← The Cult DossierThe Cult Dossier

← The Cult Dossier: all 182

The Cult Dossier · No. 079 · Christian-Derived

Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

FLDS Church

1930s – present · Short Creek (Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona); Eldorado, Texas; Bountiful, British Columbia

IX. THE FUNDAMENTALIST AND POLYGAMOUS GROUPS

Fully religious — Mormon fundamentalist sect

Who led it

Prophet lineage: John Y. Barlow, Leroy S. Johnson, RULON JEFFS (d.2002), and his son WARREN STEED JEFFS (b. 3 December 1955), President and Prophet from 2002, who continues to direct the church from a Texas prison cell.

What it worshipped and taught

The doctrine of PLURAL MARRIAGE (Doctrine and Covenants 132), which the mainstream LDS Church renounced in the 1890 Manifesto and now excommunicates members for practising. FLDS doctrine holds a man must have at least three wives to reach the highest degree of the Celestial Kingdom. Marriages are assigned by the Prophet, who can also reassign a man's wives and children to another man as punishment. Practices: prairie dresses and uncut braided hair for women; the LOST BOYS — hundreds of teenage boys expelled on pretexts to reduce competition for wives; near-total control of the towns' police (the Marshal's Office), schools and property through the United Effort Plan trust; and the ZION training and blood atonement rhetoric.

Who was in it

Warren Jeffs; Rulon Jeffs, who had an estimated 65 wives; Merril Jessop; Wendell Nielsen; ELISSA WALL, married at 14 to her 19-year-old first cousin, whose testimony convicted Jeffs in Utah; Rebecca Musser; Carolyn Jessop, author of Escape; Flora Jessop; the Lost Boys plaintiffs; WINSTON BLACKMORE and JAMES OLER of Bountiful, British Columbia, convicted of polygamy in Canada in 2017; Sam Brower, the investigator; Texas Ranger Brooks Long.

How it ended, or where it stands

Leader imprisoned for life in Texas, reportedly still issuing edicts; community fragmented but persisting.

The dead

—

Of note

The Short Creek raid of 1953 and the YFZ raid of 2008 bracket the entire modern history of American state intervention in religious communities. The 1953 backlash produced fifty years of official paralysis; the 2008 overreach was reversed by the courts but still produced the conviction. Note the same dynamic at Island Pond (063) and Waco (069).

Its timeline

  1. 1890 The LDS Manifesto ends official plural marriage; fundamentalist groups form to continue it.
  2. 26 July 1953 THE SHORT CREEK RAID. Arizona state police and National Guard seize the community; 263 children are removed. The public backlash at images of weeping families is so severe that it ends Governor Howard Pyle's career and makes American authorities reluctant to intervene in polygamous communities FOR THE NEXT FIFTY YEARS.
  3. 2002 Rulon Jeffs dies; Warren Jeffs takes over and marries most of his father's widows.
  4. 2003–2004 Jeffs expels hundreds of teenage boys; begins building the YFZ (Yearning for Zion) Ranch near Eldorado, Texas.
  5. May 2006 Jeffs placed on the FBI Ten Most Wanted list.
  6. 28 August 2006 Arrested on Interstate 15 in Clark County, Nevada, during a traffic stop.
  7. 25 SEPTEMBER 2007 CONVICTED IN UTAH of two counts of being an accomplice to rape, over Elissa Wall's marriage; sentenced to ten years to life.
  8. 27 JULY 2010 THE UTAH SUPREME COURT OVERTURNS THAT CONVICTION because of flawed jury instructions.
  9. 3 APRIL 2008 THE YFZ RANCH RAID. Texas authorities, acting on a hoax phone call, remove 439 CHILDREN from the ranch — the largest child custody action in US history. The Texas Supreme Court rules on 29 May 2008 that the mass removal was not justified and orders the children returned. However, evidence seized during the raid — including Jeffs's own audio recordings and marriage records — produces the convictions.
  10. AUGUST 2011 WARREN JEFFS CONVICTED in Texas of two counts of sexual assault of a child, involving girls aged 12 and 15. The prosecution plays an audio recording of Jeffs raping a 12-year-old in the ranch temple while other women are present. Sentenced on 9 August 2011 to LIFE PLUS 20 YEARS and a 10,000-dollar fine; he becomes eligible for parole in 2038.
  11. 29 AUGUST 2011 Placed in a MEDICALLY INDUCED COMA after a prolonged fast. He had tried to hang himself in jail in 2007 and was ordered force-fed in 2009.
  12. 2017 ELISSA WALL wins a 10-MILLION-DOLLAR default judgment against him in Utah; he did not respond to the suit.
  13. 2019 He is reported to have suffered a mental breakdown and is deemed unfit for a deposition in an abuse case.
  14. 2023 A federal judge, TED STEWART, enters a DEFAULT JUDGMENT OF ABOUT 152 MILLION DOLLARS for ex-members — about 47 million compensatory and nearly 105 million punitive. Jeffs did not respond; the plaintiffs' lawyer calls it largely symbolic.
  15. 2011–present Jeffs continues to issue revelations from prison; the community fractures; Hildale elects its first non-FLDS mayor, a woman, in 2017. The United Effort Plan trust is placed under court control and homes redistributed.

