All language subtitles for Secrets.of.Polygamy.S01E02.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH[EZTVx.to]_track3_eng

[music]

I've been investigating these
missing children for months now.

And I believe the FLDS Church
is hiding these kids.

[Rachel] If Warren gives a
revelation it's God speaking,

we cannot question it.

The next morning they were gone.

There were many
of those men and women

that would've preferred death
to what Warren was doing.

I was asked to help
find some missing kids.

These people have
no right to my children.

[Matt] I think they are
going to hit the place.

My name is Matt Browning.

I'm retired law enforcement
out of Arizona.

I was on both the Joint
Terrorist Task Force

and the Fugitive Task Force,
with the FBI.

But most importantly,
I'm a husband and a father.

And I was born
and raised a member

of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter Day Saints.

A few years ago,
my wife Tawni and I were

contacted by women who wanted
help leaving polygamous groups.

Since then we been contacted
numerous times

by people asking for help.

Some of these groups
have a history of incest

and child abuse.

And are thriving right here
in the United States.

People need to know about this.

And that's why we do what we do.

[music]

[music]

[Matt] How old is your daughter?
The one that's missing.

The parents of these missing
kids are all prior

or current members
of the FLDS Church.

I've been investigating these
missing children for months now,

and one thing I have found
is that the FLDS Church

are masters at hiding.

And I believe the FLDS Church
is hiding these kids.

[music]

What I found is that I think
the reason why these kids

are moved around is it comes
from the revelations that

came directly from Warren Jeffs
out to the people

of the FLDS Church.

[music]

[Faith] The only way that we
could get anything from God,

any-any messages
or anything from God

was through Warren Jeffs.

If Warren gives a revelation
that everyone is like,

"Well, it's the god,
it's God speaking,

we cannot question it."

[music]

[Man] Warren Jeffs is serving a
life sentence in a Texas prison

for child sex assault
related to underage marriages.

[Nate] He's been incarcerated
since 2006.

And he was getting
300 pieces of mail a day.

He still has people
who believe in him.

And still hold him up
to be the prophet.

[Matt] So Warren Jeffs has been
in prison for 17 years.

And during that time he
continued to run his church

through his son, Helaman
and revelations were put out.

Warren has chosen Helaman
to be his voice on the

outside of prison.

And part of the revelations is
to bring the kids into one place

and to teach them and to bring
them up in the religion.

[Man] He reasserted control
over his polygamist church

with an edict last year
calling for members

to return to the fold.

[Matt] Kids going missing
from the FLDS church

are both boys and girls.

You can't have businesses
if you don't have workers.

And the workers
are the young boys.

The girls that
are going missing,

because I think they're
being married off

to this person or that person.

And we're back to creating
babies for the FLDS Church.

[music]

[music]

Lorriane was put in contact
with me a couple months ago

when three of her kids
went missing from her home.

[music]

Okay, well, help me understand
this then, because I,

I just don't--I wanna help
Lorraine get her kids back.

I really do.

I think we just need
to help her get her message out

and story out
and then we go from there.

[music]

[knocking on door]

-Hey, Lorraine.
-[Lorraine] Hello. Come in.

-How are you?
-[Lorraine] Good.

-Nice to finally meet you.
-[Lorraine] You too.

[Matt] What's going on?

[sighs] Do you want me
to start at the beginning?

Okay.

As of today, my children
have been missing

for almost two months.

My name is Lorraine Jessop.

I was raised in the FLDS.

I was married in 1999
to Lindsay Barlow,

a 32-year-old man,
and I was 18 years old.

I was his second wife.

And he took two other
wives after that.

I don't really feel like
I had a friendship with him.

I was just one of the wives.

I had six children.

I enjoyed being a mother.

[music]

My husband was a very
influential person

within the FLDS community,
and worked very closely with

the bishop and the prophet,
Warren Jeffs.

[music]

From the moment
he was told to leave,

He gathered his things and left.

[music]

We had no idea the
reason why he left

or how long he would be gone.

I think that he was sent away
because he knew too much.

My husband worked so
closely with the bishop

and was a part of so much
of the secret undertakings.

But I don't even
know what he was doing.

[music]

After he left,

he was diagnosed with leukemia
and passed away.

[music]

It was--it was heartbreaking.

My two younger children,
I don't think really remember

their father much at all
because they were so young

when he was sent away.

After he left,
we were given a caretaker.

