One of the two girls who fled their homes in the twin polygamist communities on the Utah-Arizona border for fears of being married off said she has found refuge in suburban Salt Lake City.
 
The Associated Press
KVOA News Channel 4 Tucson
 
Fawn Broadbent, 17, said she now lives in the home of Carl and Joni Holm in Sandy.

"It's good," Broadbent told the Deseret Morning News for a story in Monday editions. "I can settle down now and go get my stuff and call home whenever I want. I think I'll like it better."

Broadbent and Fawn Holm, a 16-year-old neighbor girl and Carl Holm's younger sister, ran away Jan. 11, just one day after Warren Jeffs, leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, excommunicated nearly two dozen men.

An anti-polygamy activist drove the girls from southern Utah to Phoenix. Fearing the state of Arizona would return them to their parents, the girls disappeared from Arizona's oversight and went underground.

Broadbent's parents, Mathew and Kathryn, have disputed the girls' claims, and said their daughter was never forced to do anything against her will while in their home.

"We want the best for her," said Mathew Broadbent, who agreed late last week to allow his daughter to live with the Holms. "Of course, we'd like it if she was happy here at home. But if she doesn't want to be here, then we aren't going to force her."

Joni Holm said she is happy that one girl is finally under her legal care.

"I have quite a lot of respect for the Broadbents. If it wasn't for the love they have for their daughter, she wouldn't be here," Joni Holm said. "But I'm also kind of in a frustration mode that we don't have Fawn Holm here with us. I fear for her safety, especially now because of her separation from Fawn Broadbent."

Fawn Holm's specific location remains a secret, said Joni Holm, who added she is able to speak often with her young sister-in-law.

"She's pretty close. She's OK," she said. "Fawn Holm does not want to go home."

Fawn Holm's parents said they would like their family reunited. A July court hearing is scheduled to settle the custody issue.

Fawn Broadbent said she called home on Mother's Day and can't wait to see her younger siblings again. She said she's looking forward to attending school and hopes to study fashion design.

"I have a list of things I want to do," she said, including finding a boyfriend. "This is going to be OK. It's difficult because it's such an adjustment and it's so far away (from Colorado City, Ariz.). But it's good."
 
KVOA.com
Originally published May 11, 2004
 
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