Polygamist leader added to most-wanted list

updated 1:57 p.m. ET May 8, 2006

PHOENIX - The fugitive leader of a polygamous sect wanted on charges in Arizona and Utah was put on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list Saturday.

Warren Jeffs has not been seen publicly in nearly two years and is wanted on criminal charges of sexual conduct with a minor.

He is accused of arranging marriages between underage girls and older men. Federal authorities also have added a charge of unlawful flight.

Authorities on Saturday raised the reward amount from $50,000 to $100,000.

The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is based in Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah. Polygamy is practiced openly in Colorado City, a remote enclave in Arizona on the state line with Utah.

The sect split from mainstream Mormonism after the broader church renounced polygamy more than a century ago.

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