Missouri police believe 6 people who have been missing since August could be in cult

BERKELEY, Mo. (TCD) -- Police reportedly have reason to believe that four adults and two children missing from the St. Louis area could be affiliated with a convicted felon’s alleged cult.

According to KSDK-TV, Berkeley Police Department investigators suspect the six missing victims are followers of Rashad Jamal, a social media influencer who is currently in prison in Georgia for child molestation and other crimes.

In August, Ma’Kayla Wickerson and her 3-year-old daughter Malaiyah Wickerson left their home in St. Louis County and disappeared. Two others, Gerrielle German and her 3-year-old child, Ashton Mitchell, went missing from Mississippi. Twenty-five-year-old Mikayla Thompson and 30-year-old Naaman Williams are also believed to be in the alleged cult.

KTVI-TV reports the six of them were reportedly last known to be living in Wickerson’s house close to the St. Louis International Airport prior to their disappearance in August. Wickerson’s mother, Cartisha Morgan, told KTVI her daughter quit her job and ran all her credit cards up to the limit not long before she vanished.

She said, "Mental illness is real. Manipulation is real."

Berkeley Police Maj. Steve Runge told KTVI neighbors saw the six "worshipping the sun" in the yard on a daily basis. If it rained, they "would come outside naked and run around the yard. They were digging up things in the yard."

According to KFVS-TV, Jamal, whose real name is Rashad White, founded The College of Cosmic Intelligence, which is reportedly a religious group he created online.

Runge said, "Everything’s on the internet now, so why not have a cult on the internet?"

MORE:

• Police: Search for 6 people missing in north St. Louis County tied to spiritual cult - KSDK
• Police: Online cult members vanish from St. Louis area without a trace - KTVI
• Berkeley Police: Missing adults are members of a cult - KFVS
• Georgia Department of Corrections inmate information
• Bring Home The Missing 6 - Facebook