Mothers shout 'Help!' as they're bused off

SAN ANGELO, Texas — As the big charter bus pulled away from here, the women threw open the dark-tinted windows and shouted: "Help!"

One woman held out a makeshift sign reading: "SOS Mothers separated Help."

On Thursday, more buses ferried women and children away from the San Angelo Coliseum, which has served as a makeshift shelter after the police raid on the Fundamentalist LDS Church's Yearning For Zion Ranch. The mothers were devastated.

"The children were crying and reaching for their mothers," a woman named Velvet said outside the gates of the YFZ Ranch.

The moves continue as legal motions are filed to challenge the grounds for the raid on the FLDS compound and the decision to put all of the children in state custody. Texas authorities also revised their count of children — raising it to 462.

"Separating women from children is always a difficult thing. There were tears by the children, by the women and by some of our caseworkers as well. It's not easy to do," said Darrell Azar, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. "However, it was in the best interests of the children."

As more buses drove off, some of the children stood up in their seats and waved to people standing on the side of the road. A child sitting in a car seat peered out the window, a look of curiosity and confusion on his face.

Texas child protective services officials said 63 children were taken to foster care facilities on Thursday. Another 64 women left the coliseum; 17 of them will stay with their infant children in a shelter. The rest of the women were given a choice.

"We said, 'We'll take you back to the ranch, or we'll take you somewhere else if you don't want to go to the ranch. No strings attached. It's your choice,"' Azar said.

Seven women returned to the YFZ Ranch; about 40 went to a shelter.

Separation

As the sun rose Thursday morning over this west Texas town, the coliseum was locked down. Dozens of lawmen began gathering outside the cattle arena.

Lawyers for the women and children were turned away at the gates.

"Are attorneys not allowed to see their clients?" one woman shouted to a Texas State Trooper.

"No!" the officer said in an authoritative tone.

"I'm going to the courthouse," said attorney Emmet Fleming, who is representing a little girl who he said has medical needs. "I doubt that I'll even be able to see (the judge), but I'm going to try."

Stephanie Goodman got a frantic phone call from someone at the YFZ Ranch, saying that the mothers had been