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["Wildwood Flower"
by The Carter Family playing]
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[man] We're a farm and ranch community.
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A little bit of oil and gas.
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And it's a long way to anywhere from here.
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♪ Oh, I'll twine with my mangels
And waving black hair... ♪
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I'm the publisher here
at The Eldorado Success.
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- ♪ With the roses so red and the... ♪
- [slurping]
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I also am the editor of the paper
and a reporter.
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♪ I will charm every heart... ♪
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In 2003, we had a murder trial we covered.
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Uh... We had a bus wreck.
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So, I thought 2003 might be
our biggest year as a newspaper,
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and that we would probably
never have another year like it.
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But it turned out, I was wrong.
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[airplane whooshing]
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[man 2] The first time I saw
what was going on,
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I was flying to Brownwood,
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and when you take off
and go that direction,
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you're gonna fly
right over the top of that ranch.
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[tense music playing]
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[Randy] The ranch is four miles north
of Eldorado
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and it had been sold.
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We had heard that there was gonna be
a corporate hunting retreat
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at the ranch,
which is not, uh... not hard to believe.
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I flew around it
several times and then, uh...
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I started taking pictures of it.
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[camera clicking]
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They were building structures out there.
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And then as I kept on flying,
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I saw that they were
pouring concrete for a foundation,
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and it's like, "This is a big building."
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I mean, a hell of a big building
for a hunting lodge.
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I didn't know what the hell it was.
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[tense music continues]
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[Randy] As soon as I saw the photos,
I agreed.
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It looked quite a bit larger
than anything we would expect
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in the way of a hunting camp.
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[mouse clicking]
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And whoever they were,
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they were working around the clock,
24/7, had lights up, cranes.
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They were really on a mission
to get that thing built.
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And then, not too long after that...
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[telephone ringing]
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I received a phone call
kind of tipping us off about the ranch,
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telling me about the FLDS,
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and Warren Jeffs, and polygamy,
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and things that I had thought
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had been consigned
to the ash heap of history.
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["Feel More" by Michelle Gurevich playing]
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♪ I was born for the road ♪
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♪ Only after a storm ♪
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♪ Can you feel the sun ♪
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♪ Ooh, I wanna feel ♪
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♪ More ♪
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♪ Ecstasy, in the shadow of ecstasy ♪
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♪ In the shadow of ecstasy ♪
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♪ Ooh, I wanna feel ♪
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♪ More ♪
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[birds chirping]
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[vehicle engine revving]
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[man] Young girls, they're not married
in this community beyond the legal age,
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and we are not involved in that at all.
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And the legal age is what?
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- The legal age is 16.
- Sixteen.
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So, you can say with some finality
that young women in this community,
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if they have not reached
their 16th birthday, will not be married?
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I can say that...
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I do not know of any and I do not think
it will... there will be any.
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[reporter 2] The 16-year-olds,
are they married to, uh...
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men older? Like,
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how old?
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Those are issues
that I can't speak to. Uh...
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We believe in Revelation.
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We believe that... that...
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The fundamentalist belief is that, uh,
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that a man has more than one family,
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and that those things are ordained of God.
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[ominous music playing]
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[reporter 3] You think there's criminal
wrongdoing by the leader of that church?
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I... I don't... I cannot talk
about investigative results
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that would indicate whether or not
there's criminal wrongdoing.
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I have... I have certainly read information
which... which raises my level of concern
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and suspicion to a very high degree.
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[Mike] There started to be sort of
a consistent drumbeat
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from Utah and Arizona law enforcement.
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So, Warren knows
they're coming for him eventually.
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The larger world is connecting the dots
that lead all back to him.
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I don't know if he's a brain surgeon,
but he was certainly smart enough to know
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that the temperature was starting to rise.
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And that's the point where he sort of
just dropped off the face of the Earth.
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[ominous music continues]
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[Sam] He'd pop up to perform marriages
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and then vanish again.
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We knew what he was up to.
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We knew that he was trafficking girls
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for sexual purposes,
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was assigning them to his henchmen.
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We also suspected that
he was taking underage brides himself.
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If you... If you want,
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uh, you can call me,
or I'll stay in touch.
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I was driven to find a way
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to end this madness.
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[Mike] Building the cases, it's difficult,
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because the victims
never wanted to testify.
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It would mean
testifying against their father,
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and their brothers and their uncles.
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Testifying against their spiritual leader.
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[somber music playing]
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It's not like dealing
with an outlaw biker gang or a drug cartel
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where you can simply grow your hair long
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and infiltrate the organization,
get evidence,
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and then place it before a grand jury.
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This is a very closed society
and outsiders just don't get in there.
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[faucet running]
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[Elissa] I was approaching
my 17th birthday
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and I'd been married
to Allen for a few years.
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All of these terrible things
were happening to me.
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Mental, and physical, and sexual abuse.
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[sad music playing]
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I had miscarriages when I was 15 and 16,
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and I really thought
that they were a message from God
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that I just wasn't worthy enough
to be a mother.
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I had spent a better part of three years
going to Warren begging for help,
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contesting this forced marriage
that I found myself in.
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But now Warren had disappeared.
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He wasn't in Short Creek.
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There was this hush-hush
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that had kind of become
the normal whenever it came to Warren.
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[suspenseful music playing]
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We had no idea what he was doing.
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It wasn't really talked about
at that point.
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We were completely closed off
to the world.
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I didn't have a television.
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We weren't allowed
to even read a newspaper.
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Honestly, I didn't even know
the president of the United States.
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[Sam] When Warren went into hiding,
it became tense in Short Creek.
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He was gone,
but he had undercover church security
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that were everywhere watching everybody.
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And they'd go into people's homes,
make sure they were following the rules,
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make sure there were pictures
of Warren on their walls,
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make sure there's
no disallowed activity going on.
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[suspenseful music continues]
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[Isaac] Cameras started going up
in the meeting hall.
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We'd never had that before.
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I mean, who needs a camera?
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But I learned
that they were using those cameras
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to zoom in on people
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to see if they said, "Amen."
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[suspenseful music continues]
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[Charlene] There were cameras
all over town,
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cameras on light posts,
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and they had
what they called the Pigeon's Nest,
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where it had all these cameras,
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like you see in a security room,
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where you could see
pretty much everywhere in town.
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And so, if you left town,
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they knew you left town.
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[Isaac] And they started
keeping records of everything.
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Where you visited, where you went,
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who you talked to.
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[chicken clucking]
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There was this guy,
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him and I were friends and we got talking,
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and he had a daughter that was
about a year or two older than mine,
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and he asked me, he says,
"Well, how old are you gonna
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let your daughter get
before you turn her in for marriage?"
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And uh, my daughter was
about 11 at the time.
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And I told him, I says,
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"Anybody comes knocking at my door
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before she's 18,
they're gonna have to come through me."
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[tense music playing]
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And he was a little shocked that
I would just blatantly say it that way,
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and so he says, "Even the Prophet?"
And I said, "Even the Prophet."
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I says, "This is not
what I signed up for."
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"I was born into this."
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But now there's so much different
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than what I was born into
that I don't recognize it.
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That's when I started realizing
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I was starting to have
questions about Warren Jeffs,
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started wondering
if he really was the Prophet or not.
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[Elissa] Looking back now,
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I see these very strategic moments
that Warren chose to display his power.
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I remember this one particular meeting,
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we were all in church
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and Warren had kind of been leading
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to the fact there was a test
to the people coming.
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[Dowayne] It was
a Saturday morning meeting,
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and I saw Warren
walking through the audience.
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There was an ominous feeling,
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and something just tightened up in my gut.
I said, "Something's not right."