A caretaker is a priested man
appointed to take care of the

family's needs and be aware
of what's happening.

I did have a lot of turmoil
within the home

with the other ladies
because so much of what

I did was--if it wasn't
just in line with

what the sister wives wanted,
then it was a problem.

Also, never really having
any income of my own.

It created a stress
for me to where...

I felt like I needed
to get a job.

[music]

When I got this job,
I found out that

everybody out there
wasn't the big bad wolf.

There were people who
treated me much more kindly

than even those
in my own family.

And it really opened my eyes to
see that I was a person too,

that could be respected
and allowed to have space

to learn and make mistakes
and grow.

That's when I met my boyfriend.

He was not in the FLDS.

And he's a very cheerful,
decent person.

I knew I had to get out
when I met my boyfriend

because I had done things
with my boyfriend

that I knew were not accepted
with the FLDS.

And I'd been taught all my life
that, that was a terrible

thing to do, just the guilt
of that was eating me alive.

It had been, what? Nine years
since my husband was sent away?

Did you think you were
gonna kicked out?

Eventually, yes,
if they found out.

I felt like I was going to hell.

I literally felt like
I was not worthy to live

at that point in my life.

I didn't feel like I was even
a worthy parent for my children

because of how
brainwashed I was.

Two and a half years ago,
I left the FLDS.

[music]

It was hard
to leave my children,

but in my mind,
that's what I had to do.

Take it this way,
if you were going to hell

would you want to take
your children with you?

[Matt] When you grow up in
an organization

that you're taught fear since
the day you were born,

you fear God, you fear man,
you fear the outside world.

You fear everything
that is not FLDS.

I can understand why a lot of
these parents leave

and leave their kids
in the church.

It's a safer place.
There's no outside influences.

It was hard
to leave my children.

[music]

They were sad.

I was sad, but...

To all of us,
that's just what had to happen.

[Matt] So where did you
leave your kids?

So I left them there
with the family under

the care of a specific mother.
She's the sister wife.

[music]

I was relieved when I got out.

Just the weight of being there
where I knew I was not welcome

was just overwhelming.

My only regret is that I didn't
take my children with me

when I left the FLDS.

I requested to have my children
every other weekend

for the weekend.

But the sister wife that
I had left my children with

wouldn't do it.

When I realized it had gotten
to a point where the sister wife

that I left the children with,
would not bring them to visit,

that was very concerning to me.

That combined with
the revelations that

-Helaman had given.
-[Matt] Right.

[music]

[Lorraine] I was especially
concerned for my 13-year-old

daughter because there's been a
history of underaged marriages

and I didn't want her to be
married off at a young age

and not be able to make any
choices of her own in life.

And I told her I've got to know
that they're safe.

I've got to know where they are.

But the mother that I left
the children with

would not bring them
to come visit.

[music]

I was able to get the children
back and took them to my home.

They cried all the way.

They felt like they
had been taken captive.

They're with their mom.

I tried to explain that,
but they said,

"You're not our
mother anymore."

Oh, yes.

Just to give you an idea,

when my kids were with me
they were praying for my death.

-Because you're an apostate.
-Yes.

Out loud in front of me.

Geez.

That isn't what my children
really wanted.

That's just an insight into

what's been put
into their minds.

[music]

They picked up a bag that
somebody had left for them

in the bushes that
had locking doorknobs

and a portable

phone power charger.

I just know that there were
people trying to help them

to run away.

Tell me the last time
that you saw your kids.

When was that?

[Lorraine] Oh. So that was
February 4th at midnight, 2023.

[Matt] Okay.

So you had just
gotten the kids back?

Mm-hmm.

And they'd only been
there for two weeks?

Mm-hmm.

I had gotten up in the night
to check on my children,

and they were in their beds.

I went back to bed,
went to sleep.

The next morning at 5:00
in the morning, they were gone.

My front door was wide open.
The house was cold.

There were no footprints.

Nothing to show me
where they had gone,

who had taken them.

It was just terrifying.

-What do you do?
-I called the police.

I said, "My children
have been kidnapped."

And they said,

"Well, do you think that
they're with the FLDS family?"

And I said, "Yes,
but they could be anywhere."

The officer said that he felt
like they were okay

if they were with the family,
which was very upsetting to me.

I said, "Who is to say
that they're safe?

How do we know they're not
somewhere freezing in a ditch?"

