Seth Jeffs. Photo: Pueblo County Sheriff's Department in Colorado

By Joe Friedrichs of WTIP Radio News - January 17, 2019

A religious leader with a history of legal trouble in the western United States and deep family connections to the polygamous sect of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has purchased property along Pike Lake Road in Cook County and plans to build a large structure on the land.

Seth Jeffs has allegedly been residing in Cook County since August 2018, according to several interviews WTIP conducted this week. Jeffs was staying in a cabin near Caribou Lake during this time.

Meanwhile, Jeffs purchased 40 acres of property in August near Pike Lake Road. The property at 932 Pike Lake Road was purchased by Jeffs under the business name Emerald Industries, LCC.

A land use permit was approved in December 2018 for this property. The permit includes a driveway that is approximately 900 ft. in length and an approximately 6,000 sq. ft. building to be put on the property, according to the Cook County Land Services Department.

The large structure is considered, at least in part, an interior living unit. This classification means people can reside in at least part of the building.

Jeffs last known whereabouts were in rural South Dakota where he was a key figure in a compound operated by the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which is widely considered an extreme branch of Mormonism.

As recently as May 2018, the compound was garnering media attention for allegedly not recording births at the location. The structure of the compound itself collected an abundance of media attention in South Dakota, both for the way the structure looked and impact it had on the immediate neighborhood and surrounding community.