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Sunday, September 19, 2010

Authorities search Calif. for 13 from 'cult-like' sect; families believe are 'brainwashed'




Deputies searched a wide swath of Southern California early Sunday for a break-off religious sect of 13 people that included children
as young as three and left behind letters indicating they were awaiting an apocalyptic event and would soon see Jesus and their dead relatives in heaven, authorities said.

The group of El Salvadoran immigrants, described as "cult-like" by sheriff's officials, was led by Reyna Marisol Chicas, a 32-year-old woman from Palmdale in northeast Los Angeles county, sheriff's Captain Mike Parker said.

The group left behind cell phones, identifications, deeds to property, and letters indicating they were awaiting the Rapture.

"Essentially, the letters say they are all going to heaven to meet Jesus and their deceased relatives," sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said. "Some of the letters were saying goodbye."

The items came from a purse that a member of the group had left with her husband Saturday and asked him to pray over. He eventually looked inside and he and another member's husband called authorities, Parker said.

The men told investigators they believe group members had been "brainwashed" by Chicas, and one expressed worries that they might harm themselves, Parker said.

An address listed in Chicas' name, a two-story green stucco residence with a three-car garage in a suburban subdivision in Palmdale, a high-desert city of 139,000, appeared to be empty early Sunday. A sheriff's deputy sat in a car parked in front and kept reporters from walking on to the property.

Whitmore said the major crimes unit, helicopter patrols and many other deputies were looking for missing people.

They were searching for three vehicles: a silver Toyota Tundra pickup, a 1995 Mercury Villager and a 2004 white Nissan.

Parker said the materials the group left behind suggested they would be in the Antelope Valley area not far from their homes.

About six months ago, the group had planned to head to Vasquez Rocks, a wilderness area near Palmdale, to await a catastrophic earthquake or similar event, but one member of the group revealed details of the trip to relatives, Parker said. The trip was called off and the member kicked out.

The group had broken off from a mainstream Christian church in Palmdale.

Parker did not know what church they had belonged to previously, and it does not appear that they had given their sect a name.

"We've got a group here that's practicing some orthodox and some unorthodox Christianity," Parker said. "Obviously this falls under the unorthodox."

According to an emergency bulletin put out by the governor's office, in addition to Chicas, the missing include: Norma Isela Serrano, 31, Alma Alicia Miranda Pleitez, 28; Martha Clavel, 39; Jose Clavel, 15; Crystal Clavel, 3; Roberto Tejada, 18; Jonathan Tejada, 17; Hugo Tejada, 3; Ezequel Chicas, 15; Genisis Chicas, 12; Bryan Rivera, 17; Stephanie Serrano, 12.

1 comment:

  1. קבוצה "דמויית כת" של 14 סלבדורים נעלמה בדרום קליפורניה, לאחר שהשאירה פתקים על כוונתם לבצע התאבדות המונית, כך מסרה הלילה (ראשון) המשטרה המקומית.
    סטיב וויטמור, דובר משרד השריף בלוס אנג'לס מסר כי בין הנעדרים תשעה ילדים ונערים בגילאים שלוש עד 17. "במכתבים נאמר שהם הולכים לגן עדן בקרוב לפגוש את ישו וקרוביהם המתים", מסר משרד מושל קליפורניה. "במספר מכתבים שנמצאו הם נפרדו מקרוביהם. לפי ההערכה, לאחר המשך החקירה, כוונת הנעדרים היא לבצע התאבדות המונית".
    וויטמור תיאר את קבוצת הנעדרים כ"דומה לכת" בעל אופי "פונדמנטליסטי". בראש הקבוצה עומדת ככל הנראה ריינה מריסול צ'יקאס, והיא זאת שעומדת מאחורי כוונת הקבוצה הכוללת גם את ילדיה, להתאבד.
    ב-CNN דווח כי בעליהן של שתי חברות בקבוצה הודיעו על ההיעלמות לאחר מפגש תפילה. "הם השאירו חפצים אישיים ומכתבים בהם נאמר כי הם הולכים להיפגש עם קרוביהם המתים ועם ישו", אמר וויטמור. בין החפצים שנשארו, שטרות מכר של בתיהם וכסף מזומן

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