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[ominous music playing]
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[Isaac] Warren,
he hadn't been there for months,
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and all of a sudden, there he was,
in the flesh.
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He got up and was talking,
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and he says... he says,
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"We're in a benevolent dictatorship,"
he called it.
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A benevolent dictatorship.
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[Alicia] There was some
really prominent men in the crick.
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They had a lot of power
and influence there,
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and Warren knew that.
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[ominous music continues]
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[Isaac] He said, "I'm gonna read off
a list of names God gave me."
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And I was one of them.
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He named me and I think 20 other men.
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And four of them were his brothers.
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These weren't just any men
in the community,
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they were leading figures who had been
a key part of building the community.
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So, they were the only people
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that could have disagreed
with his position of power.
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He asked us all to stand up,
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and so we're all sitting there standing,
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everybody in the whole audience
is sitting there looking at you.
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There must have been
3,500 people there at least.
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And Warren,
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he says that we were master deceivers,
and that God had given him
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a list of all the sins
that we had committed.
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[Elissa] He said that they had
disagreed with leadership,
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and by disagreeing,
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that was an act of deception.
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He told them
they had sinned against the Lord,
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they'd aspired,
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that they were gonna
try to wrest the kingdom from him.
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He said, "You're out of the religion."
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"Your wives and children
are released from you."
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"They belong to the priesthood."
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"They need to come
and turn themselves in for reassignment,"
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which is new husbands,
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and "You men, go home,
pack your things, and leave town."
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And he says, "If your families
are here with you right now,
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- don't even say goodbye to them."
- [ominous music continues]
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[Dowayne] The oxygen just went
out of the air.
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You could've heard a pin drop.
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You could've heard a pin drop
on carpet and hear the rattle.
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And it was that quiet in the building.
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[Elissa] There were people in the audience
with tears in their eyes,
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and then Warren told us,
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"Everyone in agreement
with the word of the Lord,
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raise their hand."
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[tense music playing]
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And after just absolute silence,
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all the hands
in the community were raised.
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I was caught up in all of it as well
and I raised my hand.
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[tense music intensifies]
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[Dowayne] He established dominance
in that meeting.
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People saw the danger of offending Warren,
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because if you'll do it to one of them,
you will do it to us.
247
00:14:10,349 --> 00:14:14,228
This really is a bombshell in
the polygamous community of Colorado City.
248
00:14:14,311 --> 00:14:16,814
Some of the most prominent men
in that town,
249
00:14:16,897 --> 00:14:19,233
now defrocked of their religious powers,
250
00:14:19,316 --> 00:14:22,903
large families being taken apart
like children's toys.
251
00:14:23,612 --> 00:14:25,823
[Mike] Warren threw
these prominent men out,
252
00:14:25,906 --> 00:14:28,367
and all of these men had dozens of wives
253
00:14:28,450 --> 00:14:30,327
and large groups of children.
254
00:14:31,912 --> 00:14:35,082
He took their families and homes away,
told them to get outta there.
255
00:14:35,165 --> 00:14:38,043
Might as well have just lined them up
against the wall and shot them.
256
00:14:38,127 --> 00:14:39,837
[quad bike engine revving]
257
00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:44,049
[Isaac] I went home and I told my wife,
I said, "You watch."
258
00:14:44,133 --> 00:14:46,719
"Certified school teachers,
they're gonna be gone."
259
00:14:46,802 --> 00:14:48,637
"Doctors, they're gonna be gone."
260
00:14:49,138 --> 00:14:52,433
"People with any influence in town,
he's gotta get rid of them
261
00:14:52,516 --> 00:14:54,852
in order to do what he's trying to do."
262
00:14:55,895 --> 00:14:58,564
Because Warren was taking out everybody
263
00:14:58,647 --> 00:15:00,900
you know, that had any brains at all.
264
00:15:03,027 --> 00:15:05,029
[dog barking]
265
00:15:11,452 --> 00:15:14,246
[melancholy music playing]
266
00:15:15,414 --> 00:15:18,792
[Wallace] I was kicked out by Warren,
my own brother.
267
00:15:20,377 --> 00:15:23,255
I had two wives and 20 children.
268
00:15:24,798 --> 00:15:26,926
Seven by one and 13 by the other.
269
00:15:28,135 --> 00:15:29,135
Um...
270
00:15:29,595 --> 00:15:31,263
We were a pretty united family,
271
00:15:33,015 --> 00:15:35,017
and when he kicked me out,
272
00:15:36,727 --> 00:15:37,937
he never said why.
273
00:15:39,188 --> 00:15:40,814
And he didn't just kick you out,
274
00:15:42,066 --> 00:15:43,275
he kicked you out,
275
00:15:43,901 --> 00:15:45,069
but he tore
276
00:15:46,070 --> 00:15:48,072
your family from you,
277
00:15:49,239 --> 00:15:51,742
physically and emotionally.
278
00:15:52,451 --> 00:15:55,871
He completely destroys the bond
279
00:15:56,956 --> 00:15:58,874
between a father and his family.
280
00:15:58,958 --> 00:16:00,876
[melancholy music continues]
281
00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:05,089
He told them that I was a son of Satan.
282
00:16:05,965 --> 00:16:08,926
"You are not to be his children
or his wives anymore."
283
00:16:09,718 --> 00:16:13,847
And they believed it because
I bred into them what was bred into me.
284
00:16:14,723 --> 00:16:17,768
So, when you get kicked out,
they don't follow you.
285
00:16:18,519 --> 00:16:21,021
What you lived for 50 years
286
00:16:22,022 --> 00:16:24,400
is completely ripped apart.
287
00:16:26,235 --> 00:16:30,072
My brother, LeRoy,
he probably had the most united family.
288
00:16:30,155 --> 00:16:31,532
His family was awesome.
289
00:16:32,449 --> 00:16:33,951
It also happened to them.
290
00:16:35,327 --> 00:16:38,247
LeRoy is Warren's, um, oldest brother,
291
00:16:40,207 --> 00:16:42,292
and I fell in love with him.
292
00:16:42,793 --> 00:16:44,545
After Rulon died,
293
00:16:44,628 --> 00:16:46,922
Warren wanted me to marry him
294
00:16:47,006 --> 00:16:48,757
like the other ladies had,
295
00:16:49,341 --> 00:16:51,844
but I felt that I belonged to LeRoy.
296
00:16:54,638 --> 00:16:55,639
I told Warren,
297
00:16:56,390 --> 00:16:59,018
and I knew that he was pissed.
298
00:16:59,893 --> 00:17:03,230
I looked in his eyes,
and it literally looked like a snake's.
299
00:17:05,524 --> 00:17:08,527
He held himself together
after a couple minutes...
300
00:17:10,863 --> 00:17:13,365
and then he said,
"Okay, I'll take it up with the Lord."
301
00:17:14,575 --> 00:17:16,535
The next morning he said,
302
00:17:16,618 --> 00:17:18,328
"You can marry LeRoy,
303
00:17:18,412 --> 00:17:20,664
but I am still personally over you."
304
00:17:20,748 --> 00:17:24,376
"I will be directing you
even if you're married to another man."
305
00:17:24,460 --> 00:17:26,462
[soft music playing]
306
00:17:27,838 --> 00:17:30,049
Oh, man, I... I just loved LeRoy.
307
00:17:30,799 --> 00:17:32,384
I was almost 26.
308
00:17:32,468 --> 00:17:34,636
I never knew that kind of love.
309
00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:37,181
[birds chirping]
310
00:17:37,264 --> 00:17:40,059
He had a lot of wives,
but I was his favorite.
311
00:17:40,142 --> 00:17:41,769
I went everywhere with him.
312
00:17:43,145 --> 00:17:44,313
LeRoy was fun.
