More. If only she prayed hard enough, she could make Susan Alamo rise from the dead. See Sunday's edition of the Texarkana Gazette for more details of what happened in Fouke on Saturday. At age 12, having not set foot outside a religious compound in Arkansas since she was 4, Elishah Franckiewicz believed it was possible. Sources: Los Angeles Times; Southern Poverty Law Center; The Associated Press; "My Life," Bill Clinton. Six months later, in a car disguised as the one driven by her grandparents, Steve Franckiewicz drove into the compound and whisked her away. "Narcotics, prostitution, pornography, booze and black market-every filthy thing-can be traced right back to the Vatican," the cult leader has written. | A year after the reunion, while in Arkansas to attend a funeral, Gay and other former Alamo followers went in the mansion. Alamo and a group of his followers made Miller County, Ark., their home until state and federal agents raided the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries compound in the tiny southwest Arkansas town of Fouke in fall 2008 to investigate possible child abuse and pornography. An auction in Miller County is held to sell property of a self-proclaimed prophet and help satisfy a court judgment. He is famous for his virulently anti-Catholic tracts, plastered on windshields, circulated more widely the tracts claim than USA Today, the New York Times and the L.A. Times combined. Tony Alamo (born Bernie LaZar Hoffman, September 20, 1934 in Joplin, Missouri) is an American preacher, singer, entrepreneur, and religious evangelist. On Sunday, the morning after federal investigators raided the Arkansas headquarters of Alamo's ministry as part of a child pornography investigation, Franckiewicz, for a brief moment, became that 12-year-old again. Although she was later entombed at Alamos Alma property, the saga of Susans body continued for over a decade. A California family won a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Alamo in 1990 for ordering that their child be beaten 140 times with a paddle. Alamo is currently serving a 175-year prison sentence for taking young girls across state lines for sex. "She smelled," Franckiewicz said. Teenagers keep breaking in to take photos of themselves. He left me there, and that night I was beaten unconscious.". It included the church complex, Alamo's home, a church gymnasium and a building known as the "house of scorn" where girls were allegedly forced to fast. Tel: (870) 653-2771, 8706532771 That investigation led to a 10-count indictment and a trial during which witnesses testified that Alamo took multiple wives, including a 15-year-old girl in 1994, followed by increasingly younger girls. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (https://bit.ly/2nvODEt ) reports that built into a hillside, the house is unimposing from the front, but the appearance is deceiving. He and his then-wife Susan are best known as the founders of a radical fundamentalist organization currently known as Tony Alamo Christian Ministries. I would give it to any legitimate Christian charity as long as they can prove to me they have the money upfront, and they would devote the money to renovating it, he said. "Alamo blames the Catholic Church for every evil imaginable, including communism, Nazism, the two world wars and even the Jonestown Massacre. 1964: Alamo claims that, while working as a Los Angeles music promoter, God strikes him temporarily deaf and tells him to spread the word that Jesus will soon return. "For years while they were here, they put this town through torment," Purvis recalled. Franckiewicz said her parents left the compound several years ago but "really still believe much of what was taught there.". She said the reunion was a healing experience. When I got out, the people liked it here and organized a church out here and it had a grocery store. As a 2 1/2-year-old in 1973, Elishah Franckiewicz (front right) poses with other children after a Fourth of July Jesus parade at Tony and Susan Alamo's first compound, in California. The mayor of Fouke recently made a declaration deeming Fouke the 'Bigfoot Capital of Arkansas'.. A lot of people were wounded in that situation, and some people have never recovered from that.". The main business was a restaurant just off Interstate 40 in Alma and the sale of expensive denim and rhinestone jackets, according to records. PROPERTY ID: ARFOUKDB35This beautiful +/- 35 acre tract is a perfect fit for anyone looking to get away from the fast paced city life. His followers labored at the businesses for little pay. "I hope now that the greater good can be used in these buildings after seeing what was happening in the past. The organization is based in and around Fouke and Alma, Arkansas, United States, and has been referred to as a cult. The monster has gone into hibernation since its manifestation in 1971, but the 814 residents of Fouke arent free of their demons just yet. "She could seat a hundred and something for dinner," said Shirley Lovett, 82, of Alma, who was a friend of Susan Alamo's. An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Tony Alamo Christian Ministries / The Associated Press. View listing photos, review sales history, and use our detailed real estate filters to find the perfect place. . Search the most complete Fouke, AR real estate listings for sale. . "And day after day, she endured beatings by church elders because the dead woman -- wife to sect founder Tony Alamo -- did not open her eyes. 955 Miller County 266 Fouke, AR, 