>> reporter: you're looking at an extraordinary confrontation. a young mother simply trying to take legal custody of her four children surrounded by a throng of polygamist women, members of an outlaw church, wearing prairie dresses and singing hymns. you display an enormous amount of calm in the face of all this. where did you muster that from? >> i knew my kids were watching. they needed to see me have courage, they did. >> reporter: her name is sabrina broadbent. she is a former member of the flds, the fundamentalist church ofatter day saints, a church to which the people surrounding

her van are still zealously devoted. >> and they were all bawling like someone passed away. >> reporter: do you think it speaks to the level of fanaticism? >> well, the thing to them, someone leaving the community, it's like death to them. so once they leave, they're cut off, they can never see those people again. >> this is a revelation from the lord god of heaven. >> reporter: with the notorious leader of the flds, warren jeffs, behind bars, the church is now under siege, caught in the middle, children with one parent still in, and the other now out. tonight we will follow three parents. >> i want my children now. all of them. >> reporter: all former members. >> it's human trafficking. >> reporter: on high-stakes, risky, and emotionally fraught missions. to extract their kids from the grip of the flds. to protect them, they say, from a life of forced labor and forced marriages. unlikely heroes who, despite

years of indoctrination, are now summoning the courage to face down the church that once dominated their lives. were you nervous? were you scared? >> i just pretended it was me and my kids, like i singled them out. everything else, i didn't focus on anybody else, i'm like, they're not even there. >> reporter: by the end of our report tonight, some of these parents will be reunited with their children. and others will not. good evening. i'm elizabeth vargas. david is away tonight. the sect in crisis between the faithful and defectors. and comes to that moment you just saw, a mother trying to reclaim the children she says the church has brainwashed against here. but tonight, what you've never seen. before and after the standoff.

and the mother and two other families speaking out only to "20/20," about a bizarre where'v even a christmas presen is seen as a sign of the devil. >> reporter: when sabrina broadbent comes to pick up her four children she is returning to what she considers the belly of the beast, the place where darkest chapter of her life unfolded. >> there's so many followers out there that follow warren. they're all for warren. i just, i don't like it. >> reporter: this is a community known as "the creek," an isolated alternate universe set deep in the desert along the utah/arizona border where the women wear prairie dresses, the men, at least the powerful ones, have multiple wives, and the homes have high walls and fences to keep out prying eyes.

sa bring that left in 2008. her children fell into the care of her ex-husband's sister. her name is samantha. last month, sabrina went to court seeking and winning full custody. >> i was on cloud 39, all this work up to this point to get my children and everything was just so i could show the judge i did not abandon my kids. i did not. >> reporter: later that same day she, along with her brother and her new husband, drive to samantha's house in the creek to pick the children up. did you have any idea that you were driving into a buzzsaw? >> no, no, i did not expect any of that. >> reporter: but their ordeal is just beginning. when they arrive, the kids are not there, so they wait. and just waiting provokes a reaction in the neighborhood. stay in the van. we'll keep it on tape. >> no, i want to get out. >> reporter: suddenly more than a dozen vehicles encircle them, the private security force of the church known as the "god squad." >> now they're backing up. >> the god squad.

that's them. >> there's the god squad again. >> i just got a bad feeling in my gut, i'm like, lock the doors. >> reporter: you were spooked. >> yeah, i just got a bad feeling. >> reporter: it's well past midnight when a car containing sabrina's kids finally slips into the driveway. >> they showed up at 1:10. 1:10, for the record. oh, they're hurrying, slam the gate. i am gonna give the sheriff a call. i am not even kidding, all the trailers are lit up. >> reporter: after spending the night in the van sabrina spots her two sons. >> there's isaac. >> my cute little son. >> is that rulon? >> that's my baby ru. let's walk up there. they're all gonna duck. >> reporter: her two daughters are out of sight. the children all keep their distance. and when sabrina goes to talk to her oldest, isaac, who's 13, it does not go well. he has no desire to leave the only world he's ever known. >> i said, "isaac, come here, let me talk to you." and he's like, "get away from me. get away from me, you apostate." and he jumped the fence and ran.