313
00:17:44,396 --> 00:17:46,732
He just made me laugh and laugh and laugh.
314
00:17:46,815 --> 00:17:48,358
He'd sing songs to me,
315
00:17:48,442 --> 00:17:51,403
and he called me
his lovey-dovey all the time,
316
00:17:51,487 --> 00:17:53,405
and he made a song around that.
317
00:17:53,489 --> 00:17:55,866
He was so darling to me.
318
00:17:57,576 --> 00:18:00,370
When I found out I was expecting,
it was just like,
319
00:18:00,454 --> 00:18:02,748
"Oh, my gosh." I was so happy.
320
00:18:03,874 --> 00:18:04,958
When she was born,
321
00:18:05,042 --> 00:18:07,377
LeRoy named her Ruleecia,
322
00:18:08,170 --> 00:18:10,923
and then Rachel was born 18 months later
323
00:18:11,006 --> 00:18:13,008
and we were just one big happy family.
324
00:18:13,801 --> 00:18:15,010
So, so happy. [chuckles]
325
00:18:17,221 --> 00:18:20,182
And then one day, Warren called me.
326
00:18:21,558 --> 00:18:24,937
He says,
"LeRoy's priesthood is in question."
327
00:18:25,020 --> 00:18:26,980
[music becomes more ominous]
328
00:18:27,064 --> 00:18:30,567
And that he was now
one of the Sons of Perdition.
329
00:18:31,860 --> 00:18:35,948
Sons of Perdition meant the lowest parts
of Hell that you could go to,
330
00:18:36,865 --> 00:18:41,537
and I just had a hard time wrapping
my head around that such a sweet man
331
00:18:41,620 --> 00:18:43,288
could be a Son of Perdition.
332
00:18:43,997 --> 00:18:46,917
I had this incredible pain in my heart
333
00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:48,252
that perhaps
334
00:18:48,961 --> 00:18:52,005
I had done something
to make LeRoy lose his priesthood.
335
00:18:53,924 --> 00:18:55,551
When LeRoy was kicked out,
336
00:18:55,634 --> 00:18:58,929
we were given
to Warren's younger brother, Seth.
337
00:19:00,430 --> 00:19:03,559
Warren said that Seth
was our new priesthood head
338
00:19:03,642 --> 00:19:04,768
and their father.
339
00:19:05,477 --> 00:19:09,648
And then Warren told me to take
all the pictures of LeRoy and burn them
340
00:19:10,357 --> 00:19:12,860
and make sure I never even mentioned
341
00:19:12,943 --> 00:19:14,611
the kids' father ever again.
342
00:19:14,695 --> 00:19:16,530
[fire crackling]
343
00:19:19,533 --> 00:19:20,533
I felt anger.
344
00:19:20,868 --> 00:19:24,496
I felt all those feelings,
and I knew I couldn't show them,
345
00:19:25,247 --> 00:19:26,874
or talk to anyone about them.
346
00:19:26,957 --> 00:19:29,918
I knew that if I did,
I possibly couldn't go to Zion.
347
00:19:31,128 --> 00:19:33,672
- [producer] What is Zion?
- Zion was a secret.
348
00:19:33,755 --> 00:19:35,841
[ominous music playing]
349
00:19:38,010 --> 00:19:41,597
[Elissa] In the FLDS,
we really believed in the end of days.
350
00:19:42,097 --> 00:19:46,351
And Zion was this afterlife
that was going to happen
351
00:19:46,435 --> 00:19:47,978
to the righteous and the pure.
352
00:19:49,354 --> 00:19:51,982
It had been ingrained in us
over and over and over,
353
00:19:53,901 --> 00:19:55,110
what it would look like,
354
00:19:55,777 --> 00:19:57,029
the streets of gold,
355
00:19:57,112 --> 00:20:00,282
everyone in a state of joy
and contentment.
356
00:20:00,365 --> 00:20:01,867
[soft music playing]
357
00:20:01,950 --> 00:20:03,327
Zion was like...
358
00:20:04,536 --> 00:20:05,996
um... heaven.
359
00:20:07,456 --> 00:20:10,626
But then,
Warren said that there was an actual Zion.
360
00:20:11,627 --> 00:20:13,045
A real place.
361
00:20:14,963 --> 00:20:17,925
[Dowayne] We were told
Zion was here on the Earth.
362
00:20:19,009 --> 00:20:21,762
It really surprised me,
and I realized it was for real.
363
00:20:23,472 --> 00:20:25,057
[Elissa] And then, all of the sudden,
364
00:20:25,140 --> 00:20:28,143
there were people in the community
that would just disappear.
365
00:20:29,061 --> 00:20:30,562
We called them "poofers."
366
00:20:31,396 --> 00:20:35,442
And they were being brought to "Zion,"
367
00:20:35,525 --> 00:20:36,902
that's what we were told,
368
00:20:36,985 --> 00:20:38,946
to do something for the Prophet.
369
00:20:39,821 --> 00:20:41,990
[Mike] Warren was deciding
370
00:20:42,074 --> 00:20:44,076
there were people he liked and trusted,
371
00:20:44,159 --> 00:20:46,620
and there were people
who were not so favorable.
372
00:20:47,579 --> 00:20:50,499
Kicking out the 21 men,
that was just the beginning.
373
00:20:50,582 --> 00:20:55,587
Now... Now he had the ability to start
segregating families and people.
374
00:20:55,671 --> 00:20:57,464
"You can come to the Promised Land,
375
00:20:57,547 --> 00:21:01,093
the rest of you stay back
in, you know, the dirt and squalor."
376
00:21:02,386 --> 00:21:05,347
[Sam] And he would dangle it like a carrot
in front of their nose.
377
00:21:05,430 --> 00:21:07,349
To be called to go to Zion
378
00:21:07,432 --> 00:21:09,601
means that you are one of the elect.
379
00:21:11,603 --> 00:21:15,357
[Alicia] We knew that people were leaving,
and all I knew was,
380
00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:18,402
I had to be so pure and clean
381
00:21:18,485 --> 00:21:20,904
that the Lord whispers
your name to the Prophet,
382
00:21:20,988 --> 00:21:23,240
and that's the only way to go to Zion.
383
00:21:24,616 --> 00:21:27,160
Nobody knew where Zion was.
It wasn't talked about.
384
00:21:28,328 --> 00:21:30,831
[Charlene] Nobody knew
except if you were invited,
385
00:21:30,914 --> 00:21:33,834
but I kind of had suspected
386
00:21:34,626 --> 00:21:35,626
where it was.
387
00:21:36,753 --> 00:21:40,048
I took note one day
388
00:21:40,132 --> 00:21:43,844
before my husband, Lyle, left.
389
00:21:43,927 --> 00:21:45,679
He didn't say where he was going.
390
00:21:46,722 --> 00:21:49,266
And I wrote down
the mileage on his vehicle,
391
00:21:50,976 --> 00:21:53,687
and then I wrote down
the mileage when he got back,
392
00:21:53,770 --> 00:21:57,899
and I did a circumference on the map,
393
00:21:57,983 --> 00:22:00,736
and I went,
"Ah-ha. It's here, here or here."
394
00:22:00,819 --> 00:22:01,945
[laughing]
395
00:22:02,029 --> 00:22:04,281
Then I started noticing
396
00:22:04,364 --> 00:22:06,074
the color of mud
397
00:22:06,700 --> 00:22:08,243
on his vehicle.
398
00:22:08,327 --> 00:22:10,579
I went, "Okay, that cancels that one out
399
00:22:10,662 --> 00:22:12,581
and that cancels that one out."
400
00:22:12,664 --> 00:22:14,041
"Okay. It's gotta be here."