Its people

Warren Steed Jeffs

the Prophet

President and Prophet, FLDS Church · born 3 December 1955 · active 2002–present (from prison)

Son of the previous prophet Rulon Jeffs, he took control in 2002 and married most of his father's widows. He assigned and reassigned marriages, could strip a man of his wives and children as punishment, and expelled hundreds of teenage boys — the Lost Boys — on pretexts, reducing competition for wives. He controlled the towns of Hildale and Colorado City through the police, the schools and the United Effort Plan trust. He was placed on the FBI Ten Most Wanted list and arrested during a traffic stop. At trial in Texas the prosecution played his own audio recording of him raping a 12-year-old girl in the ranch temple while other women were present. He continues to issue revelations from prison.

Before the law. CONVICTED in Texas, 2011. Serving life plus 20 at the Louis C. Powledge Unit. An earlier 2007 Utah conviction as an accomplice to rape was overturned on jury-instruction grounds in 2010.

Where things stand. CONFIRMED: incarcerated at the LOUIS C. POWLEDGE UNIT, Palestine, Texas, in protective custody. FIRST PAROLE ELIGIBILITY 22 JULY 2038. Default civil judgments stand against him — 10 MILLION DOLLARS to Elissa Wall (2017) and about 152 MILLION DOLLARS to former members (2023, federal court) — entered after he did not respond. Separately, in 2019 he was reported to have had a mental breakdown and was deemed unfit for a deposition. Still recognised as Prophet by much of the FLDS, many of whom believe he is suffering in prison to atone for their sins.

  1. 2002 Becomes Prophet on his father's death.
  2. 2003–04 Expels hundreds of boys; begins building the YFZ Ranch in Texas.
  3. May 2006 Added to the FBI Ten Most Wanted list.
  4. 28 August 2006 Arrested on Interstate 15 in Nevada.
  5. 25 September 2007 Convicted in Utah as an accomplice to rape; overturned by the Utah Supreme Court on 27 July 2010.
  6. 3 April 2008 The YFZ Ranch raid — 439 children removed, later ordered returned by the Texas Supreme Court, but the seized evidence convicts him.
  7. 4 AUGUST 2011 Convicted of two counts of child sexual assault, victims aged 12 and 15.
  8. 9 August 2011 SENTENCED TO LIFE PLUS 20 YEARS.

Checked 2026-09-17 · living: health details are kept at home

Rulon Timpson Jeffs

Uncle Rulon

President and Prophet, FLDS Church · 6 December 1909 – 8 September 2002 · active 1986–2002

An accountant who led the FLDS for sixteen years and consolidated the one-man-rule model his son inherited. He is reported to have had around 65 wives and fathered some 60 children. He also introduced the practice of reassigning wives and children from one man to another as discipline. On his death Warren Jeffs married most of his widows — a transfer of both authority and household that made the succession literal.

Before the law. Never charged.

Where things stand. Deceased 2002.