>> reporter: what does it do to you to have you son, your own son, talk to you like that? >> it was hard. i did not want them to see me cry. i did not want them to see me weak. >> reporter: samantha, the children's primary caretaker, seems to be stalling for time. >> she says, "warren is coming. he will deliver these children. he's coming." >> reporter: you think she actually believed that warren jeffs was going to break out of a prison several states away and come and protect these kids? >> yeah. >> obey the prophet when he speaks and you'll be blessed. disobey him, it is death. >> reporter: even though he's currently serving life in a texas prison for sexually assaulting two underage girls, including a 12-year-old he married. he is said to have ramped up the rigid discipline he demands of his followers. >> to watch a video, a movie, it is open disobedience. >> reporter: testing their faith through increasingly strange and seemingly random rules.

it's 8:00, 14 hours into the standoff and church members are coming out of the woodwork. and though they may be forbidden from watching videos from the outside world, they're apparently allowed to shoot their own. >> there's like 100 eyes on us right now. >> reporter: now the reality starts to set in for sabrina that, custody order notwithstanding, getting her children back will not be easy. >> they won't send them out. they won't let me get them. there is at least 15 video cameras. i just about got spit on. they just tried to intimidate you. they all had cameras, and they'd come right up to your face. they're obnoxious. >> reporter: the creek is not a welcoming place to outsiders. >> back off, back off! >> i have a right to worship any damn thing i want, wear any damn clothes i want. >> reporter: and he turned around as soon as we did and i think they're on my tail. drive into this community and you will almost certainly be tailed by the the god squad.

the private church security team that had encircled sabrina. can i just ask you a quick question? can i just ask you a quick question? >> nope. >> reporter: guess not. on the rare occasion when you can actually get a church member to speak to you what you will hear is unvarnished adoration for the imprisoned pedophile prophet. is that the view of what's happening with the prophet, that it's persecution? >> in my opinion, yes. >> reporter: do people feel like he'll come back? >> i do. >> reporter: that is exactly how sabrina broadbent does not want her children to end up. but in order to get them back she is going to have to drink from a firehose of classic flds intimidation tactics. >> step back a little bit for me. >> this is how they treat people, and they think it's

okay. >> reporter: while sabrina may seem like a hard-charging fdls antagonist her story goes much deeper. not long ago she was on the other side, a die-hard church member, prairie dress and all. >> you grow up, that's all you know. >> reporter: the wrenching story of how she left without her of how she left without her children when we come back. is og unlimited talk. izon and text. plus 10 gigs of shareable data. yeah, 10 gigantic gigs. for $80 a month. and $15 per line. more data than ever. for more of what you want. on the network that's #1 in speed. call. data. and reliability. so you never have to settle. $80 a month. for 10 gigs. and $15 per line. stop by or visit us online. and save without settling. only on verizon.

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a house divided continues. once again, dan harris. >> reporter: 2006. joe broadbent, an flds runaway, launches a series of commando-style missions to extract his entire family from the church by any means necessary. >> i could see them sad, depressed, hurt, and scared. i'm like, why not try to get them out? >> reporter: as seen in a documentary called "sons of perdition," his most adamant opponent is his oldest sister, sabrina. yes, ironically, the same woman who would later find herself on the other side of this conflict, was then a zealous defender of the church. here literally pulling on one of her sisters to prevent her from leaving. >> you never stop praying and obeying. you never stop keeping sweet. >> when you grow up in it, it's all you know.

you know, that's all you know. >> reporter: so you thought warren jeffs was god's mouthpiece. >> right. >> reporter: the broadbent family tree is actually quite slender by flds standards. sabrina was raised in a household with one father, just two wives, and 22 children. how old were you when you got married? >> i was 17. >> reporter: and was it somebody you wanted to marry? you got to pick, or -- >> no, they're just assigned to you. >> young ladies marry and think their husband will submit to her will, but a woman's duty is to bless her husband. >> reporter: sabrina knew from the recorded sermons of warren jeffs that the job of an flds wife is to obey her husband and bear children. and she did her duty, delivering two boys and two girls in rapid succession. her brother joe had a different duty, working without pay as a manual laborer. how old were you when you were first put to work? >> i was 10 years old. i started driving a forklift when i was 12. in fact, i learned how to drive

