Ex-FLDS members purchase former compound after auction sale

A compound in South Dakota’s Black Hills, once owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), has been sold at auction to three former members who left the secretive polygamous sect years ago. Blue Mountain Ranch LLC, representing Patrick Pipkin, Seth Cooke, and Andrew Chatwin, paid $750,000 for the 140-acre property. The county had previously valued the nine-parcel site at more than $9 million.

The compound, surrounded by trees and barbed-wire fencing, includes numerous buildings and a watchtower. Pipkin, who left the FLDS about 15 years ago, stated he no longer believes in its teachings. He noted the sect still owes nearly $1.7 million to the three men as part of a 2017 legal settlement. The men were allegedly detained and unlawfully jailed in Arizona after being accused of trespassing on property the sect had leased to them.

Their lawsuit alleged that the local marshal’s office and other elected leaders were “handpicked” by the FLDS church, which conspired to illegally arrest and prosecute non-members. Custer County Sheriff Marty Mechaley mentioned that about 20 adult FLDS members who were still living on the property would leave once it was sold. He described the situation as “a family dispute” working through it, adding that the group has no immediate plans for the property.

The $750,000 sale will be applied to the judgment against the property. The FLDS, an offshoot of mainstream Mormonism, believes polygamy brings exaltation in heaven. While polygamy was part of early teachings of the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the religion abandoned the practice. The sale marks a significant step in the ongoing legal and personal struggles of former members seeking to reclaim their lives and property from a community they once called home.

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