401
00:22:15,542 --> 00:22:17,836
I knew that Zion was in Texas.
402
00:22:19,921 --> 00:22:22,841
[country guitar playing]
403
00:22:29,973 --> 00:22:33,769
[country guitar continues]
404
00:22:40,108 --> 00:22:42,611
Well, we were feeding some cattle
in the pasture
405
00:22:42,694 --> 00:22:45,322
next to their improvements
and I noticed, uh...
406
00:22:47,282 --> 00:22:49,284
quite a few people as I drove up.
407
00:22:50,077 --> 00:22:52,204
Mostly young men. Lots of teenagers.
408
00:22:53,413 --> 00:22:56,041
Seems like they all had plenty to do.
409
00:22:56,124 --> 00:22:59,461
An industrious bunch. And you know,
I just pulled up to the fence,
410
00:22:59,961 --> 00:23:01,421
waved at them and said, uh,
411
00:23:02,047 --> 00:23:04,383
"Hey, I'm your neighbor,"
you know, and I kind of...
412
00:23:04,466 --> 00:23:06,051
The neighborly thing to do in Texas.
413
00:23:06,134 --> 00:23:09,638
I kind of thought they'd come over
to the fence and they didn't move.
414
00:23:10,347 --> 00:23:12,766
And I had no idea who I was dealing with.
415
00:23:13,517 --> 00:23:15,602
[country guitar continues]
416
00:23:15,685 --> 00:23:17,562
[man] When you see them in the store,
417
00:23:17,646 --> 00:23:21,483
you'd see more the men than anything.
They were real unsociable.
418
00:23:21,566 --> 00:23:23,568
They didn't like, uh, conversation.
419
00:23:23,652 --> 00:23:26,780
They didn't say hi, bye or nothing.
They wouldn't even look at you, really.
420
00:23:27,364 --> 00:23:28,949
You never really saw the girls.
421
00:23:29,616 --> 00:23:33,495
Whenever you did see them,
they were dressed like Laura Ingalls.
422
00:23:33,578 --> 00:23:34,663
[laughing]
423
00:23:36,164 --> 00:23:39,376
I didn't know what was going on.
It was real secretive.
424
00:23:42,629 --> 00:23:44,631
[indistinct conversation]
425
00:23:46,425 --> 00:23:50,053
[slow piano playing]
426
00:23:53,932 --> 00:23:55,684
[woman] When we got called to Zion,
427
00:23:56,852 --> 00:23:59,312
I just remember being so excited
428
00:23:59,396 --> 00:24:01,398
and we were just jumping with joy.
429
00:24:02,816 --> 00:24:04,234
It was like going to heaven.
430
00:24:04,317 --> 00:24:08,947
It was like going
to the most sacred place on Earth,
431
00:24:09,030 --> 00:24:11,158
you know? You just feel... [inhaling]
432
00:24:11,241 --> 00:24:13,869
I felt so happy to be chosen.
433
00:24:13,952 --> 00:24:15,954
[indistinct conversation]
434
00:24:18,457 --> 00:24:20,459
[ominous music playing]
435
00:24:21,501 --> 00:24:23,962
[Lola] Uncle Merril was
the Bishop from the ranch.
436
00:24:28,133 --> 00:24:31,344
And, um, he was very important.
437
00:24:31,428 --> 00:24:33,805
[man 2] Brother Merril
is giving everything
438
00:24:33,889 --> 00:24:36,766
to help Brother Warren's mission succeed.
439
00:24:38,602 --> 00:24:40,520
[Lola] But Warren Jeffs,
440
00:24:41,104 --> 00:24:44,816
he was the final say behind
any decision that was gonna be made.
441
00:24:45,692 --> 00:24:50,197
In our minds, the police and even
the president of the United States
442
00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:52,240
had no authority over us because
443
00:24:52,991 --> 00:24:55,577
Warren Jeffs was our president.
He was the Prophet.
444
00:24:55,660 --> 00:24:58,705
And how could you place a human over God?
445
00:24:59,956 --> 00:25:02,042
[female voices] ♪ We do what we do ♪
446
00:25:02,125 --> 00:25:04,002
♪ We did what you do ♪
447
00:25:04,085 --> 00:25:06,087
♪ They say what we say ♪
448
00:25:06,171 --> 00:25:08,006
♪ They say what you say... ♪
449
00:25:08,089 --> 00:25:10,383
[Lola] In Zion, girls had to wear pastel.
450
00:25:12,719 --> 00:25:14,971
People were appointed
to do certain things,
451
00:25:15,472 --> 00:25:18,600
um, like run construction
or work at the dairy.
452
00:25:18,683 --> 00:25:20,977
[singing continues]
453
00:25:26,775 --> 00:25:28,860
[Lola] I spent my days
helping weed the garden,
454
00:25:28,944 --> 00:25:32,030
or I would be making lunches for the guys.
455
00:25:32,531 --> 00:25:34,366
♪ Can you not see? ♪
456
00:25:34,449 --> 00:25:38,370
♪ What keeping sweet means... ♪
457
00:25:39,496 --> 00:25:41,456
[Lola] We were pretty self-sufficient.
458
00:25:42,374 --> 00:25:46,127
We grew and prepared
almost everything that we had there.
459
00:25:47,712 --> 00:25:49,214
We ground our own flour.
460
00:25:51,716 --> 00:25:53,552
We helped my dad sort potatoes.
461
00:25:55,887 --> 00:25:58,765
He had a whole potato field
in his section, so...
462
00:25:59,558 --> 00:26:01,601
[clicks tongue] Sort out the tiny ones.
463
00:26:03,395 --> 00:26:06,273
We worked at a storehouse,
helped fill orders,
464
00:26:07,107 --> 00:26:08,149
cleaning up.
465
00:26:08,233 --> 00:26:12,070
Actually, one of the crazy things,
we dug cactus.
466
00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:16,575
We were told to get all the cactus
out the land 'cause it's accursed,
467
00:26:17,158 --> 00:26:19,703
so we were digging up all the cactus.
468
00:26:20,203 --> 00:26:24,499
♪ The actions and the words do say ♪
469
00:26:24,583 --> 00:26:29,045
♪ Showing us our Father's way ♪
470
00:26:29,129 --> 00:26:33,633
♪ With careful sweet obedience... ♪
471
00:26:33,717 --> 00:26:36,303
[Connie] I went to school there.
They had a good school.
472
00:26:36,386 --> 00:26:41,558
And went through, like, second grade,
all the way up to fourth grade.
473
00:26:41,641 --> 00:26:44,311
[singing ends]
474
00:26:46,438 --> 00:26:49,482
- [man 3] How about doing the dishes?
- [all laughing]
475
00:26:51,776 --> 00:26:54,195
[Sam] The ranch was literally
Warren's fiefdom.
476
00:26:54,279 --> 00:26:56,281
He could do anything he wanted there.
477
00:26:56,906 --> 00:27:00,035
And so, it became his grooming ground
478
00:27:00,118 --> 00:27:01,411
for underage brides.
479
00:27:02,370 --> 00:27:04,247
Raise them like calves in the stall.
480
00:27:04,914 --> 00:27:08,835
That way you're gonna have this pool of
481
00:27:08,918 --> 00:27:13,548
pure clean girls that are
gonna be going to these old lechers.
482
00:27:13,632 --> 00:27:15,133
[intriguing music playing]
483
00:27:15,216 --> 00:27:19,220
[Lola] We believed
that the maturity of our girls
484
00:27:19,304 --> 00:27:21,973
was higher than gentiles and apostates.