a forklift before a vehicle. >> so they're brought up working child labor. >> reporter: sam brower is a private investigator who's been looking into allegations of flds child abuse for more than a decade. >> warren jeffs has said, "if a child wants to play with a doll, give her a baby." "if a boy wants to ride a bicycle, give him a shovel." >> get out of here. >> reporter: driving around the creek we found children at work everywhere. with shovels. building fences. running heavy equipment. brower says his investigations uncovered flds-organized child labor on an industrial scale at pecan orchards 20 miles away from the creek. his evidence has prompted an ongoing federal investigation. opposed in court by lawyers for

the flds. >> there were literally thousands of children in these orchards. that's the horrible, sad, bottom line, that these kids are a commodity and they're used to make money for the church. >> the schools would stop, and we would all load up and go pick pecans. >> reporter: so they would shut down the schools? >> they would shut down the schools. >> reporter: nine years ago, at the age of 17 and sick of a life of servitude, joe escapes the church and heads straight to the devil's playground. >> i went to las vegas, i mean, "sin city." it was awesome. i absolutely loved it. >> reporter: he finds his new freedom to be a revelation, one he wants to share with the family that he's left behind. >> i could see how the world was to me, you know, i wasn't hurt. i wasn't possessed. the people out here are not evil. they're good people. >> reporter: but after that ugly moment we showed you, sabrina trying to prevent him from rescuing other family members,

joe knows it will take something powerful to shake his older sister's faith. what finally does it is a bombshell dropped by her husband, jake. >> he wanted to marry my little sister, and she was 14. >> reporter: sabrina's husband wanted to marry -- >> wanted another wife, so. >> and he wanted to marry one of her little sisters, who was 14. >> yeah. >> reporter: sabrina's husband is banished by warren jeffs. not because he wanted to bed his wife's 14-year-old sister, but because only the prophet can decide how many wives a man can have. sabrina finds herself on the verge of being transferred into another marriage, perhaps with multiple wives. >> i'm gonna be married off. i'll be the second wife, third wife, fourth wife, and i'm like, i don't want to be a damn concubine. >> reporter: so she calls joe and other family members on the outside. >> and they're like, "we're coming to help you, you ready?" >> reporter: they make a midnight run to a meeting spot in the desert outside the creek. 25-year-old sabrina jumps into

the car and races away to a new life on the outside. at first, freedom is exhilirating. she gets a new haircut, enjoys partying. but she's also tormented by the fact that her husband's family is insisting on keeping the children. >> and there was nothing i could do at that point because i didn't dare go up against the church or anything. >> reporter: because the church is so powerful? >> yeah, i never dared go up against it. i wanted to, believe me, i wanted to. i cried myself to sleep many nights, months. even drank myself to death sometimes. >> she would scream. she would cry because she missed her kids. she would lose her mind, pretty much, and it was sad to see. >> reporter: sabrina is now 32,

remarried, with a 3-year-old son, and she has a career as a counselor for troubled youth. she's never lost touch with her first four children, still in the church. however, during a scheduled visitation this past christmas, it becomes painfully obvious that her kids view her as an evil outsider. here, refusing to accept her christmas presents. they know that christmas, gift-giving, toys. they violate flds rules and mean a one-way ticket to hell. this estrangement becomes one of the big reasons sabrina finally musters the courage to fight for custody. the court order was a sweet vindication of her efforts. >> there's no tears. i was too happy to cry. >> reporter: and you got right in the car and went to go get them. >> yeah, we did. >> reporter: and that brings us back to the standoff.

>> they won't send them out. they won't let me get them. >> reporter: it's now noon and we're 18 hours into this thing and as the crowd surrounds sabrina's van with video cameras, it's clear that her kids are siding with the faithful. that's isaac, the eldest, right there. and this is, rulon, the younger boy. and here are daughters saundrah and latisha. >> had to lock the doors, little people are throwing chickens in the van. >> reporter: at one point, the boys even try to put a calf in her van. >> i am so sick of this. this is so uncalled for and so unnecessary. >> reporter: what do you think their fear was? why did they so badly not want to go with you? >> they've been poisoned against me because i live out here, i'm an apostate. >> reporter: have they been taught that you're evil? >> they called me the devil a few times. "you're the devil," you know, "you're going to hell." >> reporter: about 20 hours into the standoff, saundrah, on behalf of her siblings, delivers a handwritten contract pleading for future trips to the creek.

