I’ve been meaning to update my blog about the experiences we’re having here in San Angelo and Eldorado. However, the beast has been hungry and I’ve been on every local news show my station airs… so its safe to say I’m operating on adrenaline and not food, water or sleep.

At the moment, I’m watching my live report on Larry King Live tonight. I’m amazed we somehow squeezed that in, but who’s going to say no to Larry? In all honesty, this has been a crazy experience and one that doesn’t seem like its going to end anytime soon. The hearing in this custody battle just started today and the 300 plus lawyers here have yet to cross examine the CPS supervisor who is the basis of the state’s evidence.

Let’s start with our return to Eldorado yesterday. When my photographer, Thomas Costley and I arrived in Eldorado, we immediately went to the Yearning for Zion ranch where we found dozens of news crews outside the gate, hoping to get in. I’ll admit I had to pull a fast one and convince the church member at the gate that I was “on the list” to get in. We finally did and found a guard tower greeting us as soon as we entered.

***By the way, by pulling a fast one, I don’t mean I lied to anyone. I just convinced the guy at the gate and his supervisor that if they wanted exposure, rejecting local news crews wasn’t going to accomplish that goal. He ended up letting all of the crews outside take a tour of the ranch.

After arriving, a man drove us through the compound to the “central area” where we were allowed to interview some of the women. They cried and said their lives were empty without the children.

The ranch itself is a lot of dusty, dry Texas land. There are some log cabin like homes, a huge temple and machinery. After leaving the ranch, we went to San Angelo, did our live hit at 10pm and then returned to the same spot a few hours later to deliver news for the morning show.

Today’s hearing was mass chaos. The one thing I noticed is there were a few young men with the women but hardly any older men. We keep hearing about young girls marrying fifty something year old men, but I have yet to see any. Perhaps that is intentional.

We have not eaten yet today, so after an 18 hour work day, we’re going to get lost in San Angelo in search of food.

Keep reading and I’ll keep writing…I’m sure it will only get crazier!