* 599 DNA samples collected;
* 464 children in state custody;
* 16 group shelters caring for the children;
* One warrant canceled;
* No charges issued.
As of Friday, Texas authorities were no longer actively pursuing an Arizona man named in a search and arrest warrant that triggered the April 3 raid at the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado.
From the start, Dale Evans Barlow said - and his probation officer vouched for him - that he knew nothing about the 16-year-old girl whose phone calls claiming abuse led authorities to the ranch. The calls, to a San Angelo family violence shelter, now are being investigated as a possible hoax.
But Texas Child Protective Services said they found other evidence of underage marriage and polygamous marriages at the ranch, owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, that justified removing all 463 children living there. A baby born this week added to the total.
As events unfolded in Texas, Barlow remained at his home in Colorado City, Ariz. Texas Rangers traveled to St. George to interview Barlow but did not arrest him.
The Texas Department of Public Safety canceled the arrest warrant for Barlow with little explanation.
"The bottom line is the warrant is no longer active," said spokesman Tom Vinger.
Vinger said he did not know when the warrant was canceled. He would not comment on whether the cancellation confirms the girl's calls for help were a hoax.
"We're still investigating that," he said.
The April 3 warrant alleged a 16-year-old girl called the shelter to report she was married to Barlow, 50, and that he was abusing her.
Two weeks later, Texas authorities announced they were investigating Rozita Swinton of Colorado Springs, Colo., who is suspected of making the calls. She has no known connection to the FLDS but does have a documented history of prank calls falsely claiming abuse.
Vinger said detectives have sent evidence regarding the calls to a crime laboratory and may wait for the results before taking a case to prosecutors. "We're known for being extremely thorough," he said.
Rod Parker, a Salt Lake City attorney representing the FLDS, said, "The cancellation of this warrant is just one more piece of evidence that this call was a hoax and the state of Texas did not properly check this out before they raided the ranch."
But Parker acknowledged the development has little legal bearing on the children's pending custody cases.
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services said that even if the call was phony, investigators found a "pervasive pattern" of abuse that centered on young girls being groomed for marriages to older men. That evidence showed all children at risk on the ranch, the agency concluded.
There also have been no formal charges filed against Levi Barlow Jeffs, 19, who was arrested during the raid for interfering with law enforcement. Schleicher County Attorney Raymond Loomis on Thursday said he was still waiting for the police reports on the case. Jeffs is the oldest son of FLDS leader Warren S. Jeffs, who is in jail in Arizona.
No formal charges have been filed against LeRoy Johnson Steed, either. Steed was arrested April 7 for tampering with evidence during the investigation at the ranch. The Tom Green County District Attorney's office Wednesday said the grand jury that will consider the charge may not convene until June.
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brooke@sltrib.com
Lori Jessop, 25, had been allowed to remain with her three children at Shannon Medical Center, where they were being treated for various illnesses. An 11-month-old infant had pneumonia; two others, ages 4 and 2, had chicken pox and a digestive parasite.
Mary Walker, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, said the children were deemed healthy and a physician approved their release Friday.
Jessop and her infant were taken to a shelter in San Antonio, where mothers who are still breast-feeding infants are being housed. It is not clear where the two older children were taken.
- Brooke Adams