>> sabrina, we will only get in your car if you will sign this paper saying that we can have visitation with samantha. i'm not going to sign anything. it's on my terms. >> reporter: the war for these flds children is at a stalemate. but across town, another mother is fighting a similar battle, on another front. >> i'm scared. >> reporter: she was once the queen of the flds castle. now she has come back in order to take back her children. >> i don't want my girls to be raped. i don't want any of my boys to have to sit on the side of their bed and watch their wife get raped. i don't want that. >> reporter: when we come back, her allegations of a new, sadistic, sex ritual. plus -- is the local government in the pocket of the church? >> are you answerable to the public? we go uninvited to the city council for answers.

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"20/20" continues with dan harris. >> reporter: what is really going on behind these walls? where the leadership of the flds resides? charlene jeffs used to be the queen of this castle and now she's returning to her old home wielding information that she says could rock this fortress to its foundations. >> my youngest daughter right now is 14. that's the age that they like to do things to them. this was just high weeds when i

was here. >> reporter: charlene is perhaps the most provocative new combatant in the civil war over flds children. she is trying to get her kids back from none other than lyle jeffs, warren jeff's brother and reputed top lieutenant who now resides into this spawling, walled compound. >> he was always afraid i was gonna rock his boat. well, i'm gonna capsize it. >> reporter: charlene was the most senior of lyle's nine wives running a polygamous family with 34 children until she was banished into exile two years ago. >> i was told i had complained. i didn't know what i had complained about. but i was told that i had complained. >> reporter: lyle has no idea that his wife is now on the warpath trying to get her two youngest children back. >> i would say to him, lyle, you have hurt me more deeply than anyone ever has or ever will. and i never will go back to you and i want my children now. all of them.

>> no pres trespassing. >> reporter: he'll find out soon enough, though, because today charlene is outside posting legal notices demanding a hearing in which she can argue for custody of her two youngest children. and the documents contain explosive allegations detailing her fears for her youngest daughter, suzie. >> suzie, come out and talk to me, okay? open the door so i can see you. and i hope that suzie doesn't get involved in the rituals that's going on. >> reporter: the order accuses the church of a profoundly the church of a profoundly perverse so-called "seed bearer" ritual, in which warren jeffs has allegedly decreed that a select group of his 15 most faithful men be assigned to impregnate the women of the flds with their husbands required to observe the act. >> i don't want my girls to commit adultery and i don't want them to be raped. i want all of them out of there.

>> reporter: if true, how could this kind of abuse be allowed to take place here in the creek? because, charlene argues, the local police are in the pocket of the church. this is a claim that many have made to us, so we went looking for some answers. curiously, when i show up at the jeffs compound just days after charlene's visit, within minutes, the cops mysteriously materialize. just trying to talk to lyle jeffs. do you work for him? >> of course not. >> reporter: but this man says otherwise. helaman barlow may have long hair and a goatee now but he used to be the clean cut chief marshal in the creek. in fact, he once swatted our camera. >> would you mind putting the

camera down? >> reporter: you pushed our camera. >> oh, that was you guys? >> reporter: do you remember that? >> yeah. >> reporter: after quitting the force he cut a deal and is now cooperating with the united states justice department which accuses the entire city government here of being wholly controlled by the church, a charge local officials deny. do the police here protect and serve the people or protect and serve the church primarily? >> my job was to protect the church. >> reporter: to protect the church. >> yes. >> reporter: what you're describing is a straight up theocracy. >> yes. absolutely. this community's always been a theocracy. >> reporter: the former chief spoke to us while surrounded by his wife and his friends, all former members. did you live in fear that the prophet could actually take your family away from you? >> oh, yeah. with one phone call. >> reporter: so when you were asked sometimes to do things, is it the case that sometimes you would do things that you found repulsive because you thought, "if i don't do this, i'll lose my family." >> absolutely. absolutely. >> reporter: we wanted to know what city officials had to say about these charges. so we went to city hall.

hi. my name is dan harris. i'm from abc news. we're looking to see if we can speak to the mayor or the city manager the chief of the marshals. >> nobody's in the office now, just me. >> reporter: just you. where is everybody? >> they're off doing whatever they're doing. >> reporter: town meeting 6:30. i know what i'm doing tonight. good evening. my name is dan harris. i'm from abc news. the federal government has sued you, saying you are essentially a wing of the flds church. how do you respond to that? >> do you have our attorney's phone number? >> reporter: they say that you as an elected body, here in the united states of america, are effectively the wing of a church. one whose prophet is in prison for two counts of sexual assault of a child. you wouldn't want to respond to that?

