Rumored Escape from YFZ has Internet Buzzing
 
The Eldorado Success
 
So far, at least, the Success has found no evidence to support a series of rumors about a woman escaping from the YFZ Ranch, despite the fact that several versions of the rumor were posted last week on various Internet websites and even referred to in numerous published news stories.

When the reports, which appear to have originated in Utah and Arizona, first reached Schleicher County last Thursday, Sheriff David Doran and Justice of the Peace James C. Doyle carried out an aerial search for the woman who, according to one version of the story, was accompanied by her two small children.

While the men scanned the area from the air, other officers looked for the woman on the ground. The search was finally called off when nothing was found.

A later version of the story claimed the woman was yet another of Prophet Warren Jeffs' wives while another claimed she had been wed to former Prophet Rulon Jeffs and was married by the new prophet following his father's death in 2002.

On Tuesday, the Success was contacted by a man in Colorado City, AZ, who claimed hearing the story at least three weeks ago. In that version of the story, the woman managed to get away, not from the YFZ Ranch, but from a convoy of vehicles traveling from Utah to Texas.

Regardless of the version, the rapid spread of the story illustrates what government investigators and law enforcement officials are faced with when dealing with hot button issues like polygamy.

"Even though we all sensed that we were on a wild goose chase, we had to take this thing seriously," Sheriff David Doran told the Success later. He went on to note that arrangements have been made with the appropriate state agencies just in case the real thing ever happens here.
 
MyEldorado.net
Originally published August 5, 2004
 
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