  1. 1986 Becomes Prophet.
  2. 1990s Consolidates absolute authority; expands the United Effort Plan trust's control over members' homes.
  3. 1998 Suffers a stroke; Warren Jeffs increasingly runs the church.
  4. 8 September 2002 Dies aged 92; Warren Jeffs succeeds and marries most of his widows.

Checked

Merril Jessop

Frederick Merril Jessop

Senior FLDS leader; overseer of the YFZ Ranch · 1935 – 28 February 2022 · active 1980s–2011

One of the FLDS's most powerful men and the bishop Warren Jeffs installed to run the Yearning for Zion Ranch in Texas. He was convicted in 2011 of conducting an illegal marriage between Jeffs and a twelve-year-old girl. His daughter Carolyn Jessop escaped in 2003 with all eight of her children — the first woman to win full custody from the FLDS — and her memoir Escape became the most widely read account of life inside the group.

Before the law. CONVICTED IN 2011 of performing an illegal marriage — that of his own twelve-year-old daughter to Warren Jeffs — and sentenced to TEN YEARS. PAROLED JANUARY 2015. Died 28 February 2022.

Where things stand. DECEASED — HE DIED ON 28 FEBRUARY 2022. THIS FILE PREVIOUSLY LISTED HIM AS LIVING, with the status 'sentence served'. He was PAROLED IN JANUARY 2015 after serving part of the ten-year term, and died seven years later. THE SECOND MORTALITY ERROR FOUND IN THIS DOSSIER'S ELDERLY COHORT during the August 2026 sweep, after Robert Jay Lifton (L255) — which is why that sweep was run rather than assumed unnecessary.

  1. 1980s–2000s Rises to senior leadership; is assigned multiple wives including Carolyn Jessop.
  2. 2003 Carolyn Jessop escapes with eight children and wins custody.
  3. 2004 Installed as bishop of the YFZ Ranch in Texas.
  4. 2011 CONVICTED of performing an illegal marriage involving a 12-year-old — his own daughter, married to Warren Jeffs; sentenced to 10 years.
  5. JANUARY 2015 Granted parole.
  6. 28 FEBRUARY 2022 Dies.

Checked 2026-08-24

Elissa Wall

—

FLDS survivor whose testimony convicted Warren Jeffs · born 1986 · active 1986–2004

Married at fourteen by Warren Jeffs to her nineteen-year-old first cousin, against her explicit and repeated refusal. Her testimony was the basis of Jeffs's 2007 Utah conviction as an accomplice to rape — later overturned on jury-instruction grounds, though the Texas convictions stood. She wrote Stolen Innocence in 2008, won a 10-million-dollar default judgment against Jeffs in 2017, and has spent the years since advocating for people leaving high-control religious groups. She still lives in Hildale, the town she was married in, and raises her children there.

Before the law. Never charged. The state's principal witness; won a 10-million-dollar default judgment against Jeffs in 2017.

Where things stand. Living in Hildale, Utah.

  1. 2001 Married at 14 to her 19-year-old first cousin at Jeffs's direction, after refusing repeatedly.
  2. 2004 Leaves the FLDS.
  3. 2007 Her testimony convicts Jeffs in Utah as an accomplice to rape.
  4. 2008 Publishes Stolen Innocence.
  5. 2010 The Utah conviction is overturned on jury-instruction grounds; the Texas convictions stand.
  6. 2010s–present Advocate for those leaving high-demand groups; lives in Hildale, Utah.

Checked 2026-09-17 · living: health details are kept at home

Carolyn Jessop

—

FLDS escapee; first woman to win full custody from the group · born 1968 · active 1968–2003

Married at eighteen to the 50-year-old Merril Jessop as his fourth wife, she bore eight children including a severely disabled son. In April 2003 she fled in the middle of the night with ALL EIGHT CHILDREN — an escape widely regarded as close to impossible — and became the first woman ever to win full custody of her children from the FLDS. Her memoir Escape was a bestseller and she was a key expert witness during the YFZ Ranch proceedings.

Before the law. Never charged.