They told me they did not
have probable cause

to search the home.

They did put them on the missing
persons list in Iron County.

But that was pretty much
the extent of the help

I got at that point.

Have you heard from them at all
since February 4th?

I haven't.

Okay. What does that
do to you as a mother?

Well, if I let it,
it would kill me.

What's your gut?
What's your gut telling you?

You're the mom.
What's your gut say?

I think they're
with FLDS people somewhere.

It could be somebody
they're related to.

It could be somebody
they're unrelated to.

I believe that there's
a lot going on here,

not just with your kids,
but with a lot of kids

that are going up missing
because of Warren's prophecies.

Do you believe that?

I believe that.

[music]

These people have no right
to my children.

I want to see these children
grow up with the freedom

to choose who and
what they want to be,

free from the guilt
of living life,

having fun,

having a true friendship
with their companions

when they're grown,

not living in constant fear.

That's all it takes.

You and me,
a lot of other people,

that's all it takes.

I am here to help.
I'm here to do what I can.

So let's stay in contact
and let's find your kids.

Okay?

[music]

I think Lorraine's
story is heartbreaking.

[music]

We have just another person
saying that this has to stop.

As far as her kids go, you know,

I'm trying to track them down
and figure out where they're at.

[Man] Polygamist leader,
Warren Jeffs who is in prison

on child sex assault charges
related to underage marriages.

Fox 13 News reported in August
that Jeffs was

reasserting control over the
Fundamentalist LDS Church.

And families were
being split up again.

I heard about the FLDS
migration to North Dakota

from Helaman's sister, Rachel.

So some people within the FLDS
are headed up to North Dakota.

Do you think it's possible
that some of these kids that are

reported missing could be
going up there too?

[Brandon] Maybe or just
with different families.

Or just in hiding. I mean,
there's just been always

been always
lots of hiding places.

[Matt] My next step is
to get out to North Dakota

and track down some of
these compounds

where these missing kids
could possibly be.

[music]

[Matt] Just got a call
from the source.

And what he said is,
this house out here confirmed.

They've been building a lot
of barns in the last year.

They brought in 40 Conex boxes.

And were building within the
house, and that house is huge.

So they believe that there's
a lot of girls that are being

moved in and out of there,
so we go out there

and take a look
and see what we can find.

[music]

What's up, man?

How are you?

You look like somebody I know.

Listen, you're not
because he's not from here.

You look familiar, though.
It's not you.

Nah, man.
I think I'm lost.

Huh?

Who am I?

What am I doing?

I was asked to help
find some missing kids.

That were taken--

By members of the FLDS Church.

If I were to ask you guys,

"Can I go in and look for some
missing kids?"

Would you let me?

[music]

[Matt] Hey, what's up?

I'm looking for some kids
that were taken outta Cedar.

Where is Helaman?
I want to talk to Helaman.

I appreciate you
telling me that.

All right, dude.
It's good talking to you.

You know what?
I can't believe anything

anybody says about Helaman.
Forget what Warren said.

Forget what Helaman says.
Forget what a revelation says.

Well, who does?

Who does?

From who?

From Warren?

Warren is sitting in a jail for,
and he was prosecuted for rape.

You know what?
It's good meeting you guys.

Warren Jeffs has been in jail
for 17 years.

They believe that Warren
is still a prophet,

and they'll do whatever
Warren tells 'em to do.

That's where this whole FLDS
religion has gotten to.

And they believe that--
that everything that Helaman's

been saying is
directly from Warren.

[music]

[Dowayne] Matt Browning.
How you doing?

[Matt] D, what happened?

[Matt] Out of the blue,
D called me all in a panic

and excited at the
same time saying,

"Hey, are you in North Dakota?
They found my daughter."

[music]

They're there now?

But they do have your daughter?

[Man] Heber Jeffs is
charged with kidnapping,

accused of denying the girl's
parents access to her.

[music]

[Matt] Heber Jeffs waived
his rights, um,

which means that Utah has 10
days to get him back to Utah.

Then he's gonna go through the
court proceedings there,

um, no bond.

So he's sitting in here
until he gets back to Utah.

Then coming outside,
a lady walked behind us

and took a picture
of the license plates.

I talked to her.
She's with Homeland Security.

They're looking for
any information that

we might possibly have.
And, you know, as as I left,

she said, uh,
"We're on the same team here."

