Is Jeffs hiding in Texas?

Utah and Texas authorities are exploring new ways of finding proof that fugitive polygamist leader Warren Jeffs has been hiding out at the Fundamentalist LDS Church's massive temple site in Eldorado, Texas.

"He's got how many thousand acres down there and a sheriff that says he's not going to go in?" Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff told the Deseret Morning News. "I think he travels around absolutely. It's a place he goes for refuge. My question is, what are you doing to get probable cause?"

But the sheriff of the tiny Texas town said he doesn't have any proof the FLDS leader has been there lately — and that's why he can't go in and search the sprawling ranch.

"No doubt at some point he's been out there," said Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran. "But no evidence that he has been out there recently."

Shurtleff met briefly with his counterparts in Texas and Canada earlier this month while at a conference in Alaska. He said they discussed new ways to track down the fugitive FLDS leader.

The Texas Attorney General's Office declined to comment about any plans to develop more proof that Jeffs has been there.

"Mr. Jeffs is on the FBI's Most Wanted list, and because of this, we want to do all we can to work with local, state and federal authorities to help resolve the matter," said Tom Kelley, a spokesman for Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. "As to specifics about resources devoted to any particular aspect of it, we cannot comment."

Shurtleff thinks more resources can be devoted to the manhunt for Jeffs. Utah's attorney general suggested pushing the FBI and U.S. Marshal's Service to use satellite surveillance on the YFZ ranch to look for vehicles that may be traveling in convoy.

The FBI's Salt Lake City office declined to comment on what the agency is doing to develop information about Jeffs' whereabouts.

"I cannot speak with any specificity to probable cause or the lack thereof," said FBI Special Agent Jan Caldwell.

In an interview last week with the Deseret Morning News, Shurtleff said he believes Jeffs has been moving between FLDS enclaves on the Utah-Arizona border, Texas and Canada.

"He seems to be getting word out to his people," Shurtleff said. "He seems to still be saying, 'I'm in charge, I'm in control.' At least some of the time he's traveling around those places."