Is Eldorado the Next Waco, Texas?

May 15, 2006 — -- The residents of Eldorado, Texas, are keenly aware of the events that occurred in Waco, Texas, 13 years ago when David Koresh's compound went up in flames.

In Eldorado, people hope history will not repeat itself with a charismatic leader and his devoted followers who are believed to have taken up residence in the remote outskirts of their town.

Warren Jeffs is an alleged polygamous leader who is on the FBI's Top 10 most wanted list, and some believe he is hiding on the Yearning for Zion Ranch on the edge of Eldorado.

Randy Mankin, the publisher of the Eldorado Success who has spent the last two years writing about the residents on the ranch, believes he has seen Jeffs while flying over the 1,691-acre compound.

"We photographed him at what we think is the dedication ceremony at the temple," Mankin said. "As soon as the crowd that was gathered around this individual in a semicircle saw and heard our plane, they clustered around this individual for several minutes. I think that was Warren Jeffs."

Jeffs has compounds in the United States, Mexico and Canada. He is accused of sexual assault on a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor for allegedly arranging the marriage between a 16-year-old girl and a 28-year-old man who was already married. The FBI is offering a $100,000 reward for his arrest.

Jeffs has eluded law enforcement for years because he has the support of followers determined to protect him and millions stashed away to help him hide.

What is stunning about the ranch is its size, and just how self-sustaining it has become, according to Judge James Doyle, who regularly flies over the ranch to monitor its activities for law enforcement

"They have enormous warehouses, orchards, vegetable gardens, dairy, chicken coops, a cheese-manufacturing house, their own water plant," Doyle said. "We have heard they are spending a million a month on this compound."

Nearly 1,000 of Jeffs' followers now live in Eldorado, enough to upset the political balance of the small county, which has a population of about 3,000 people. No one at the ranch has registered to vote. Doyle says, so far, the polygamists have been good neighbors