>> our response would be from our attorney. >> reporter: is anyone here not a member of the flds? so you're all members of the flds, right? seriously, nobody will answer the question? >> the three minutes is up, thank you. >> reporter: the city's lawyer tells us the council is not controlled by the church. however, charlene jeffs, a believer turned apostate, fully expects discrimination when she arrives at the local marshal's office to ask for help. she has a right to what's called a welfare check with her two youngest kids. but she doubts the local cops will assist the lowly wife taking on the bishop.

>> okay. i'd be happy to help you out. >> reporter: to her surprise the marshals allow her and her lawyer inside and produce her 17 year old son, amin, and 13 year old daughter, suzie. >> suzie tried to fight on a hug and i know it's just cause of the teachings. and amin just did a handshake. but amin smiled and i felt like it was a more sincere smile. i know that they love me. they're just confused. >> reporter: for the moment she's reassured that her kids are okay. but then late that night, under cover of darkness, our cameras capture three large trailers easing out of the compound, destination unknown. >> no license plates. >> reporter: could her kids be in those trailers? could charlene have lost her last chance to get her kids back? >> i'm scared. i'm scared of what lyle will do. i know that he will put the

children in hiding so that i will never have any kind of contact with them again. >> reporter: when we come back -- >> i'm gonna guess there's 25 vehicles right here. >> reporter: sabrina broadbent facing drastic measures to end a standoff now in its 20th hour. >> i'm going to give them permission to get my children and put them in the van. >> reporter: will she finally get her kids back? or leave empty-handed and broken-hearted? when a house divided returns. e. long way from the sandlot. first game in the majors? you don't know "aarp". because this family is enjoying a cross-country baseball stadium trip they planned online at aarp travel. it's where your journey begins with inspiration, planning, booking, and hot travel tips from real pros. if you don't think seize the trip when you think aarp, then you don't know "aarp".

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"20/20" continues with a house divided. once again, dan harris. >> reporter: it's 20 hours into

sabrina broadbent's standoff with the flds. she still doesn't have her children back and she's finally had enough. >> they were waiting for me to give the to-go. >> reporter: she's called in law enforcement, the county sheriffs, who are not accused of being beholden to the church. now she tells them, it's time to use force, if necessary, to end this thing. >> what's going on with the cops? they're talking on the phone. what's going on? >> they're trying to figure this out. they're talking to the judge, the protection order, or this pickup order. i'm going to give them permission to my children and put them in the van. so here it goes. i am sick of this. >> reporter: as if on cue, the flds women react. >> i started seeing them bring their suitcases out. i'm like, okay, here we go. here we go. 50 people trying to help the kids out. and the cop, one of the deputies, went up and says, this is your last chance. >> reporter: finally, escorted

by their flds keepers, the children walk toward sabrina's van, crying. that's her older boy, isaac, there covering his face. it seems like things might be looking up for sabrina and her family. but wait, out of the blue the tide turns. scores of church members descend upon the mouth of the van. it's a sea of prairie dresses and up-dos. >> they're like, "we're not forcing the children. they have to do it on their own." but they're so brainwashed that they wouldn't even step in the van. >> reporter: sabrina's brother, joe, who's gotten so many of his family members out of the church, was right there. >> they're saying you, you know, you're leaving with the devil. >> reporter: people in the crowd are weeping, praying, they begin singing an flds hymn. ♪

>> reporter: these people have no questions about their prophet even though he's in prison for sexually -- >> oh, that's a -- that's a big test for them. he's like, "the only way that i'm not out is because you're not faithful enough." he puts so much pressure on the people. they're fasting. they don't eat for three days at a time. and they pray and pray and pray for warren to break out of prison. >> reporter: for a moment, sabrina wavers. >> we were going on two hours sleep. i couldn't eat. we can come back tomorrow. i'm like, no, we're doing this today. this is happening today. >> reporter: the sheriffs are slow to act here because they say they're worried the tense scene could explode into mob violence. but finally, a sheriff's deputy pokes his head around the corner of the van and says time to go. at long last, the kids get in. the van pulls away, with the followers of warren jeffs waving, and weeping. the arduous extraction of