71837. Until recently, its main claim to fame was the Fouke Monster, which, like similar mythical beasts, has inspired a weird combination of fear and pride in the people who live near its territory. Alamo died in a North Carolina prison hospital in May 2017. Both have made mission trips all over the world. The cause of his death has not been released. It was Bible-based, but unfortunately the control they exercised over us made it cultish. In 2009, a law enforcement raid. Three years later, he was charged with child abuse for ordering followers to beat an 11-year-old boy. "Otherwise, you were hollering across the room," she said. The Mormon church disavowed polygamy many years ago. Alamo is 73 now. The two-story, 13,064-square-foot mansion built in the 1970s for evangelists Tony and Susan Alamo is in dire need of repairs, said Mike Morrell, who owns the property on Georgia Ridge north of Dyer in Crawford County. With Alamo in prison after his 2009 conviction, the Morrells held a reunion for people who had grown up on the Dyer compound. Read about, contact, get directions and find other Church & Religious Associations & Organizations. I saw Susie lying there in her wedding dress, Lovett said. Tony Alamo had started a ministry in Los Angeles and later moved its headquarters to Arkansas, where Susan was raised. The raid stemmed from claims of child sexual abuse and forced marriages of underage girls to older men in the group, which practices polygamy. They have an adult child who's in college. The Morrells ask that visitors call ahead of time so they won't mistake them for selfie-taking mansion trespassers. She says she withstood repeated beatings while there and expresses concern for those caught up in Saturday's federal raid. Agents say the raid was a culmination of a two-year investigation into child . Last year, however, some people in Fouke whod become aware of Alamos past started to raise the alarm about his alleged child abuse. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. (I didnt know who was president when I got out, said one follower who left the church in the 1970s.) In the early 1960s, he moved to Los Angeles and assumed the names Marcus Abad and Mark Hoffman and pursued a career in music. In 1982, he and his wife Susan bought land, businesses and began to live with followers in a secret compound. Share. Susan Alamo's body disappeared Feb. 15, 1991, when reportedly Tony Alamo ordered his followers to leave the Dyer compound before a raid by federal marshals, who were to seize foundation assets to satisfy a $1.3 million federal court default judgment against Alamo in an alienation of affection and child abuse lawsuit brought against him by former foundation members, according to a report in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. The Texas Attorney General's Office is preparing its response to FDLS claims that the raid, subsequent arrests and custodial care of the YFZ followers amount to unreasonable search and seizure. When the Department of Labor got word of the setup, it filed suit against him for violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. "We learned that, for instance, the Pope had JFK assassinated and that dinosaurs didn't exist.". "We want them to know this place is OK now," she said. A & R Fence. The foundation thrived, providing housing and jobs for followers, and a mansion for the Alamos was built. Bill Clinton visits the nightclub to see Dolly Parton perform and describes Tony Alamo as "Roy Orbison on speed.". "She was cold and really, really hard. In August 1998, Susan Alamo's remains were placed in a crypt in Memorial Park Cemetery in Tulsa, according to the Tulsa World. Tony Alamo (born Bernie LaZar Hoffman, September 20, 1934 in Joplin, Missouri) is an American preacher, singer, entrepreneur, and religious evangelist. In 1991, just before federal agents seized the property, the front of the mausoleum was smashed, and Susan Alamo's body was spirited into the night as Tony Alamo and his followers abandoned the compound. In 1998, the coffin and remains of Susan Alamo were dropped off one night outside a Van Buren funeral home after Christhiaon Coie, Susan Alamos daughter, won a legal battle for the body. Purvis says he ran for mayor with the priority of taking down Tony Alamo, a man Purvis likened to Jim Jones and other cult leaders. Foukes Alamo-watchers hope that the added attention will induce government action. She said there was a lot of crying that day. The next year, in 1984, at age 14, Franckiewicz ran away. Eye Witness & First Hand Accounts of Abuse, 11/29/07 Arkansas Times- Fouke Residents Worry About Tony Alamo, recent article in the Southern Poverty Law Centers Intelligence Report. "I think love heals everything," she said. By the time anyone knew she was gone, they were already several states away. Alamos employees were church members, and he paid them slave wages. Local breaking news delivered as it happens. Morrell said he would give the house away if someone would restore it. In the time immediately after the raid, authorities removed children from their families until they could sort out family relationships and abuse charges. Its kind of like the old spook house.. Directions Advertisement. In February, Alamo associate Thomas Scarcello was indicted in a scam to illegally resell mattresses that were supposed to go to Hurricane Katrina victims. Jeanne is a 31-year-old hotel clerk, and Amy is a 26-year-old working mom. He was born Bernie Hoffman. 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