485
00:27:22,974 --> 00:27:26,269
Age didn't really matter,
so, like, you could be married at 14
486
00:27:26,353 --> 00:27:29,856
and if God thought
that you were worthy at 14,
487
00:27:29,939 --> 00:27:32,275
then, you know, it wasn't a big deal.
488
00:27:32,359 --> 00:27:34,361
[intriguing music continues]
489
00:27:37,113 --> 00:27:39,824
[Randy] There was a wide range
of sentiment here.
490
00:27:40,492 --> 00:27:41,492
[bell tinkling]
491
00:27:41,534 --> 00:27:44,704
As to how do we deal with the FLDS?
492
00:27:45,330 --> 00:27:48,917
What does it mean
to our community going forward?
493
00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:50,085
[eerie music playing]
494
00:27:50,168 --> 00:27:55,006
We wrote several pieces
about things they had done in Short Creek,
495
00:27:55,090 --> 00:27:58,343
and as it came out that
there were underage marriages going on,
496
00:27:58,927 --> 00:28:00,303
there was a lot of concern.
497
00:28:01,513 --> 00:28:04,015
It gets all kinda scary
that these people are out here.
498
00:28:04,099 --> 00:28:06,017
They shouldn't be doing that kinda stuff.
499
00:28:06,935 --> 00:28:09,479
I do feel bad
for the... the young girls in there.
500
00:28:10,397 --> 00:28:12,774
I don't think
they're too popular here in Eldorado.
501
00:28:13,358 --> 00:28:15,777
You know, I don't trust 'em.
I just don't trust 'em.
502
00:28:15,860 --> 00:28:19,364
On the other hand, there were several
people saying, "Leave 'em alone."
503
00:28:19,447 --> 00:28:21,927
"They're not doing anything wrong.
They're not hurting anyone."
504
00:28:22,617 --> 00:28:25,704
Oh, I don't know if I have
any strong feelings, you know, they're...
505
00:28:25,787 --> 00:28:27,497
Nobody knows that much about them.
506
00:28:28,123 --> 00:28:30,083
It's... It's somebody else's way of life
507
00:28:30,166 --> 00:28:34,087
and it's their own personal business
and I just stay out of people's business.
508
00:28:35,130 --> 00:28:38,842
They said, "It's their world,
you know, leave them alone."
509
00:28:40,301 --> 00:28:42,178
Uh, as the father of a daughter,
510
00:28:43,054 --> 00:28:46,141
I can promise you,
I... I wasn't just going to leave it alone.
511
00:28:46,224 --> 00:28:48,059
[tense music playing]
512
00:28:48,143 --> 00:28:51,146
And it seemed like months
and months went by
513
00:28:51,229 --> 00:28:54,441
that we were the only newspaper
in Texas reporting on this thing.
514
00:28:56,651 --> 00:28:59,195
And then we learned
they were building a temple.
515
00:28:59,863 --> 00:29:04,993
The thing is just huge,
and it's all a monument to one man's ego.
516
00:29:05,952 --> 00:29:07,036
And that's Warren Jeffs.
517
00:29:07,120 --> 00:29:09,122
[tense music continues]
518
00:29:09,205 --> 00:29:13,334
Suddenly, people began to think,
"Well, maybe this is a real story."
519
00:29:13,418 --> 00:29:15,420
Others began paying attention.
520
00:29:15,503 --> 00:29:19,841
[reporter 4] The polygamist group known
as the FLDS is building a new temple...
521
00:29:19,924 --> 00:29:22,427
[Randy] And it became
a national news story.
522
00:29:22,510 --> 00:29:25,889
[reporter 5] Warren Jeffs' massive
white temple is the biggest story
523
00:29:25,972 --> 00:29:28,933
to ever hit the tiny town
of Eldorado, Texas.
524
00:29:29,642 --> 00:29:32,121
[reporter 6] Warren Jeffs
has been building a secluded compound
525
00:29:32,145 --> 00:29:33,688
in Eldorado, Texas.
526
00:29:33,772 --> 00:29:36,816
Visitors are definitely not welcome.
527
00:29:36,900 --> 00:29:38,860
The only way to see it is by air.
528
00:29:38,943 --> 00:29:40,570
[tense music continues]
529
00:29:40,653 --> 00:29:42,280
[Sam] As time went on,
530
00:29:42,363 --> 00:29:44,449
it was becoming increasingly urgent
531
00:29:44,532 --> 00:29:46,284
that Warren was caught.
532
00:29:47,452 --> 00:29:49,662
Even though it was suspected he was there,
533
00:29:50,163 --> 00:29:52,916
they didn't have enough evidence
to get a search warrant
534
00:29:52,999 --> 00:29:54,918
and start going into the ranch.
535
00:29:55,877 --> 00:30:00,215
So, we were constantly trying to find
victims willing to come forward.
536
00:30:01,591 --> 00:30:04,761
If you don't have a victim coming forward,
you don't have a case.
537
00:30:04,844 --> 00:30:06,846
[dramatic music plays]
538
00:30:10,308 --> 00:30:12,310
[intriguing music playing]
539
00:30:16,064 --> 00:30:18,900
[Elissa] With each passing day,
with each passing year,
540
00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:23,321
I had to realize that no one
was able to protect me from Allen
541
00:30:23,404 --> 00:30:24,447
but myself.
542
00:30:26,032 --> 00:30:28,785
Because of the abuse
that was consistently happening
543
00:30:28,868 --> 00:30:32,956
and the repeated pleas for help
that were ignored,
544
00:30:33,623 --> 00:30:36,668
I started to take matters
into my own hands.
545
00:30:37,293 --> 00:30:39,128
You know, I finally could drive
546
00:30:39,212 --> 00:30:43,341
and got a job as a server
at this local restaurant
547
00:30:43,424 --> 00:30:45,844
that was owned and run by the FLDS.
548
00:30:46,344 --> 00:30:48,596
And so I started to become
more and more independent.
549
00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:50,932
- [dramatic music playing]
- [crickets chirping]
550
00:30:51,015 --> 00:30:53,893
And then one particular night,
I found myself
551
00:30:54,519 --> 00:30:57,021
on the side of a road with a flat tire
552
00:30:57,105 --> 00:30:58,898
in a desperate state,
553
00:31:00,108 --> 00:31:03,945
and Lamont,
a gentleman that was from our community,
554
00:31:04,445 --> 00:31:07,282
he had taken the time to stop and help me.
555
00:31:07,365 --> 00:31:09,117
[dramatic music continues]
556
00:31:09,200 --> 00:31:10,410
From that meeting,
557
00:31:10,493 --> 00:31:13,329
Lamont and I started a friendship,
558
00:31:14,038 --> 00:31:16,207
and... we fell in love.
559
00:31:17,584 --> 00:31:18,835
It was the first time
560
00:31:18,918 --> 00:31:21,129
that I had ever felt safe around
561
00:31:21,629 --> 00:31:24,173
a male outside
of my own brothers and my father.
562
00:31:24,924 --> 00:31:27,218
And I couldn't imagine a reality
563
00:31:27,302 --> 00:31:29,220
or a future without that.
564
00:31:33,474 --> 00:31:35,476
And then finally, it all came to a head.
565
00:31:36,352 --> 00:31:39,898
I was called into
the office of the acting Bishop.
566
00:31:40,398 --> 00:31:44,652
My husband, Allen, was sitting there
and Warren was on the phone.
567
00:31:45,320 --> 00:31:47,822
Through the speaker of the phone,
I could hear him.
568
00:31:47,906 --> 00:31:51,409
They had a picture of Lamont and I,
569
00:31:51,492 --> 00:31:54,037
and Warren explained to me
570
00:31:54,120 --> 00:31:56,247
that I was an adulterous woman
571
00:31:56,331 --> 00:31:59,000
and that I had committed cardinal sins.
