SALT LAKE CITY - The FBI announced Saturday it has placed polygamist church leader Warren Jeffs on its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, hoping the additional exposure and reward money leads to an arrest in the long-running investigation.

Warren Jeffs, the reclusive leader of a polygamous church is shown in this file photo taken within the last year and provided by the Arizona Attorney General's Office. [AP]

Jeffs, 50, is the leader of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, based in the state line communities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz.

The sect split from mainstream Mormonism after the broader church renounced polygamy in 1890. The mainstream LDS church excommunicates members found to be practicing polygamy.

Jeffs is wanted in Arizona on criminal charges of sexual conduct with a minor. He also was charged in Utah with rape as an accomplice. He is accused of arranging marriages between underage girls and older men.

Jeffs has not been seen by anyone outside of the FLDS community for nearly two years and also faces a charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

"We are doing everything we can to track him down," said Tim Fuhrman, special agent in charge of the FBI's Salt Lake City field office.

By putting him on the top-10 list, the FBI's reward increases from $50,000 to $100,000. The list is also distributed worldwide.

"We think that the inclusion of a $100,000 reward is going to mean that people are going to be much more aware of Warren Jeffs, they're going to be much more aware of what he looks like, and they're going to be much more willing to come forward to assist us in our efforts to locate him," U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton said at a press conference in Phoenix.