[music]

[Matt] I'm headed out to meet
D Barlow, whose daughter was

recently recovered
from North Dakota

after being with Heber Jeffs.

Heber is Tammy's uncle.

Heber pled guilty to third
degree custodial interference.

In exchange,
prosecutors dismissed

the first degree felony
kidnapping charges

that Heber originally
had against him.

[music]

He's actually the only person so
far that has been able to get

law enforcement to do anything.

He's got some good information
that he wants to share,

so we'll see what he has to say.

[music]

-Hey D.
-Hey.

Thanks for meeting with me, man.
I appreciate it.

-Taking time out your schedule.
-You too. Great to meet you.

Yeah. I'm glad we're here. You
left the church how long ago?

I'm 11 years out of this.

And it's been how long
since you saw your daughter?

I held her when she was
eight months old.

[music]

There is never a day
that goes by

that I don't wake up
seeing that girl.

Explain the situation
where you haven't seen

your daughter in nine years.

[music]

I was born and raised in the
fundamentalist Mormon community.

It was well known
as Short Creek.

It was a very thriving,
fundamentalist Mormon community.

It had a very strong work ethic,
had a very strong

community ethic,
and in many, many ways

idealistic to live in.

[music]

Rulon had, in fact, got to know
the people quite well.

And I think,
he truly loved the people.

We just had an idealistic,
happy life there.

[music]

Warren came down, began to be
involved in the community,

began to be close attendant
to his father,

and at that point he began to be
integrated inside the leadership

and the decision making
of the community.

We knew Warren Jeffs, limitedly.

We saw him with respect

because of the respect
we had for his dad,

but we didn't really know
Warren Jeffs at all.

[music]

When Rulon Jeffs passed away,
it was very transitional

in our lives to have
Warren step in

and begin to take the
leadership of the people.

[Dowayne] When Warren
became our holy prophet,

it didn't take more than
about 14, 15 months

before Warren began to
send men away from the FLDS.

Anybody that had sway
or influence of the people,

he got rid of them.

[music]

It was on open display
to the people,

you don't be obedient to me,

then the hatchet will come down.

So there was always
that constant fear.

And every father felt it.
I actually call it

Warren's reign of terror

that he could go in and
break your home and family up.

There were many of
those men and women

that would've preferred death
to what Warren was doing.

[music]

He took the people into Texas
that he felt most loyal

and most devout to him.

And segregated the two
communities between Texas

and Colorado City and Hildale.

And you can call it
blind loyalty, blind belief,

whatever it is.

Blind Faith.
Blind faith.

And as a person that was
in that setting,

it is hard to separate it from,

I mean, all the prior
experiences that were good

and honorable, it's hard
to make a dividing line.

And I know it because
I got brothers and sisters.

I got a mother that's in this.

They don't know how to make the
dividing line between Warren

and what was really good before.

[music]

We're told,
"Don't be on the internet,

don't look at the news, don't
read the media, don't anything."

Unfortunately, members of the
Jeffs' family knew that

there were issues with Warren.

And they were concerned about
it, but had kept quiet about it.

[music]

What did you do when you said,

"You know what? Uh-uh,
I ain't doing this no more."

[Dowayne] When law enforcement
officers were looking for

information on Warren,

eventually it led to the raid
from the state of Texas

on the compound in Texas.

There's a ton of exposing that
happened when Texas raided.

Many of the things that were
in Texas, we did not know about.

So that was a big surprise to us
in Colorado City and Hilldale.

My gut was sick.

I realized what we were involved
in down there in Texas.

We weren't being
honest to the people.

And people were devout
giving financially

and prayers,
and faith,

and all those things
and still did not know

the truth of what existed there.

That was a time that I didn't
see a safety zone for my family.

[music]

We migrated to Omaha, Nebraska.

And began a process
of completely cutting off

our communications just
to get away from the FLDS.

[music]

When they sent her away,
they told her it would be

a very short moment,
if she left the baby

with her brother
and her sister-in-law.

And so she left that baby.

I was begging the mother
to go get our baby.

We cannot leave her there.

I have the correspondence
between her and I

begging her not to leave
that child there.

[music]

In the FLDS I had no
decision rights on it at all

and was subject to whatever the
church was telling us to do.

[music]

She was able to establish
a co-share relationship

with her brother
and her sister-in-law

that were taking care of Tammy.

And there was a lot
more interaction.

But in that time period,

I have been prevented
from being able to see her.

