1 child left in FLDS custody case

And then there was one.

Texas child welfare authorities filed Thursday to have a 17-year-old girl dropped from court oversight in the child custody battle over children from the Fundamentalist LDS Church's YFZ Ranch.

"There is only one child left in the Eldorado case remaining from the children that were removed almost a year ago," Texas Child Protective Services spokesman Patrick Crimmins told the Deseret News, confirming the agency's decision to "nonsuit" the 17-year-old girl.

The girl, whom CPS alleges was married at age 14, fought state officials throughout the custody proceedings. She gave birth to a child just after CPS returned all 439 children in June, but resisted efforts to have her child undergo a DNA test so much so that CPS accused her of switching babies and demanded a psychological evaluation for her. While dropping the teenage mother as a child in the custody case, a motion was reportedly filed in a San Antonio court seeking to have her baby undergo a DNA test there.

Crimmins declined to elaborate on the reasons why CPS dropped the case. FLDS Church spokesman Willie Jessop said they were hopeful that the saga was nearing an end.

"Truly we have a year to be grateful and we've seen and felt many prayers being answered," he told the Deseret News.

The decision to nonsuit the young woman leaves a 14-year-old girl as the sole child still under court oversight in what was once the nation's largest child custody case. All 439 children from the Utah-based polygamous sect were taken into state protective custody nearly a year ago when CPS caseworkers and law enforcement responded to the gates of the YFZ Ranch to investigate a phone call alleging abuse.

The call is believed to be a hoax, but CPS claimed to have seen other signs of abuse on the ranch, prompting a judge to order the removal of all of the children. However, the children were all returned in June when a pair of Texas appeals courts ruled the state acted improperly.

A dozen men, including Jeffs, have been indicted by a rural Texas grand jury coming out of the raid on charges connected to underage marriages.

The 14-year-old girl is the only one to be returned to foster care after the child custody case imploded. State authorities allege she was married at age 12 to FLDS leader Warren Jeffs and a judge ruled her mother failed to protect her from abuse.