572
00:32:00,543 --> 00:32:03,963
Adultery is one of the few sins
that you could not come back from.
573
00:32:05,298 --> 00:32:08,384
And then he told Allen, "A job well done."
574
00:32:09,552 --> 00:32:14,223
"Job well done" meant
that Allen had fulfilled his commitments.
575
00:32:14,307 --> 00:32:17,268
That he was considered obedient
576
00:32:17,352 --> 00:32:18,269
and I was not.
577
00:32:18,353 --> 00:32:20,605
[dramatic music continues]
578
00:32:20,688 --> 00:32:23,942
It lit this righteous fury within me.
579
00:32:25,360 --> 00:32:27,278
After everything that Warren knew,
580
00:32:27,362 --> 00:32:30,198
after all the times
that I had pleaded for help,
581
00:32:30,698 --> 00:32:33,076
that that's the outcome,
582
00:32:33,159 --> 00:32:35,870
that I was labeled
the wicked, terrible one.
583
00:32:37,705 --> 00:32:39,666
I left that meeting
584
00:32:39,749 --> 00:32:44,837
with a very clear understanding
that my life in the FLDS was over.
585
00:32:46,047 --> 00:32:50,551
And I was able to finally call Lamont
and say, "It's time to go. Let's go."
586
00:32:50,635 --> 00:32:52,637
[vehicle passing]
587
00:32:55,556 --> 00:32:56,556
Lamont and I,
588
00:32:57,475 --> 00:32:59,602
we had run away to a town
589
00:32:59,686 --> 00:33:02,021
close to Short Creek
called Hurricane, Utah,
590
00:33:02,563 --> 00:33:06,901
and we were living in a small home with
other people who had also left the FLDS.
591
00:33:07,735 --> 00:33:12,490
I didn't want to bring up the past,
I didn't want to have to talk about it,
592
00:33:12,573 --> 00:33:14,867
I didn't even
want to have to truly admit it.
593
00:33:15,451 --> 00:33:17,036
[tense music playing]
594
00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:19,497
But then my sister, Rebecca, called me.
595
00:33:20,665 --> 00:33:24,335
[Rebecca] I told Elissa, "You shouldn't
have been forced to marry at 14."
596
00:33:25,086 --> 00:33:29,298
"That should have never happened to you
and it should not happen to anybody else."
597
00:33:30,091 --> 00:33:31,634
Our two baby sisters,
598
00:33:31,718 --> 00:33:33,803
they were both younger than 14,
599
00:33:33,886 --> 00:33:37,515
and we all knew Warren enough
to know that he would not stop.
600
00:33:37,598 --> 00:33:40,768
- [tense music continues]
- Rebecca started to talk to me about
601
00:33:40,852 --> 00:33:44,897
what would happen if we talked
to law enforcement about my story.
602
00:33:45,898 --> 00:33:47,066
She said to me,
603
00:33:47,150 --> 00:33:50,236
"I can't do this, only you can,"
604
00:33:50,737 --> 00:33:53,656
because I had been forced
to be married underage.
605
00:33:54,574 --> 00:33:56,993
[tense music continues]
606
00:34:01,956 --> 00:34:04,792
[Roger] I got involved in 2004,
607
00:34:04,876 --> 00:34:05,960
and, by that time,
608
00:34:06,044 --> 00:34:09,047
one of our goals was to see
if we could help law enforcement
609
00:34:09,130 --> 00:34:12,175
identify witnesses
who might be able to lead
610
00:34:12,258 --> 00:34:14,552
to the arrest of Warren Jeffs.
611
00:34:15,053 --> 00:34:17,597
And then we heard about Elissa Wall.
612
00:34:19,307 --> 00:34:21,934
Elissa was a girl
613
00:34:22,018 --> 00:34:23,686
who was a little bit independent,
614
00:34:24,312 --> 00:34:27,440
and that's the kind of girl
that worries the church.
615
00:34:27,940 --> 00:34:31,986
Elissa had finally
broken out of the church.
616
00:34:32,487 --> 00:34:33,905
We were aware of her,
617
00:34:33,988 --> 00:34:35,990
she was aware of us,
618
00:34:36,074 --> 00:34:40,119
and I knew that
what Elissa Wall had to say
619
00:34:40,620 --> 00:34:42,413
could bring Warren Jeffs down.
620
00:34:42,914 --> 00:34:47,335
But we didn't know
if she was ready to talk to us.
621
00:34:48,544 --> 00:34:50,379
[Elissa] It was really overwhelming.
622
00:34:50,880 --> 00:34:53,925
You don't fight the priesthood,
you don't fight the Prophet.
623
00:34:54,008 --> 00:34:57,678
But I really wanted to protect my sisters,
624
00:34:57,762 --> 00:35:01,474
and this was one way
that I knew that I could.
625
00:35:01,557 --> 00:35:03,434
[emotional music playing]
626
00:35:03,518 --> 00:35:05,937
[Roger] Elissa is the bravest girl I know.
627
00:35:06,771 --> 00:35:11,234
Eventually, she decided
that she was going to trust us,
628
00:35:11,317 --> 00:35:13,861
work with us, work with law enforcement.
629
00:35:14,445 --> 00:35:16,864
And so, we finally had a case
630
00:35:16,948 --> 00:35:20,034
against Warren Jeffs
for accomplice to rape.
631
00:35:21,702 --> 00:35:25,665
This kind of a prosecution was unheard of
in the state of Utah,
632
00:35:26,415 --> 00:35:30,253
and the prosecuting team
was very honest to me about it,
633
00:35:30,336 --> 00:35:32,296
that we were navigating unseen water
634
00:35:32,380 --> 00:35:35,299
and there was concern
of how successful we would actually be.
635
00:35:35,383 --> 00:35:36,717
[ominous music playing]
636
00:35:36,801 --> 00:35:39,220
[man] I thought our legal theory,
even though it was novel,
637
00:35:39,303 --> 00:35:40,638
was completely legit.
638
00:35:41,848 --> 00:35:47,478
Under Utah law, a person
of Elissa's age cannot consent
639
00:35:47,562 --> 00:35:49,981
to participate in a marriage,
640
00:35:50,690 --> 00:35:55,361
so, Warren Jeffs was charged
with two counts of rape as an accomplice.
641
00:35:58,406 --> 00:36:01,117
But Warren had gone on the lam,
642
00:36:01,200 --> 00:36:03,661
and we didn't know where he was.
643
00:36:05,121 --> 00:36:07,915
I got a phone call after we filed our case
644
00:36:07,999 --> 00:36:12,461
from a local FBI agent
who I'd known and I was friends with,
645
00:36:12,545 --> 00:36:13,545
and he said,
646
00:36:13,588 --> 00:36:16,215
"We think if you'll let us track him,
647
00:36:16,299 --> 00:36:18,467
we can get him
on the Top Ten Most Wanted list."
648
00:36:18,551 --> 00:36:20,595
I'm like, "Whoa. Okay, great."
649
00:36:20,678 --> 00:36:23,306
Over the weekend,
Osama Bin Laden and eight other men
650
00:36:23,389 --> 00:36:26,809
were joined on the FBI's
Most Wanted list by Warren Jeffs.
651
00:36:27,852 --> 00:36:30,938
[Sam] Warren was a wanted man,
a federal fugitive,
652
00:36:31,022 --> 00:36:34,442
but he had the help
of countless followers.
653
00:36:34,525 --> 00:36:37,445
He had unlimited resources,
and money, and vehicles,
654
00:36:37,528 --> 00:36:40,740
and was very successful
655
00:36:40,823 --> 00:36:42,742
in keeping hidden.
