'd like to talk to him. I've got family out there that I've never met."

Meanwhile, in Centerton, Ark., where LaRose submitted his resignation as mayor Wednesday because of the unfolding mystery surrounding his true identity, his second wife Pat has vowed to support him.

The couple married in 1986, six years after he fled the region. Pat Williams has been on a feeding tube because of surgery she had in April.

In an interview with the Benton County (Ark.) Daily Record, she said Tuesday was the first time she learned of her husband's real past. But reporters there described her demeanor as loving and not angry.

"I love him," she said. "I'll stand by him. We're in it for the duration."