The FBI has been chasing numerous leads that have poured in across the country since placing Jeffs on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list.

In the 2003 tape obtained by the Deseret Morning News, Jeffs calls upon his followers to repent to keep the outside forces at bay.

"We need Heavenly Father's protection," he told priesthood holders of the FLDS Church. At the time, a polygamist police officer was facing criminal charges in St. George, and the Utah Attorney General's Office was looking more closely at the FLDS Church.

In another 2003 sermon, former followers said that Jeffs compared himself to Joseph Smith, the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who was killed by a mob in Illinois. The FLDS Church is a breakaway religion and not affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"Joseph Smith turned himself in to lawful authorities. I promise I will place my name and my reputation on the security of Mr. Jeffs. He would not be a martyr in Purgatory," Washington County Sheriff Kirk Smith said, referring to the name of his county jail.

A siege mentality has set in along the Utah-Arizona border in the polygamous towns of Hildale and Colorado City, with many observers saying FLDS faithful have become entrenched. Former FLDS lawyer Rod Parker said putting Jeffs on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list will only cause the faithful to rally around him.

"I think from the standpoint of the people, it just reinforces how unfair and out of control this whole government approach to the church is right now," he told the Deseret Morning News. "They view the whole thing as a test of their faith."

One place where Jeffs may be in hiding is at the FLDS Church's temple site in Eldorado, Texas.

Construction continues on the YFZ Ranch. It stands for "Yearning for Zion," after a song Jeffs penned. A dairy is being built and just this past week, foundations were seen being poured on new homes. One of the largest homes on the compound is believed to belong to Jeffs.

But there's no sign of the fugitive polygamist prophet, according to police.

Law enforcement is reluctant to go onto the property without probable cause, hoping to avoid another high-profile confrontation in Texas. During the stand-off at a Branch Davidian sect compound in Waco, Texas, in 1993, more than 80 people — including two dozen children — died in a fiery siege with federal agents.

"We do have the experience of Waco and law enforcement has been trained on that incident," Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran said. "There's no reason in getting in any big hurry and trying to push the envelope."

Doran has maintained contact with FLDS members on the YFZ Ranch. When the first federal warrant was issued for Jeffs' arrest in 2005, Doran ventured onto the property in an attempt to negotiate a surrender.

"I tried to get them to cut a deal and have him turn himself in," Doran told the Deseret Morning News. "As always, they didn't express one way or another where he was."

Doran believes that by continuing a dialogue with FLDS members on the ranch, he's avoided a stand-off mentality. He continues to be allowed on the property when necessary.

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com