The Deseret News reported Sunday that the women and children being housed in the historic fort were complaining that illness was sweeping through the group and that there was no privacy. Following that report, authorities carried out a court order to confiscate the women's cell phones and other electronic communication devices found among those housed at the two shelters.

Nearly a dozen large charter buses loaded with women and children left with police escorts mid-afternoon Monday, followed by reporters and photographers in their own vehicles. Some of the children waved at reporters as they were driven away.

But this apparent move to improved surroundings took a major detour after the caravan of women and children reached the Coliseum. Inside, authorities segregated most of the women and presented them with the choice of returning alone to the YFZ Ranch or being taken to a domestic violence shelter. Mothers with children 5 years old or younger were permitted to stay. Meanwhile, a similar scene was playing out at the nearby Wells Fargo Pavilion, where mothers and children also were separated.

In response, FLDS leaders opened the YFZ Ranch to the media several hours later. Many women who had been housed at the shelters pleaded though tears to reporters, asking for their help to regain custody of their children. The women uniformly accused the state of lying and tricking them into leaving their children behind.

In a related matter, Texas Gov. Rick Perry's spokeswoman, Allison Castle, told the Deseret News that the office has yet to receive a letter sent Saturday by three FLDS women who were not at the YFZ Ranch at the time of the raid and say they have been prevented from visiting their children in the shelters. In the letter, the women asked Perry for help with their situation and invited him to visit the temporary shelters so he could assess the conditions firsthand.

"We're not going to comment on what may or may not be in the letter until we actually see it," Castle said, declining to speculate "right now" on whether the Texas governor will meet with the women or visit the shelters.

"The governor is being briefed daily on this, but he trusts the agencies in charge are making the appropriate decisions," Castle said, calling Monday's move to the larger quarters "a strategic decision" that was made as soon as the San Angelo Coliseum became available.

She said Perry "supports ensuring the safety and welfare of these children. I think the governor is confident the appropriate steps are being taken, and policies and procedures are being followed."

---

Contributing: Lisa Riley Roche

E-mail: nperkins@desnews.com