From Deseret News archives:

Is leader of FLDS closer to arrest?

Published: Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2005 9:02 a.m. MDT
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"They got away before we had a chance to find them," Robbins said earlier.

The use of a wheelchair was possibly to divert attention from Jeffs' slim physique, Robbins said.

"He's tall — 6-foot-4 — and at 150 pounds, that's like a walking toothpick. He figures if he's in a wheelchair, that will disguise his obvious physical characteristics," Robbins said.

So why is a fugitive risking capture by shopping and going fishing at one of Utah's most popular fishing holes?

After being on the run so long, fugitives "need to go out and relax too," Robbins said. "We've had crazier things. We don't underestimate anything. We'll cover it all."

Robbins pointed out that Joseph Edward Duncan III, the convicted sex offender charged in a triple murder last May in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, was captured at a local Denny's restaurant with the girl he is accused of abducting.

The FBI discounted a reported sighting of Jeffs early Friday at a grocery store in South Salt Lake. Robbins said the report had Jeffs with a group of women, but he's known to travel only with men.

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The attorneys general for Utah and Arizona have offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to Jeffs' capture. Paul Murphy, a spokesman for the Utah Attorney General's Office, said bringing Jeffs to trial is a high priority.

Murphy said the charges of arranging marriages of minors are "very serious" and Jeffs needs to answer them because he has so much influence over so many people.

"It's important in a lot of ways," Murphy said. "A lot of people think Warren Jeffs is above the law, but those people need to realize that the law applies to everyone."


Contributing: Associated Press

E-mail: jtwitchell@desnews.com

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