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The Associated PressJanuary 28, 2021News
courtesy Google MapsLocation of compound in Custer County.
PRINGLE, S.D. (AP) A South Dakota sheriff says a compound held by a secretive polygamous group in the Black Hills is for sale. The property is located near Pringle in Custer County.
It’s held by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Court documents show the property is in foreclosure after the group defaulted on a $1.6 million loan.
Sheriff Marty Mechaley says the 140-acre property will be sold during an auction on Feb. 25 at the Custer County Courthouse.
The compound sits along a gravel road and is shielded from view by tall pine trees, a privacy fence and a guard tower.
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A series of faraway events is causing the sale of a cult compound in South Dakota.
The polygamous cult is the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, known as FLDS. It broke away long ago from the Mormon Church.
The FLDS is based in a community called Short Creek on the Arizona-Utah border. It has enclaves elsewhere, including a compound in South Dakota’s Black Hills.
The cult’s leader, Warren Jeffs, is serving life in prison for sexually abusing girls he took as wives. Since his conviction about 15 years ago, the FLDS has been unraveling.
Ken Driggs is an Atlanta-based legal scholar who studies the cult.