sabrina's children is an inspiration to other ex-flds members like ron rohbock. ron was banished from the church in 2002, and all of his seven wives and 50 children were reassigned to another man, including his then 4-year-old daughter sherilyn. pictured here with warren jeffs. then one day, a strange call from the fbi puts him in the middle of his own harrowing custody dispute. a tipster had directed them to this trailer, where sherilyn was being housed in shocking conditions. >> she didn't have running water to the trailer. they brought her food once a week in a box this big. >> and then she had one number that she had to call every 15 minutes. the brainwashing was so constant. >> and this was punishment from the family with whom she was living at the time? >> exactly.

>> reporter: the fbi has taken sherilyn into custody. now ron and his new wife geri decide to bring his daughter into their home. >> she was a little distant, but it was a very short period of time before she had both arms through my arms. >> reporter: on the advice of a lawyer, the rohbocks and sherilyn leave the creek and go into hiding, a secret seven-day road trip to california to buy time for a judge to grant the rohbocks legal custody. >> we got down to santa monica. and we got a room. and we walked over to bubba gump's. you can see in the picture, she was smiling. >> she lit up. >> she was having fun. >> reporter: she had been taught since birth that the outside world was evil. >> oh yeah. >> reporter: and here you were demonstrating -- >> it wasn't. it was fun. >> reporter: for the rohbocks these first baby steps toward a new family life for sherilyn seem to be going well.

and for charlene jeffs, a surprise phone call of her own. >> my husband called me and said, "hey, let's -- let's settle this out of court." >> reporter: her husband lyle jeffs agrees to a secret meeting and reluctantly gives up custody. >> we're here to file custody papers so that i can get my two underage children. >> reporter: the judge orders the handoff the that day. charlene invites us to document the transfer from a distance with a sheriff, a marshal and church security right there to make sure all goes smoothly. the kids refuse to get out of that white car they're in but they do agree to follow to their new home out of the creek. >> it was a hope. it was a risk in losing them all together and i had to just rely on faith and prayers. >> reporter: so here we are, charlene jeffs, flds royalty breaking free. sabrina broadbent, through sheer determination.

and ron rohbock, all now reunited with their children. but will it last? >> the truck door opened up and they grabbed her and pulled her in and she was gone. >> i'm scared. >> it was a nightmare when we got home. >> reporter: what do you mean? can she turn this ordeal into a happy ending? when we come back. have enough money to live life on your terms? ill you i sure hope so. with healthcare costs, who knows. umm... everyone has retirement questions. so ameriprise created the exclusive confident retirement approach. now you and your ameripise advisor.... can get the real answers you need. start building your confident retirement today.

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we return to "20/20" and dan harris. >> reporter: after a 22-hour standoff, sabrina broadbent departs the creek with her children. enjoying a moment of personal triumph. >> all i wanted to do was get the hell out of there, that's all i wanted to do. >> reporter: but it's only a moment. as soon as they drive away from the standoff on highway 59 through the red rock mesas and mountains to her home in southern utah, the road gets rocky. how were the kids when they got in the van? >> they were all crying and my youngest was pulling my hair and throwing things at my head and

stuff, but i went back there and just nuzzled up to them and looked at them like they were my friends. like, "here i am." >> reporter: how did they react to that? >> after about a half an hour they all fell asleep. but, it was a nightmare when we got home. >> reporter: what do you mean? >> my eldest took a magic marker to my 60-inch screen tv that we just got and cut all the cords to the tv dish. >> reporter: these kids were raised in a world where they were told that the outside is evil. and here you come pulling them to the outside. >> right. >> reporter: at one point they packed up their stuff? >> they did. and they sat out on my front lawn with all their blankets and sat out there and cried. it was dang hard for me to see that. i got it! >> reporter: undaunted, sabrina is determined to reconnect and catch up on lost time with her kids far away from the flds.

