Observers believe the polygamous FLDS cult, whose ‘prophet’ is serving a life sentence, will soon move thousands of its followers to South Dakota.
Thought to house 300 people now, the compound is seeking to significantly expand its water usage permit.
The possibility that a raid on a Texas polygamist compound stemmed from hoax calls to a shelter makes local law enforcement here more cautious about what would trigger a response to allegations of abuse at the sect’s ranch in South Dakota’s Black Hills.
The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) has put roots on 140 acres of rugged territory in Pringle, South Dakota. It is the same sect as at the ranch near Eldorado, Texas, where the practice of men taking multiple wives and allegations of sexual abuse of underage girls have sparked a custody battle over more than 400 children.
The people occupying a secretive and growing compound southwest of Pringle are practicing polygamy and are likely conducting under-age marriages, say two former members of the sect led by Warren Jeffs, who was convicted last week of rape as an accessory.
The YFZ Ranch- named after a song penned by Jeffs, “Yearning For Zion” – in Eldorado is the FLDS’ most developed outpost outside their historical base in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz.
Although polygamist leader Warren Jeffs is in jail in Utah, a compound reportedly occupied by members of his sect continues to expand in remote country southwest of Pringle, South Dakota
CUSTER, S.D. – The man who becomes Custer County’s sheriff in January says he will closely monitor a secretive compound near Pringle, where people linked to fugitive polygamist Warren Jeffs have set up living quarters. ”What I would like to do is keep in contact with people in the immediate area and touch base with law enforcement in the areas where colonies are set up,” said Rick Wheeler. He said he doesn’t know whether direct confrontation is the best approach. ”There’s ways of getting in there,” said Wheeler, who defeated incumbent Phil Hespen in the June 6 primary. ”I think
Warren Jeffs is one of the USA’s 10 most wanted criminals. If he is cornered, carnage could follow, reports Joanna Walters in Hildale, Utah A freckled-faced teenager in a frumpish dress bursts into the house with an expression somewhere between defiance and fear. Jennifer Barlow is just 17 and in hiding from a man the FBI has just put on its ’10 Most Wanted’ list, alongside Osama bin Laden. The Feds are hunting Warren Jeffs, a 50-year-old ‘prophet’ exiled from the Mormon church, who is accused of paedophilia and of forcing young women into a life of polygamy. Jeffs holds
(KUTV) SALT LAKE CITY — As the FBI searches for fugitive polygamous leader Warren Jeffs attention turns to the compound the FLDS church recently built in South Dakota. Members of the polygamous FLDS church bought remote land in the Black Hills three years ago, and from the air, you can see they’re building a community. Three-story houses, and a large pole building. They have more lumber and heavy equipment, so they may build more. From the ground, all you can see is locked gate barbed wire fence and no trespassing signs. FLDS The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
PRINGLE – Neighbors of people who built a compound in a remote area southwest of Pringle say they were suspicious of the secretive group even before learning that it could be linked to a polygamist Mormon sect led by a federal fugitive. They said heavy construction work goes on all night under big spotlights inside the fenced-off compound, which appears to be self-sufficient. The 100-acre complex in southwestern Custer County is an outpost of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a polygamist sect led by federal fugitive Warren Jeffs, a Texas newspaper, The Eldorado Success, reported Wednesday.