656
00:36:43,659 --> 00:36:46,412
By this point,
Warren's basically a seasoned fugitive
657
00:36:46,495 --> 00:36:50,208
with cell phones and masks
and disguises and credit cards
658
00:36:50,291 --> 00:36:53,794
and prepaid phone cards,
and he knew how to travel on the road.
659
00:36:54,587 --> 00:36:56,505
[action music playing]
660
00:36:57,506 --> 00:37:00,635
We knew he was on the run,
and what we were told was
661
00:37:00,718 --> 00:37:02,511
he was accused of things
that weren't true.
662
00:37:02,595 --> 00:37:04,388
It was all just made up lies,
663
00:37:04,472 --> 00:37:07,683
and that's why he was
on the Ten Most Wanted List
664
00:37:07,767 --> 00:37:10,519
and they were out to get him
and all of this stuff.
665
00:37:11,020 --> 00:37:13,439
[Erna] I mean, we fully believed
he was innocent.
666
00:37:13,522 --> 00:37:17,068
"But I tell you these things
that you may know that I can answer,
667
00:37:17,151 --> 00:37:20,279
a clear conscience
before God until this day."
668
00:37:20,363 --> 00:37:21,656
[action music continues]
669
00:37:21,739 --> 00:37:24,951
[Sam] It would later come out
that while Warren was on the run,
670
00:37:25,034 --> 00:37:27,286
- he was living the high life.
- [cheering]
671
00:37:27,370 --> 00:37:28,788
He went to Disney World.
672
00:37:29,455 --> 00:37:33,125
He had his favorite wives with him.
He wore gentile clothing.
673
00:37:34,543 --> 00:37:36,462
[action music continues]
674
00:37:37,505 --> 00:37:40,424
They went to Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
675
00:37:41,509 --> 00:37:42,635
And strip clubs.
676
00:37:42,718 --> 00:37:46,013
And he was watching porn
in hotel rooms with his wives.
677
00:37:47,265 --> 00:37:51,185
He had Harley-Davidson motorcycles
that he never really learned how to drive.
678
00:37:52,395 --> 00:37:54,939
[action music continues]
679
00:37:55,022 --> 00:37:58,734
- [cheering]
- [Sam] He was really out, living it up,
680
00:37:59,986 --> 00:38:04,615
enjoying all the pleasures
of the gentile world
681
00:38:04,699 --> 00:38:06,575
that he's supposed to despise.
682
00:38:08,786 --> 00:38:10,788
[man] Every week in the crick,
683
00:38:11,330 --> 00:38:15,459
people would come and turn in
their donations or tithing, et cetera,
684
00:38:18,087 --> 00:38:19,964
and we would collect it,
685
00:38:20,965 --> 00:38:22,425
envelopes full of cash.
686
00:38:25,094 --> 00:38:29,181
The money actually just was transported
in boxes to Warren.
687
00:38:31,892 --> 00:38:35,062
[Erna] It began to be like,
"Okay, we need money this week."
688
00:38:35,146 --> 00:38:37,773
"Every one of you come up with $1,000."
689
00:38:37,857 --> 00:38:40,776
"Every adult in the home,
no matter what it takes."
690
00:38:41,819 --> 00:38:46,115
[Jeff] And we had very little resources
for even fuel and gas money to get around.
691
00:38:46,615 --> 00:38:49,744
It was hand-to-mouth,
paycheck-to-paycheck and worse,
692
00:38:49,827 --> 00:38:52,455
maxing out credit cards
to try to meet the call.
693
00:38:53,789 --> 00:38:54,790
Until
694
00:38:55,374 --> 00:38:57,752
his brother Seth was caught in Colorado.
695
00:38:59,211 --> 00:39:01,630
[Sam] Seth was acting as a courier,
696
00:39:01,714 --> 00:39:04,050
transporting money and mail
697
00:39:04,133 --> 00:39:06,802
and information for Warren,
698
00:39:06,886 --> 00:39:10,723
and he was arrested for aiding
and abetting a federal fugitive.
699
00:39:11,640 --> 00:39:14,643
Mr. Jeffs, can you say anything to us?
Where is your brother?
700
00:39:15,978 --> 00:39:18,105
Where were you headed?
Were you headed to Texas?
701
00:39:18,189 --> 00:39:21,359
[Mike] Seth got a slap on the wrist.
It was one of those kinda things.
702
00:39:21,442 --> 00:39:23,194
They didn't get him for very much,
703
00:39:23,277 --> 00:39:24,737
but the evidence was there.
704
00:39:26,155 --> 00:39:28,074
So we had to change the tactics
705
00:39:28,157 --> 00:39:31,077
on how, um, the money was transported.
706
00:39:33,329 --> 00:39:35,122
And we'd go to Costco
707
00:39:35,206 --> 00:39:38,167
and get bulk boxes of cans,
708
00:39:38,250 --> 00:39:40,169
like cans of tomato sauce,
709
00:39:41,420 --> 00:39:43,047
and we would drop...
710
00:39:43,130 --> 00:39:47,593
[laughing] ...$50,000 into one of those cans
711
00:39:47,676 --> 00:39:51,222
and then glue it so it looked like
it'd never been touched.
712
00:39:52,556 --> 00:39:54,016
And when he was on the run,
713
00:39:54,100 --> 00:39:57,728
we sent Warren
an average of about $300,000 a week.
714
00:39:58,521 --> 00:40:00,147
[music stops]
715
00:40:02,149 --> 00:40:03,149
Every week.
716
00:40:04,402 --> 00:40:06,362
No, not once a month. Every week.
717
00:40:08,489 --> 00:40:09,990
Sometimes more than that.
718
00:40:11,534 --> 00:40:14,453
[producer] Did anybody know
where that money was going?
719
00:40:14,537 --> 00:40:17,123
They knew it was going to build Zion.
720
00:40:17,206 --> 00:40:19,041
That's what he told the people.
721
00:40:20,251 --> 00:40:22,253
[soft music playing]
722
00:40:25,214 --> 00:40:30,886
[female voices]
♪ Oh, my dear little angels ♪
723
00:40:30,970 --> 00:40:35,433
♪ How I love you so... ♪
724
00:40:35,516 --> 00:40:38,686
[Erna] One day, one of my sisters
come to me and she said,
725
00:40:38,769 --> 00:40:41,188
"If I had to give up my children,
I just couldn't do that."
726
00:40:41,272 --> 00:40:43,441
And I was like,
"Where is this coming from?"
727
00:40:43,524 --> 00:40:44,900
And she's like,
728
00:40:44,984 --> 00:40:48,737
"There are actually mothers that are
being asked to leave their children."
729
00:40:49,321 --> 00:40:54,076
And then people kinda start talking about
a song that was talking about
730
00:40:54,160 --> 00:40:57,121
the children going to Zion
without their parents,
731
00:40:57,204 --> 00:40:59,832
and I just remember
being shocked about that.
732
00:41:01,417 --> 00:41:06,755
[female voices]
♪ You have gone to build Zion ♪
733
00:41:06,839 --> 00:41:10,676
♪ And Father is there... ♪
734
00:41:10,759 --> 00:41:15,014
[Charlene] I witnessed mothers waking up
735
00:41:15,097 --> 00:41:19,351
the next morning to go get their child up,
and ready for the day, and they're gone.
736
00:41:20,895 --> 00:41:24,148
And going and questioning the husband,
"Where is my child?"
737
00:41:24,231 --> 00:41:28,986
"Did they get out and sleepwalk?
Had they been abducted from the home?"
738
00:41:29,487 --> 00:41:32,490
And have the... the father of the home say,
739
00:41:32,573 --> 00:41:34,700
"Never you mind. They're in good hands."
