SALT LAKE CITY — The FBI said it has received a “handful” of tips on the whereabouts of Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Lyle Jeffs, who escaped from home confinement over the weekend.
On Tuesday, the FBI issued a wanted poster for Jeffs and said it is possible the FLDS bishop has fled to Canada or Mexico. The FBI said he has access to various modes of transportation, including airplanes and boats.
The FBI said Jeffs is known to carry weapons and have armed bodyguards around him, so he is to be considered armed and dangerous.
Ex-members of the FLDS Church tell FOX 13 Jeffs will have a group of followers who are willing to keep him on the run. In an interview Monday, one of his sons — Thomas Jeffs — said his father would be constantly moving and using burner phones to communicate with FLDS faithful.
Jeffs is the brother of imprisoned FLDS leader Warren Jeffs, who is serving a life sentence in a Texas prison for child sex assault related to underage “marriages.”
Jeffs is among 11 people charged in a massive food stamp fraud scheme. He was released from jail on June 9 by U.S. District Court Judge Ted Stewart. His lawyers argued that with a delay in trial until October, he should not be kept in jail. Federal prosecutors tried to argue that Jeffs is a flight risk.
Jeffs disappeared over the weekend and is believed to have removed his GPS tracking device. Anyone with information about his whereabouts is urged to call 801-579-1400.