Where things stand. Living — born 1 January 1968; still writing and advocating, no death record found. Her memoir ESCAPE recounts her upbringing in the FLDS and her flight from it with her children. THE LEGAL FIRST BELONGS IN THE RECORD: IN 2003 SHE BECAME THE FIRST WOMAN TO LEAVE AN FLDS COMMUNITY AND BE AWARDED FULL CUSTODY OF ALL OF HER CHILDREN.

  1. 1986 Married at 18 to Merril Jessop, then 50, as his fourth wife.
  2. 1986–2003 Bears eight children.
  3. April 2003 Escapes in the night with all eight children.
  4. 2006 Wins full custody — the first FLDS woman to do so.
  5. 2007 Publishes Escape.
  6. 2008 Serves as an expert witness during the YFZ Ranch custody proceedings.

Checked 2026-08-24 · living: health details are kept at home

Rebecca Musser

—

FLDS escapee and prosecution witness · born 1976 · active 1976–2002

Married at nineteen to the 85-year-old prophet Rulon Jeffs as his nineteenth wife. After his death she refused to be reassigned to another man — including, she has said, to Warren Jeffs — and escaped in 2002. She became the prosecution's key insider witness in the Texas trials, testifying in eleven cases and appearing in court in bright red, a colour forbidden to FLDS women, as a deliberate signal to those still inside.

Before the law. Never charged. A central prosecution witness.

Where things stand. Living — a divorced mother of two, resident in IDAHO; still speaking and advocating, no death record found. She was coerced into marriage with the FLDS prophet RULON JEFFS AT NINETEEN, escaped, and wrote THE WITNESS WORE RED: THE 19TH WIFE WHO BROUGHT POLYGAMOUS CULT LEADERS TO JUSTICE (2013). HER TESTIMONY WAS ONE OF THE LEAD ACCOUNTS AGAINST WARREN JEFFS and was instrumental in the life sentence imposed on him in 2011. She speaks publicly against slavery, religious fundamentalism and sexual exploitation.

  1. 1995 Married at 19 to Rulon Jeffs, then 85, as his 19th wife.
  2. 2002 Rulon dies; she refuses reassignment and escapes.
  3. 2008–11 Testifies in eleven Texas prosecutions, including Warren Jeffs's.
  4. 2013 Publishes The Witness Wore Red.

Checked 2026-08-24 · living: health details are kept at home

Sam Brower

—

Private investigator, the FLDS cases · born c.1957 · active 2004–present

A Utah private investigator originally hired on a civil matter who spent years documenting the FLDS from outside, working with Texas Rangers, the FBI and prosecutors, and gathering the material that supported Warren Jeffs's prosecutions. He was instrumental in the recovery and analysis of Jeffs's own priesthood records and audio recordings — including the recording of Jeffs assaulting a twelve-year-old that the Texas jury heard. His 2011 book Prophet's Prey documents the investigation and was the basis of a 2015 film.

Before the law. Private investigator; consultant to law enforcement.

Where things stand. THIS FILE CANNOT CONFIRM HIS PRESENT STATUS; it previously asserted 'Living'. Nothing consulted reports on him substantively since 2016, when he stood for a seat on the IRON COUNTY COMMISSION in southwestern Utah. No death record was found. CAUTION FOR ANY RE-CHECK: searches on this name also return a SAMUEL BROWER who writes fiction. They should not be assumed to be the same man. What is documented is the work: A SEVEN-YEAR PRIVATE INVESTIGATION into Warren Jeffs and the FLDS, set out in PROPHET’S PREY, which brought to light Jeffs’s own PRIESTHOOD JOURNAL — recovered from a hidden underground vault — and used his words against him.

  1. 2004 Begins investigating the FLDS on a civil case.
  2. 2005–08 Works with Texas Rangers and the FBI ahead of the YFZ Ranch operation.
  3. 2008 The YFZ raid; seized records and recordings become the basis of the Texas convictions.
  4. 2011 Jeffs convicted; Brower publishes Prophet's Prey.
  5. 2015 Prophet's Prey released as a documentary film.

Checked 2026-08-24 · living: health details are kept at home

The Atlas   The Door