And it's not an easy experience
to just turn your head

and look away.

And yet I knew the day
would come that I'd one day

be able to stand in defense
of this daughter of mine.

And try to bring her
to a safety point.

In July of 2022,
I got a very early morning text.

And the text simply said this,

"Dowayne, do you know that
your daughter is an orphan

inside the FLDS?"

[music]

[Dowayne] I got an early morning
text from a friend that said,

"I don't know if
you're aware of this,

but your daughter is an
orphan inside the FLDS."

They said to me,
"Warren sent the word to send

the lady that'd been caring
for our daughter away."

And when they sent her away,

she did, in fact, become an
orphan inside the FLDS.

It's a knock you
in the heart feeling.

Well, yeah.

Thousand things you think about.

I have no confidence
in the FLDS leadership

because when it comes
to young girls

is that they have trafficked
these girls.

[music]

And her mother felt like
she could go to her brother,

who is Heber Jeffs,

and that he would give
our daughter to her.

But when she asked for
that child to be returned,

he said to her, "You'll never
see this girl again.

Write your letters of confession
to Warren and to Helamen,

and we'll see where it goes."
He gave her no reasons.

He only refused to give
our daughter to her.

It really, really
ripped me up

because all had been
communicated to me

was that Heber took her
and left with her.

And that he was--
he cut off all communications

and was not talking
to Tammy's mother.

Tamara was in danger.

She was being sent
and being hid.

So I immediately acted.

We went to a court and asked
a judge to look at this.

The St. George judge gave plenty
of opportunity to Heber Jeffs,

her brother,
Tammy's uncle,

time to respond and come
identify himself into this.

And so the judge could
hear whatever there is.

He refused to appear
before that judge and act.

Ultimately, this judge issued
an order that says,

"This child is taken without
permission. It is a kidnapping."

And so when the arrest
warrant was formulated

and then put out on the BOLO,
that was a big moment.

The arrest warrant
clearly stated

that Heber was acting under the
direction of Warren and Helaman.

Court records show that a
no-bail warrant has been issued

for Heber Jeffs by a judge
out of Paiute County.

Tammy's father says, "If anyone
sees them, call police."

[Dowayne] To be able to see
that law enforcement was taking

action on something that they
had kind of stood back away from

because of the dichotomy
that was in inside the FLDS

and these exiled families,
that was a huge moment.

[music]

Heber Jeffs came up on the BOLO
under a utility application

in North Dakota.

And on those
utility applications,

it gave addresses where he
had recently applied for gas.

[Man] Heber Jeffs is charged
with kidnapping.

Accused of denying the girl's
parents access to her.

[music]

I received a
Saturday morning text

from a federal law enforcement
in North Dakota. And said,

"Heber Jeffs just arrested.

"Your daughter is in custody.

She is safe,
but she is shaken."

There's a million emotions that
surge through your whole body.

Our family is now 100 percent
out of the FLDS.

It was just one of those
great big moments

that still wraps my heart today.

To know that Tammy is safe
with her mom,

it's a huge reward.

My opportunity to connect
with my daughter,

is yet to come to me.

And I know there's wisdom
involved in giving her some time

with her mom to let her detox
because she definitely

was under some heavy
indoctrination.

Coming out of that kind of
indoctrination is not easy.

And especially for a child.

[music]

[Man] Heber Jeffs was
sentenced to serve up

to five years in prison,
but given probation for his role

in the disappearance
of a 10-year-old girl

he was caring for.

[Matt] What about other kids?

What do those parents
need to do?

'Cause you're the one
who's actually done it.

They need to go legally identify
that those are their children.

This is a process
that takes patience.

It takes nerves,
it takes steel.

It takes a little bit of
just enduring the process

-because it has to be there.
-[Matt] Right.

And you know what?
You saved your daughter.

-You've done it, man.
-I'm doing it... still.

You are.

-Thanks for talking.
-You bet.

[Matt] In this FLDS
missing children's situation,

I think it's bigger
than what we think.

The scary part is, is that
with every day that goes by,

they're getting closer to being
married off to some old man.

That's just the girls.
Every day that goes by,

here's these young boys that
are being shipped off away

from family to work, not to put
money in their own pockets,

but to build up this so-called
kingdom of heaven

in North Dakota.

The more people who know about
the missing kids is more eyes

to find the kids.
And that's our hope here.

[music]