From Deseret News archives:
Polygamist compound reported in South Dakota
Jeffs followers have built the new facility, Texas editor says
"We got an anonymous e-mail tip and phone call that made us look at South Dakota," said Randy Mankin, publisher and editor of the Eldorado Success, a weekly newspaper in Schleicher County, Texas, that first broke a similar story about Jeffs buying property in the rural Texas county nearly two years ago. "We worked on this story for a month and a half and felt pretty sure we had it nailed down."
The South Dakota property is about 10 miles outside the town of Pringle in Custer County, according to a story in today's edition of the Eldorado Success newspaper and which was on its Web site, myeldorado.net, Wednesday.
"It didn't take long to recognize the people and the buildings as the same kind that are here in Eldorado," said Mankin.
A Mohave County, Ariz., grand jury indicted Jeffs last year on charges involving sexual misconduct with a minor. Jeffs is accused of performing a marriage with an underage girl and a man who was already married. The FBI is offering a $60,000 reward for information leading to Jeffs' arrest and conviction.
When FLDS agent David Allred first purchased more than 1,400 acres outside of Eldorado in Schleicher County, he told local civic leaders the land would be used for a hunting retreat. Allred eventually told authorities the land would really be used as a retreat for faithful members of the FLDS church. That property became known as the YFZ Ranch, which stands for the title of a song written by Jeffs called "Yearn For Zion."
Allred is apparently also behind the purchase of the South Dakota property, according to the Eldorado Success. That connection and other similarities prompted Mankin to ask private investigator Sam Brower to investigate the South Dakota property.
During an interview televised Wednesday on KCSG-TV's 9 p.m. newscast in St. George, Brower said he is convinced Jeffs is using the property as a "hideout."
"It's in a remote location," said Brower. "I would guess there are about 50 to 60 people living there. I think the fact that we know about it will be a big blow to them, mostly because they've gone to great lengths to hide it and have spent a lot of money on it."
Brower said the site includes three main buildings, including one steel structure that measures over 12,000 square feet. Two three-story buildings are an estimated 5,000 square feet each, with a couple of smaller buildings nearby, he said.
KSL-TV Ch. 5 also interviewed Brower, who said Jeffs has reportedly been seen at the South Dakota complex. "I think he has been there — I think he has probably been there regularly," he said.
Members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which teaches plural marriage as a central doctrine, consider Jeffs a prophet. An estimated 10,000 FLDS members are scattered throughout the nation, in Canada and Mexico, although the vast majority live in Hildale, Washington County, and Colorado City, Ariz.
E-mail: nperkins@desnews.com
