Sarah was never found. Barlow, a convicted sex offender living in Colorado City, Ariz., was questioned but never arrested. Six months after the raid, the Texas Attorney General's Office is declining to comment much on the status of its ongoing investigation.

"No state charges are pending re: Swinton," spokesman Jerry Strickland said in an e-mail to the Deseret News. "We cannot and will not comment on details of our investigation."

On April 3, Texas child welfare workers and law enforcement went to the YFZ Ranch to investigate the calls for help. Once on the ranch, authorities said they saw other signs of abuse related to underage marriages. That led to a judge ordering the removal of all of the children while Child Protective Services began its investigation.

Two months later, the 439 children were returned to their families when an Austin appeals court and the Texas Supreme Court ruled the state acted improperly in removing all of the children and they were not at immediate risk of abuse. To date, 393 people have been dropped from court oversight in the case. A 14-year-old girl from the Utah-based polygamous sect was ordered back into foster care after a judge ruled her mother could not protect her from abuse. She was allegedly married at age 12 to FLDS leader Warren Jeffs.

Swinton was on the list of witnesses to testify in a challenge to a series of search warrants served on the YFZ Ranch, which resulted in hundreds of thousands of pieces of evidence being seized. The FLDS Church abruptly dropped the matter, saying that individuals facing criminal charges could pursue their own challenges.

Nine people, including FLDS leader Warren Jeffs, have been indicted by a grand jury in Eldorado, Texas, on charges connected to underage marriages. Most of the men are scheduled to appear in court again Oct. 27. The grand jury meets again on Nov. 12.

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com