>> put -- pull! >> reporter: so she is filling their days with the kind of fun the prophet warren jeffs would never allow. skeet shooting, hiking, fishing and four-wheeling. >> ru, did you drive this? oh, good. they've come alive in the last couple of days. we've been going out and doing activities with them and involving them and stuff, and they love it. >> reporter: aided and abetted by the purchase of a new puppy and, of course, lots of maternal patience and love, sabrina's children seem to be coming around. so here we are a couple weeks later. how are they doing now? >> they're doing great. last night was the first time they watched tv. >> reporter: ever? >> the first time in their life. >> reporter: i don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. >> well it's -- it's good stuff. it's like the old disney movies like "herbie" and "apple dumpling gang." >> reporter: it's like they're catching up on childhood.

to ease the transition, sabrina is letting the girls wear their prairie dresses. >> and, i'm not gonna force them to do anything like their hair, their dresses, you know what? everything is happening so fast. >> reporter: on another highway crossing a different desert, ron and geri rohbock head home to colorado city after five seemingly happy days in california with ron's daughter. but ron and geri notice something odd in sherilyn's behavior. >> she was writing in shorthand. >> reporter: indecipherable scribbles in a kind of cryptic journal. and as they approach the nevada border town of mesquite -- >> she said to me, "oh, we're not stopping in mesquite?" why was she so concerned about not stopping in mesquite? >> reporter: so at sherilyn's insistence, they pull off the freeway and drive into this parking lot. >> sherilyn's sitting in the vehicle. she didn't want to get out. and so i walked around to her side of the car and at that very minute, the truck pulls up. she jumps out.

she's in the truck and they're gone. i mean, it happened like clockwork. >> reporter: the rohbocks have no doubt that sherilyn somehow tipped off the flds and helped set up this brazen snatch-back. so where is your daughter now? >> i have no idea. >> my personal belief is that she's right over here in lyle's complex. i helped build that property. you know how many secret hiding places there are in that place? they've got caverns in caverns in there. >> reporter: the resistance and resources of the remaining flds hardcore membership raises some disturbing questions. could they resort to violence as the leadership of this outlaw church loses its grip? >> the people who are left following him. are following a madman who i don't believe has any hesitation at all in leading these people out in a blaze of glory. >> reporter: at the north end of town, a locked iron gate blocks the entrance to an abandoned manmade cave. designed to protect the flds from the threat of a government

raid, today it remains an ominous symbol of a sect that sees its survival as a mission from god. >> and that's what worries me. is that there may be another jonestown or another waco. >> reporter: ron rohbock, who says he lost a golden opportunity to rescue his daughter from a grim future, still takes an optimistic view of the changes he sees taking place here. an influx of non-flds members. the reopening of the local public school and even a fast food restaurant. so where is this situation heading? >> as far as i am concerned, given ten years, it's going to normalize to some degree. >> reporter: charlene jeffs is just grateful for the chance to bring her children to the outside. even though their transition has also been bumpy. just yesterday she sent us this home video. that's her daughter suzie, no longer in danger of being subjected to the alleged seed

bearer ceremony. but avoiding the camera, closing the door on her mom. like charlene, sabrina broadbent is dealing with children who continue to swing between resistance and reintegration. but with each setback she becomes more steadfast. >> they're gonna go back and forth but you eventually become like the people you associate with, you know? >> reporter: and more determined to savor every little sign of a brighter future. >> all right, kids, go back. >> reporter: just this week, her daughter saundrah celebrated her birthday. her gift was a doll -- the first she's ever been allowed to own. >> and last night, my daughter snuggled up with me and put her head on my shoulder. i lost it. i did. she had a blanket. she's twelve. i was just, like, "wow."

before i had the shooting, burning, pins-and-needles of these feet...e pain, ...served my country... ...carried the weight of a family... ...and walked a daughter down the aisle. but i couldn't bear my diabetic nerve pain any longer. so i talked to my doctor and he prescribed lyrica. nerve damage from diabetes causes diabetic nerve pain. lyrica is fda-approved to treat this pain. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new, or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or blurry vision. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you.

those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. now i have less diabetic nerve pain. and my biggest reason to walk... ...calls me grandpa. ask your doctor about lyrica.

we carefully craft ghirthe finest chocolate,sco. so you can savor life's sweetest moments. we pour our hearts into every square. if you want to find out how to help the families you've seen tonight, go to abc news. and our question for tonight, do you think the children will change how they dress and how smooth will their transition be? use #abc2020. i'm elizabeth vargas. for david and all of us here at "20/20" and abc news, good night, and have a great mother's day weekend.

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