740
00:41:36,118 --> 00:41:41,165
[female voices]
♪ He will teach you and guide you ♪
741
00:41:41,248 --> 00:41:45,211
♪ So don't ever fear ♪
742
00:41:45,878 --> 00:41:47,505
♪ But follow... ♪
743
00:41:47,588 --> 00:41:51,342
[Sam] Warren began taking
really young children, toddlers,
744
00:41:51,425 --> 00:41:54,011
and literally abducting them,
745
00:41:54,094 --> 00:41:55,763
taking them from their mothers,
746
00:41:55,846 --> 00:41:58,474
and moving them onto the YFZ Ranch.
747
00:42:00,184 --> 00:42:01,852
[female voices] ♪ From morning... ♪
748
00:42:01,936 --> 00:42:04,730
[Elissa] Warren had
a lot of teachings around
749
00:42:04,813 --> 00:42:07,149
that Zion would be redeemed
by the children,
750
00:42:07,691 --> 00:42:10,569
and the reason that
he handpicked a lot of those children
751
00:42:10,653 --> 00:42:13,447
is because it was
who he could influence the very most.
752
00:42:15,157 --> 00:42:18,452
He intended to teach
each and every one of them
753
00:42:18,536 --> 00:42:20,829
to be exactly what he wanted them to be.
754
00:42:20,913 --> 00:42:24,458
[female voices] ♪ Meet again... ♪
755
00:42:31,507 --> 00:42:33,509
[sad music playing]
756
00:42:33,592 --> 00:42:36,470
[Alicia] In November, Seth called me.
757
00:42:37,054 --> 00:42:39,056
He said he was taking the girls from me.
758
00:42:40,599 --> 00:42:44,228
Rachel was two
and Ruleecia was three or four.
759
00:42:46,814 --> 00:42:49,817
The day they all went to Zion,
I couldn't say bye.
760
00:42:50,818 --> 00:42:51,819
I tried to.
761
00:42:51,902 --> 00:42:54,488
I hugged them,
but I couldn't look in their eyes.
762
00:42:54,572 --> 00:42:56,365
I couldn't stand to see the pain.
763
00:42:58,242 --> 00:42:59,952
Ruleecia went screaming,
764
00:43:00,035 --> 00:43:02,246
and it was just so hard to give her up.
765
00:43:02,329 --> 00:43:04,790
It was one of the hardest things
I've ever done,
766
00:43:04,873 --> 00:43:07,167
but I wanted so much to please the Prophet
767
00:43:07,251 --> 00:43:10,379
and God, so I was going to do it,
768
00:43:10,462 --> 00:43:13,382
and it took everything I had
to hand her over.
769
00:43:14,800 --> 00:43:17,636
After that, I just despaired.
770
00:43:17,720 --> 00:43:19,471
[sad music continues]
771
00:43:20,806 --> 00:43:24,643
[Charlene] It was two o'clock
in the morning. I couldn't sleep.
772
00:43:26,145 --> 00:43:28,814
I got up and I went downstairs,
773
00:43:28,897 --> 00:43:32,776
and I saw two of my sister wives
774
00:43:32,860 --> 00:43:37,948
just gathering up clothes and shoes,
and... I knew with all my heart
775
00:43:38,032 --> 00:43:41,243
that it was Aman and Susie
that were going.
776
00:43:41,327 --> 00:43:43,287
My... My two youngest children.
777
00:43:43,787 --> 00:43:47,124
- [producer] How old were they?
- Seven and nine.
778
00:43:49,043 --> 00:43:50,628
And at that point,
779
00:43:51,128 --> 00:43:53,380
my son Aman walked in.
780
00:43:53,464 --> 00:43:55,633
His face lit up and he goes,
781
00:43:55,716 --> 00:43:57,718
"Mother, you get to come with us?"
782
00:43:58,594 --> 00:43:59,678
And I said, "No."
783
00:44:00,304 --> 00:44:01,889
And he started crying.
784
00:44:03,307 --> 00:44:04,600
I started crying,
785
00:44:05,684 --> 00:44:07,686
which made Susie start crying.
786
00:44:11,023 --> 00:44:13,233
They finished packing up.
787
00:44:14,818 --> 00:44:17,196
I got to give them one last hug,
788
00:44:17,863 --> 00:44:19,615
and I told them, "Be good."
789
00:44:20,824 --> 00:44:22,826
[sad music continues]
790
00:44:24,995 --> 00:44:26,163
[sniffling]
791
00:44:27,748 --> 00:44:28,748
And they left.
792
00:44:37,299 --> 00:44:39,301
- [music fades]
- [crickets chirping]
793
00:44:46,684 --> 00:44:50,104
[police siren wailing]
794
00:44:50,187 --> 00:44:52,231
[tense music playing]
795
00:44:55,192 --> 00:44:57,653
[Sam] I was in my hotel room,
and at midnight,
796
00:44:58,153 --> 00:45:00,364
I got a call from the FBI saying,
797
00:45:01,281 --> 00:45:02,408
"Sam, we've got him."
798
00:45:02,991 --> 00:45:05,119
[indistinct conversation over radio]
799
00:45:05,619 --> 00:45:09,998
The trooper that pulled him over
saw that his plates were obscured,
800
00:45:11,417 --> 00:45:13,585
and when he asked for the driver's ID,
801
00:45:13,669 --> 00:45:16,922
it came back
to Warren's brother, Isaac Jeffs,
802
00:45:17,423 --> 00:45:20,592
and that Jeffs name kind of
rung a bell for him,
803
00:45:20,676 --> 00:45:23,804
and so the trooper
started questioning the passengers,
804
00:45:23,887 --> 00:45:26,807
and Naomi was in the front seat,
Warren's favorite wife,
805
00:45:27,307 --> 00:45:30,644
and Warren was in the backseat,
eating a salad.
806
00:45:32,438 --> 00:45:33,981
[dramatic music plays]
807
00:45:34,481 --> 00:45:37,317
[Elissa] The phone rang about three,
four o'clock in the morning
808
00:45:37,401 --> 00:45:39,862
and it was Brock Belnap, the prosecutor,
809
00:45:40,738 --> 00:45:42,698
and he said, "Warren's been caught."
810
00:45:43,490 --> 00:45:47,369
I... I was a little bit in disbelief
at first and I... I remember asking,
811
00:45:47,453 --> 00:45:51,623
"Are you sure it's Warren?"
And when it became evident it was,
812
00:45:52,624 --> 00:45:54,251
I started to get fearful,
813
00:45:54,334 --> 00:45:56,754
and it all came crashing down on me,
814
00:45:56,837 --> 00:45:59,214
the reality of what it all meant,
815
00:46:00,841 --> 00:46:03,385
that I would have to face Warren in court.
816
00:46:03,469 --> 00:46:05,387
[action music playing]
817
00:46:05,471 --> 00:46:07,848
[Sam] We suspected
all these things about him,
818
00:46:07,931 --> 00:46:12,269
but you know, it's like going through
a doorway after he's arrested,
819
00:46:12,352 --> 00:46:15,898
and then, all of a sudden,
all these other things come out.
820
00:46:16,648 --> 00:46:18,692
[action music playing]
821
00:46:19,276 --> 00:46:22,196
It was just overwhelming.
822
00:46:25,157 --> 00:46:28,952
[Rebecca] Warren was in prison,
and I thought, "Okay, it's over."
823
00:46:30,329 --> 00:46:33,749
But it turned out it was only
the tip of the iceberg.
824
00:46:35,751 --> 00:46:36,877
[music stops suddenly]
825
00:46:49,348 --> 00:46:51,350
[solemn music playing]