This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2008, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
ELDORADO, Texas - A helicopter hovered over the FLDS compound in West Texas late Saturday and ambulances were on the ground as a SWAT team peacefully entered and left the sect's temple, considered sacred by believers.
During the past three days, state child welfare investigators have removed more than 183 boys, girls and women from the compound four miles north of downtown Eldorado for questioning about their well-being.
The action followed a report Monday by a 16-year-old girl who alleged she had been physically abused.
Preceded by officers, child-protection investigators went building to building at the YFZ Ranch.
By late afternoon, authorities were unsure if the 16-year-old girl was among those taken from the ranch, leading them to insist on going into the temple to look for her, Allison Palmer, an assistant attorney in the 51st District Court, told the San Angelo Standard-Times on Saturday.
As they expected, officers met with resistance by the FLDS, who believe nonbelievers should not enter the temple.
"In preparing for entry to the temple, law enforcement is preparing for the worst," Palmer said. They want to have "medical personnel on hand in case this were to go in a way that no one wants."
The officers declined to speak about the matter because a judge earlier issued a gag order. Contacted by phone, Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran said, "I can't talk. We're in the middle of a mission here."
The SWAT team entered the temple at about 10:45 p.m. CDT, secured the building in about 5 minutes, then moved on to check another building.
About an hour earlier, a school bus carrying child-protection investigators and more women and children came out of the compound headed to the First Baptist Church Fellowship Hall in Eldorado.
At the side of the road near the ranch, an FLDS man sat in his truck, unable to re-enter the property. He had been waiting all day.
"It's gut-wrenching," said the man, who declined to give his name. "It's not in my hands. It's up to a higher power."
He said he has a family at the compound, but hadn't heard anything from them. "I don't know what's going to happen. My stomach is just in knots."