Six people, including two children, who vanished from their homes in eastern Missouri last summer are believed to be under the influence of an online cult led by a convicted child molester, police have said. The group disappeared from a rented house in Berkeley in July after exhibiting what neighbours described as strange behaviours, such as worshipping the sun and running naked in the rain.
The missing individuals are Ma'Kayla Wickerson, 25, and her three-year-old daughter Malaiyah; Gerielle German, 26, and her three-year-old son Ashton Mitchell; and two other adults, Naaman Williams, 29, and Mikayla Thompson, 23, who is Wickerson's cousin. They lived together in Wickerson's home near St Louis airport before abandoning the property after receiving eviction papers.
Family members believe the missing are followers of Rashad Jamal, a rapper and self-styled new age prophet serving an 18-year sentence in Georgia for child molestation and cruelty. Jamal runs the University of Cosmic Intelligence, a website targeting racial minorities that peddles conspiracy theories, including claims about aliens invading a Miami shopping mall. The group refers to Earth as the planet Ki and calls themselves the Grand Cosmic Rising Family.
Wickerson's mother, Cartisha Morgan, expressed concern, saying her daughter had suffered postpartum depression and other mental health issues. 'I just want to know that they're safe,' she told local media. Jamal, whose real name is Rashad White, denied being a cult leader or knowing the missing individuals, claiming he only gives lectures online and does not know his viewers personally.
