Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
John Hollenhorst reporting Has Warren Jeffs, gone to the Mount Rushmore State?
Investigators on the trail of the fugitive polygamist leader have made a surprising discovery.
Sam Brower, Private Investigator:: "Given it's remote location and so forth it's a place that is simply a hideout for Warren Jeffs. "
They've found a previously unknown polygamist compound in an unexpected location. They believe Jeffs has used it as a hide-out.
It's in South Dakota, nestled in the trees that gave The Black Hills their name. It's the latest twist in what appears to be a secretive multi-state expansion of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
From his base on the Utah-Arizona border and a satellite community in Canada, Warren Jeffs has been expanding his empire, even as his legal troubles deepen.
Private Eye Sam Brower recently tracked the Jeffs group to a huge farming operation in Nevada. Previously, he helped identify a small compound in Colorado and the large, growing compound and temple in Texas.
Now, Brower and free-lance author Jon Krakauer have produced surveillance photos of a newly discovered Jeffs compound a few miles away from Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.
Sam Brower, Private Investigator: "I believe Warren Jeffs probably has been there. I don't know if he's there now."
The Jeffs group evidently bought the property and began putting up more buildings a couple of years ago; roughly the same time they acquired the properties in Texas and Colorado.
The previously unknown compound is near the town of Pringle, South Dakota
Sam Brower, Private Investigator: "They obtained the property on the same premise that they did the Texas YFZ ranch, and that was that it was going to be a hunting retreat. Which of course is a lie."
Brower guesses roughly 60 people live in the compound. Neighbors told him they saw someone who looked like Jeffs last summer.
Sam Brower, Private Investigator: "And so I think that he has been there, I think that he has gone there regularly. And it's one property that has been under the radar for a long time."
Brower believes other compounds may be scattered across the West. Some neighbors are aware of the unusual newcomers. Some aren't.
Sam Brower, Private Investigator: "The few that I did talk to were of course concerned because warren jeffs is a fugitive."
It's not clear if the FBI is aware of the South Dakota compound. Brower assumes they'll want to have a look.
His investigation started with an anonymous tip to the Eldorado Success newspaper in Texas, which broke the story this afternoon.
