New FLDS compound discovered
 
By Norma Najacht
Custer County Chronicle
 
The residents in the Fall River County area eight miles northwest of Edgemont off River Road along the Cheyenne River — four miles east of the Wyoming line — thought their neighbors were a little strange.

It was reported among them that the women, who were rarely seen, wore long purple dresses all alike, and the men wore long shirts, even in the heat of the summer.

Heavy equipment is being used at all times of the day and night and they just don’t seem neighborly, like they want to talk much, said Dawn Engelbert, a neighbor. She and her husband, Everett, stood at the fence line to meet their new neighbors recently, only to have three people drive up to talk to them. One, a young boy around 6, drove up on a four-wheeler, a man arrived on a track hoe and another man drove up to them in a pickup. They didn’t talk much, didn’t tell them where they were from, just said they were engaged in farming and would probably run a few cows on the land.

They didn’t see any women, but one of the men told them the boy had three siblings, Dawn said.

"I told him we had three boys and their kids would have to come play with them," Dawn said. "They didn’t say anything, but just stared at me."

Another of those neighbors, Mark Tubbs, whose land abuts the new neighbors’ land, said the man he talked to lied to him about his name and he’s wondering why. The new neighbor told him his name was Ed Williams, but he found out it’s really Edmond Jessop Harker.

That name has got the sheriff of Fall River County, Jeff Tarrell, wondering if the new neighbors are members of the polygamist Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), which also has a compound in Custer County. FLDS prophet, Warren Jeffs, is incarcerated on two counts of rape as an accomplice after arranging underage marriages. He is still charged with other crimes.

Tarrell was called to the property Oct. 2 for a burn violation. He said the residents had called four times to find out if there was a burn ordinance and found out there was to be no burning in the county, and they burned anyway. They were cited and may be fined, Tarrell said.

According to Tarrell, the corporation that purchased the 440-acre property from the Herman Heck estate is Oak Valley, Inc.

"There are concerns," he said, about the owners being FLDS. "We are checking it out."

Tubbs said he heard the land sold for $700 an acre, which is a good price in that area, but Kenneth Campbell, attorney who is handling the purchase agreement, would not comment on the price. The deal is pending, he said.

Fall River County has no planning and zoning and no building permits are required, said Tarrell.

Kathy Mankin, owner of the Eldorado Success with her husband, Randy, in Eldorado, Texas — where the FLDS compound was raided earlier this year — contacted private investigator Sam Brower, who said the name definitely indicates that these people are FLDS. According to Brower, FLDS member Sterling Harker has been going out buying properties. Mankin’s research revealed that Oak Valley, Inc., is a Wyoming corporation.
 
CusterCountyNews.com
Originally published October 9, 2008
 
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