A group of six people, including two young children, have been missing since August – and police say the adults all have one thing in common – they all openly follow a self-proclaimed “prophet” and rapper with a massive social media following.
After they seemingly vanished without a trace from a rental home in St. Louis, an investigation by the Berkeley Police Department in Missouri was launched, but months later, there are still no answers about their whereabouts
“These people are gone, and it blows my mind,” Major Steve Runge told The Independent.
Mikayla Thompson, 25, of St. Louis; Naaman Williams, 30, of Washington, D.C.; Gerrielle German, 27, of Lake Horn, Mississippi; Ashton Williams, 2, of Lake Horn; Ma’Kayla Wickerson, 36, of St. Louis; and Malaiyah Wickerson, 3, of St. Louis, were all living in the same St. Louis house briefly before they disappeared.
They were last seen on 13 August 2023 at a Quality Inn Hotel at 55 Dunn Road in Florissant, Missouri.
When police searched the house, they found it left as if the individuals had just “gone to the store” and were expecting to return.
Food was still in the microwave, laundry was still in the washing machine, and left behind were several valuables including a closet full of shoes worth thousands of dollars.
Police also discovered an altar, items wrapped in copper, and other odd findings that led them to believe the adults were fully “living this cult,” Major Runge said.
Neighbors saw the group practicing daily meditation or worship in the backyard. Sometimes they were clothed, sometimes they were naked— (Berkeley Police Department)
The investigation revealed the group had become a part of a spiritual cult and they follow the teachings of Rashad Jamal, a self-proclaimed prophet who has tens of thousands of followers across multiple social media platforms, according to a Berkeley Police statement.
Jamal, who was convicted of various crimes in Georgia, was sentenced in August to 18 years in prison, the statement noted.
“It is extremely troubling to the family members of all of the missing people. The level of disconnect these cult members have demonstrated with friends and family members is unfathomable,” according to police.
"We have learned that similar cult members travel at great lengths to live off the grid and stay with fellow cult members and that their economic status does not appear to be a factor.”
Major Runge, who has been investigating the group’s whereabouts for nearly five months, said that neighbors noticed some abnormal behaviours before they vanished.
“Neighbors reported seeing these people outside daily worshiping the sun,” he said. “When it was raining, they would come outside naked and run around the yard. They were digging up things in the yard.”
Mikayla Thompson, 25, of St. Louis; Gerrielle German, 27, of Lake Horn, Mississippi; and Ma’Kayla Wickerson, 36, of St. Louis, spotted at a store prior to their 13 August disappearance— (Berkeley Police Department)
Major Runge said the missing adults went by aliases that pay tribute to certain gods and goddesses — which has been reported as a common theme among many of Jamal’s followers.
Ms Thompson called herself Antu Anum Ahmat, Mr Williams called himself Anubis Aramean and Ms Wickerson called herself Intuahma Aquama Auntil, according to police.
Major Runge said Jamal’s followers believe in polygamy, are anti-government, encourage followers to go off the grid and that there is a “total disconnection” from family and friends.
What’s most concerning, he told The Independent, is that the missing individuals had a vast social media presence before they disappeared. They made their money off readings and selling things.
But as of 13 August, they’ve gone silent, he said.
‘I am God’
Rashad Jamal (White) created The University of Cosmic Intelligence — an online religious group with thousands of followers.
According to its website, The University of Cosmic Intelligence is “geared toward enlightening and illuminating the minds of the carbonated beings, a.k.a. your so called Black and Latino people of Earth.”
“I am a god, and all of my people, the Black and Latino people, are gods. And we were made in the image of our creator,” Jamal said in a video posted in May 2022.
“Therefore, I am an extension of Her/Them, and I am the creator and destroyer of my reality, so I take full responsibility for all events that I have experienced through this lifetime, for this is what we call shadow work in the spiritual realm.”
Jamel has a massive following on social media with nearly 200,000 followers on TikTok, more than 10,000 followers on X and 90,000 followers on Instagram.
Naaman Williams, 30, of Washington, DC, has been missing since August— (Berkeley Police Department)
In his videos, he makes wild claims that birds are actually drones operated by the US government to spy on its citizens, that the Mississippi River is really the Nile River and that Arizona is a gateway to Africa.
In August, Jamal was found guilty of child molestation and sentenced to 18 years in prison, according to court documents. Later that same month, he filed a motion for a new trial, citing “the State’s failure to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”
“The only law I had broken was speaking out against oppression,” Jamal said in a YouTube video posted last week. “…The only thing I am guilty of is freeing the minds of my people and speaking out against this system, and I’ll never back down from that.”
Mother of missing woman living her ‘worst nightmare’
Makayla Wickerson, 25, and her three-year-old daughter were two of the six people living in the rental home near St. Louis Lambert International Airport for months before the group vanished, police said.
Her mother, Cartisha Morgan, said she is living her worst nightmare.
She said she began to worry when she had not heard from Ms Wickerson or her three-year-old granddaughter since March when the woman cut off all communication with her family, quit her corporate job and maxed out her credit cards.
Ms Morgan said her daughter had been manipulated by an online cult led by Jamal.
“Mental illness is real. Manipulation is real,” she said. “There are a lot of things going on out here, and we just need to be aware of it.”
“If you see something that’s off, please take measures to get them help as quickly as possible. I would have never imagined that I’d never have known where my daughter and granddaughter are right now,” Ms Morgan added.
Cult followers accused of murder
In 2022, several of Jamal’s followers were accused of committing two separate murders in Alabama.
Damian Winslow Washam allegedly used a sword to kill his own mother and injure his disabled uncle and brother, according to The Daily Mail. He was later cleared of the charges due to reason of insanity.
Krystal Diane Pinkins and Yasmine Hider were sentenced last month for killing 22-year-old Florida college student Adam Sinjee in August 2022.
Krystal Pinkins, left, and Yasmine Hider, right, were sentenced last month for killing Adam Sinjee— (Clay County Sheriff’s Office)
Pinkins and Hider - who were living off the grid - flagged down Simjee and his girlfriend, Mikayla Paulus, in the Talladega National Forest in Alabama, and told them they needed help with their car, sheriff’s officials said.
Hider pulled a gun on them after they stopped to help and ordered them to drop their belongings and walk into the woods.
Simjee also then pulled his gun and an exchange of gunfire ensued, with both Simjee and Hider being hit.
Hider has been sentenced to 35 years in prison, while Pinkins has been sentenced to life.
