Polygamy follower buys land in South Dakota
 
The Associated Press
Provo Daily Herald
 
Deeds to a 100-acre parcel of South Dakota land show the property was bought by a follower of Warren Jeffs, the fugitive leader of a Utah polygamist sect.

Copies of deeds filed in Custer County, S.D., and obtained by The Associated Press indicate the land was deeded to Jeffs' loyalist, David Allred, president of Details Unlimited, based in Washington County, Utah, on Sept. 22, 2003, by an Illinois couple. Allred also fronted the purchase of the fundamentalist sect's 2,000-acre YFZ Ranch, near Eldorado, Texas.

Jeffs, 51, heads the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which is headquartered in the twin towns of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah. In addition to the Texas ranch, the church has outposts in British Columbia, Colorado and Nevada.

Considered a prophet by his followers, Jeffs is wanted on a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution on an Arizona charge that he arranged a plural marriage between a 16-year-old girl and an older man.

Utah private investigator Sam Brower, who works for several attorneys involved in lawsuits against Jeffs, said he and author Jon Krakauer, were contacted by Randy Mankin, editor of The Eldorado (Texas) Success, in January about the possible enclave after the paper received anonymous e-mail and phone tips.

The location of the property near Pringle, S.D., was first reported Wednesday on the Web edition of the Texas weekly newspaper. The property was purchased for $135,000, the paper said.

Krakauer, who wrote "Under The Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith," about polygamist sects, has been tracking Jeffs and often exchanges information with Brower.

A call by The Associated Press to Krakauer's publisher, Random House, seeking comment from the author, was not immediately returned.

Brower and Krakauer traveled to South Dakota at the end of January, after doing some initial work to try to confirm a connection to Jeffs, Brower said.

"I wasn't there 30 seconds, and I was pretty sure what it was," Brower said of the South Dakota enclave.

Surrounded by a new fence, two large dormitory-style buildings have been constructed on the property, as well as several additional small buildings and a large warehouse, which appeared to be under going an addition, Brower said.

Using land records and checking license plate numbers, Brower said they confirmed Allred's purchase of the property and linked numerous trucks coming and going from the property to Z-Trans, a St. George company whose director, Robert Dockstader Allred is a Jeffs' follower.

Also on the property was construction, farm and other equipment including generators and grain silos.

Brower said he has spoken to individuals in the area who told him they have seen large flood lights on at night and heard round-the-clock construction noise.

The individuals, who Brower said do not want their identities revealed, also told him they reported a sighting of Jeffs to authorities last summer.

"They said there was a time last August when there were women outside working in the garden and that's where they saw Warren," said Brower. "They're sure it was Warren. They are quite adamant."

Salt Lake City FBI bureau spokesman Bob Wright said he was unaware of any reports of a South Dakota sighting. An FBI spokeswoman in Phoenix, who is also working on the case, did not immediately return a phone call from The Associated Press.

Most of the property in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., is owned by the United Effort Plan, a trust arm of the FLDS church.

Jeffs and other controlling trustees of the UEP were removed at the request of the Utah attorney general, who contended it was being misused by the leaders. Since then, there have been numerous reports of buildings and equipment being secretly and illegally taken away, possibly for use at the other enclaves.

South Dakota Attorney General Larry Long said he had not heard anything about such a group in South Dakota until news stories appeared Thursday, but he noted that state law forbids bigamy.

Custer County Sheriff Phil Hespen said he had heard "bits and pieces" about the group's alleged presence, but he knows of no law enforcement concerns.

"I don't understand the interest. What's the point of that? People all over the world own land in the Black Hills," Hespen said. "It's not against the law to buy property that I know of."
 
HarkTheHerald.com
Originally published Friday, March 10, 2006
 
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