Missouri Police Intensify Search for Missing Six with Cult Connections
Police in Missouri are continuing their urgent investigation into the mysterious disappearance of six individuals who vanished in July, with mounting evidence suggesting their involvement in an online organization described as a cult. The Berkeley Police Department has been searching relentlessly for four adults and two children who disappeared without a trace, as investigators uncover ties to the 'University of Cosmic Intelligence' - an online group with disturbing beliefs and practices.
The Missing Individuals
The missing persons include 28-year-old Ma'Kayla Wickerson and her five-year-old daughter Malaiyah, 30-year-old Gerielle German and her five-year-old son Ashton Mitchell, 32-year-old Naaman Williams, and Wickerson's 27-year-old cousin Mikayla Thompson. All six vanished in 2024, disappearing from Wickerson's rental property near St. Louis Lambert International Airport. They were last seen at a nearby motel, after which all digital footprints ceased.
'There's no footprint whatsoever, no current digital footprint,' Berkeley Police Major Steve Runge told Fox News. 'We're trying to find any lead. Common places they went, rental cars, phone records out of state, out of the country, trying to find any ties to give us a lead as to where they are.'
The Cult Leader and His Teachings
The investigation has focused on the University of Cosmic Intelligence, led by Rashad Jamal White - known to followers as Rashad Jamal. The organization preaches primarily to African Americans and Latinos, promoting the belief that they are natural earthly beings while white people are not. In a jailhouse phone call around the time of the disappearances, Jamal claimed that he, along with Blacks and Latinos, are 'gods.'
Jamal is currently serving an 18-year sentence in Georgia for child molestation and child cruelty. Despite his imprisonment, he has managed to maintain influence through online lectures and livestreams. When contacted by the St Louis Post-Dispatch about the missing individuals, Jamal denied being a cult leader or knowing any of the six people.
'I am pretty sure I have never met these people,' he told the outlet. 'I get on my phone and I give a lecture. I go live, and then I get off the phone. I do not know the people that are in my live[stream]. It's too many people.' He expressed belief that police had placed 'a target on my back' after learning about the disappearances from television reports.
Disturbing Evidence and Behavior
Police investigation has uncovered troubling evidence suggesting the missing individuals were deeply involved with the cult. 'We recovered a diary from one of the people that went missing, and the writings in that diary are something you would see with brainwashing, just repetitive, I am a god, I am a god, I am a god,' Major Runge revealed.
Runge described the cult's beliefs as 'very off the grid stuff,' adding: 'How to prepare for doomsday. A lot of it, the end of the world is coming. And they had a very solid belief that we're not from here. We're not from this planet.'
Neighbors reported witnessing increasingly strange behavior from the group before their disappearance. According to Runge, 'Neighbors reported seeing these people outside daily, worshipping the sun. When it was raining, they would come outside naked and run around the yard. They were digging up things in the yard.'
Additional reports from neighbors described the group sitting outside in tall grass with their palms upward on sunny days, hugging trees, and burying coins. Runge characterized the organization as an anti-government group that believes in polygamy and encourages members to go off the grid completely.
Family Concerns and Investigation Developments
Cartisha Morgan, Wickerson's mother, told Fox News she hasn't heard from her daughter or granddaughter since March 2024. 'I was trying to let them know that something was not right,' Morgan recalled, explaining that she had called for welfare checks and child protective services intervention. 'She doesn't usually do things like this. She's usually very family-oriented. So for her to cut off everybody, quit her job, leave all her belongings behind is not the norm.'
Detective Sergeant George Ervin emphasized the seriousness of the situation: 'I know that it seems like some stuff you'd see fresh out of a movie in Hollywood, but this is real life. These people are missing.'
A promising new lead emerged on TikTok, where someone may have spotted Wickerson. Police are currently investigating this lead, though it remains unconfirmed.
Previous Cult-Related Violence
This isn't the first time alleged members of the University of Cosmic Intelligence have been involved in violent crimes. In 2022, three alleged members were accused of two separate murders in Alabama.
Damien Winslow Washam was accused of killing his 61-year-old mother with a sword and injuring his disabled uncle and brother. In September 2023, he was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
In another case, Krystal Diane Pinkins and Yasmine Hider were accused of murdering 22-year-old Adam Simjee of Apopka, Florida, when he tried to help them with their car. Hider was sentenced to 35 years in prison after pleading guilty to murder, kidnapping, and robbery in October 2023. Pinkins received a life sentence after being convicted of murder, robbery, and unlawful use of a firearm during a crime of violence in September 2023.
The Berkeley Police Department continues to follow all leads in their search for the missing six, urging anyone with information to come forward as they work to unravel the complex web connecting these disappearances to the online cult.
