This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2008, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Posted: 6:10 PM- SAN ANGELO, Texas - Texas authorities have separated many of the 139 women from the 416 children in state custody since a raid on a polygamous FLDS sect, sending some back to their ranch in Eldorado.
The FLDS has opened the ranch to the news media, said Rod Parker, attorney for the FLDS families.
Earlier today, all the children and women staying at Fort Concho in San Angelo were moved by bus to the San Angelo Coliseum. Later, the Texas Child Protection Service gave the women a choice: either go back to the ranch or to an undisclosed "safe location," said agency spokeswoman Marissa Gonzales.
Only women with small children were allowed to stay at the coliseum.
Gonzales said the precise number of who stayed with their children, or those who went back to the ranch or to the safe location, were not known.
"We're still trying to put that together," she said, adding that the numbers should be available by Tuesday.