Runaway girl returned to polygamists
 
The Associated Press
 
ST. GEORGE (AP) -- A 15-year-old girl who ran away from her polygamous family, saying they planned to force her into an arranged marriage, was returned to her family Thursday by Washington County authorities.

People who helped the girl run away said her family told her they had planned her marriage to Warren Jeffs, the No. 2 leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the son of its top leader, Rulon Jeffs. The sect is based in the border communities of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah.

Activists and sympathetic family members contacted state and county officials to arrange protective custody.

"We had offered (to) the sheriff's department that we would provide shelter and were waiting to hear whether they were going to provide shelter, and we never heard from them, " Janina Chilton of the Utah Department of Human Services told KSL-TV. "We just found out the girl had been released back to her family, so we will certainly start an investigation at this point. "

The sheriff's department released the girl to her family after they promised to let her make her own marriage choices and live with relatives outside the polygamist group.

Anti-polygamy activists were not happy with the decision.
 
The Associated Press
Originally published April 6, 2001
 
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