10K reward offered for polygamist church leader

PHOENIX – Arizona and Utah’s attorneys general on Wednesday announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the reclusive leader of a polygamous church based in communities along the states’ common border.

Warren Jeffs, who has not been publicly sighted in months, was charged in Arizona in early June with counts that include conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor.

“I find it hard to believe (Jeffs is) the active leader of 10,000 and no one knows where he is,” Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard said.

Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, are dominated by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a sect that broke away from the Mormon church and practices polygamy.

Capturing Jeffs, 49, is considered a key to ending the turmoil in the two towns, where polygamist men marry one wife legally and then take on other women as so-called “spiritual” wives.

Goddard said Jeffs could be any number of places, including Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Mexico or Canada.

When Jeffs was indicted last month, he was believed to have been at a compound near Eldorado, Texas, where a four-story temple is being constructed by the FLDS sect. Eldorado is about 40 miles south of San Angelo.

But officials with Goddard’s office said no one had been seen coming in or out of the compound for some time.

When the FBI added Jeffs to its list of wanted people last week, officials said that since his indictment, Jeffs was believed to have been in Colorado and at another polygamist community with ties to Colorado City in British Columbia.

On Wednesday, authorities weren’t making any claims about his whereabouts.

“He has gone, very efficiently, underground,” Goddard said.

Read Another Article

Blair promises to deport extremist preachers
Probe details Guantanamo humiliations

Related News Articles Topic(s): Polygamy Subscribe to Religion News Blog updates Subscribe to Religion News Blog [What is this?] Get Religion News Blog's headline by Email [What is this?] Follow Religion News Blog at Twitter Find Related Information Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults: ApologeticsSearch.com: Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs. CounterCultSearch.com: Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, and cults experts -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support. Find Related Religion & Spirituality Books at Amazon.com Polygamy Possibly related... or Most Popular Religion News Articles Kent Hovind: Evangelist arrested on federal charges Beast’s real mark devalued to ’616′ Muslim Woman Gives Sex Advice on Arab TV Michael Jackson Confirms Conversion to Islam Kent Hovind, ‘Dr. Dino,’ guilty on all counts The fall and rise of Carlton Pearson Search False prophet Harold Camping sets another date for rapture: May 21, 2011 Watch the film Theo van Gogh was murdered for Kent Hovind — Dr. Dino — sentenced to 10 years in prison

Search Religion News Blog