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SAN ANGELO, Texas - Authorities have seized hundreds of items that shed light on life inside the secretive FLDS compound here - everything from cell phones and computers to family trees and photo albums.
The 88 pages of documents released Friday by the district court for Tom Green County show police searching the YFZ Ranch focused on items that could reveal family relationships, such as birth and marriage certificates.
A 16-year-old girl sparked the raid with calls claiming she was being physically and sexually abused by her polygamous husband.
Several medical records released contain the first name and the first of two surnames used by the girl. However, the documents contain different birth dates, indicating there has been more than one girl by that name at the ranch.
One entry on the list of seized items was described as a ''cyanide poisoning document;'' which referred to pages from a first aid manual but there was no cyanide on the ranch, said Tela Mange, a spokeswoman for the Department of Public Safety.
The descriptions of seized items are sometimes specific - a total of 87 cell phones, 47 computer towers, 17 laptop computers, and several flash drives and computer discs.
But most are general, such as: "11 photographs of men with children; photo of man and girl; father/child identifying information; two children's fingerprint cards."
Many of the items provide intimate glimpses of family life; a child's school essay, report cards, a diary, journals, a pregnancy test. Clothing was also taken, including silk linens, belts, a women's slip, men's dress shoes, and a clip-on tie. Copies of the Book of Mormon are included on the list, as are two baby books.
For now, the court has planned to appoint a "special master" to determine which of the items state authorities can use as evidence.
An initial warrant to search the ranch was based on calls from the girl to a family violence shelter on March 29 and 30 claiming she was being physically and sexually abused by her FLDS husband. A second warrant was based on officials' observations and interviews after entering the ranch, owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Attorneys for the sect have filed court papers alleging the searches were based on flawed warrants. The court has yet to rule on their claim that authorities did not have probable cause to search the compound.