Black Hills Police Aware Of Polygamist Fugitive
 
By Andy Harvey
KELOLAND TV - Sioux Falls, South Dakota
 
The Black Hills of South Dakota could be a hiding spot for the leader of a polygamist group. 50-year old Warren Jeffs is wanted by the FBI on two counts of sexual assault on a minor and one count of conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. Jeffs is the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints ... an organization that practices polygamy.

The group has built a compound near Pringle south of Custer. And while neighbors didn't want to talk about what could be going on there, local law enforcement officials are aware of the group.

Electronic gates near Pringle are the entrance to a 100 acre piece of land, home to a polygamist sect. On the ground ... a green metal roof is barely visible through the trees. But in the air ... you can see the layout of the compound. And it could be where fugitive Warren Jeffs is hiding.

Custer County Sheriff Phil Hespen said, "Everybody thinks he's down there."

Hespen learned about Jeffs and his followers within the past year. But says he's had no reason to visit the secretive community so far.

Hespen said, "You could, but I haven't had any reason to believe he's there. Reporter: What makes you say that? I've had no one say that I saw him there."

Followers consider Jeffs a prophet, but he's wanted on federal charges that involve arranging a plural marriage between a 16-year-old girl and an older man. And while local authorities are aware he's a wanted man, they say they'll respect the privacy of the group.

Hespen said, "That a church owns property...okay that's not against the law. So that's as far as it goes. I can only deal in facts. They may have a different lifestyle and I don't know that for a fact."

County papers indicate the land was bought 3 years ago by a man named David Allred. He is said to have purchased it for $135,000.00.
 
KELOLAND.com
Originally published March 9, 2006
 
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