10 Infamous Cults That Don't Exist Anymore

Added: 2026-05-26

[00:00:00]Tell us what you know about this particular cult.

[00:00:03]>> This cult uh was the uh movement for the restoration of the Ten Commandments of God.

[00:00:08]>> Welcome to Miz Mojo and today we're exploring the most controversial and notorious cults in history that aren't around anymore. We will be including groups whose followers formed splinter cults following the main one becoming defunct. After all these years, he still believes in their leader, David Caresh, who was one of the many killed at the compound.

[00:00:29]Love has won.

[00:00:30]>> We're 220 years since the birth of Christ. So 14,000 years you've been on this earth before Christ.

[00:00:42]>> That's correct.

[00:00:43]>> After finding a new age forum and becoming convinced she was a deity, Amy Carlson left her three children, her husband, and most of her family to join a cult. Around 2014, she formed Love has won. Carlson stated that she had lived hundreds of lives, including being Cleopatra, Gaia, and Harriet Tubman. She also claimed she could cure serious diseases such as cancer.

[00:01:04]>> She can take a brain out spiritually and heal the brain and then put it back in the body spiritually. I mean, she's not saying she actually physically takes the brain out of the skull. Correct, Amy?

[00:01:19]>> Yes. However, Love has One wasn't as peaceful as the name suggested as the group was accused of being abusive. In 2021, the police discovered Carlson's mummified body at the cult's residence.

[00:01:30]She had passed away weeks before from a mix of reasons. Well, we learned today that police found 45-year-old Leah Carlson's mummified body in the bedroom of a home in the tiny town of Mafett in Swatch County.

[00:01:41]>> While the main cult ended, some followers continued with new groups, including Joy Reigns and 5D Full Disclosure. They disappeared from the live computer screen, but now some are back. It appears the cult has changed its name, calling itself 5D full disclosure.

[00:01:59]>> Nexium.

[00:02:00]>> Nexium seemed to be a safe space where we were surrounded by like really good people because for so long like I just it would it felt sorry.

[00:02:09]>> Founded by Keith Reeri and Nancy Salsman in 1998, Nexium on the outside seemed like a multi-level marketing scheme with its self-help classes. Yet deeper into the organization was a sinister abuse cult.

[00:02:21]>> She really made it sound like she had the answer, like she had exactly what I needed.

[00:02:28]A cult sets up a system where people can have a little success at the beginning and then it stalls. Known as DOSs, the group had Reeri as a quote master over women. This included branding the inductees and blackmailing members. One of the higherups in the cult was actor Allison Mack, who helped Reeri recruit members. She's very remorseful. Mack says she takes ownership for all the wrong she did during her time with Nexium, but maintains she didn't set out to hurt people. In 2017, whistleblowers, including actor Sarah Edmonson, went public with what Nexium was hiding, causing the cult to face severe legal consequences. This included Mack, who turned witness against Reeneer, being sentenced to 3 years. Salsman received 42 months in jail and Reeri was sentenced to 120 years.

[00:03:16]>> Today, a judge sentenced him to 120 years. For hours, the court heard impact statements from 15 of Keith Reeri's victims.

[00:03:25]>> The True Russian Orthodox Church.

[00:03:27]>> About 30 followers of a religious cult called the True Russian Orthodox Church have voluntarily gone underground, >> also known as the Penza Recluses and the Heavenly Jerusalem. The true Russian Orthodox Church was formed by Belerusian Pot Knitzv who broke away from the Russian Orthodox Church. After walking across Russia, informing everyone about the upcoming apocalypse, followers began to join Khnitsavv's mission. As long as they avoided processed food, didn't touch money, and didn't watch TV.

[00:03:55]>> With the nighttime lows dropping below 5° F, the people may freeze to death in unsanitary conditions. In November 2007, up to 35 members of the cult entered a cave in Nikolskaya, Russia to pray and await the end of the world. When the authorities attempted to get them out, the cult threatened violence. It wasn't until May 2008 when the last members left the cave after multiple had perished within. Knitzaf was sent to a psychiatric hospital in the aftermath.

[00:04:22]>> According to some estimates, there may be up to 800,000 active members of various cults in Russia. Rajnish Purum.

[00:04:29]In 1981, after decades as a controversial spiritual leader in India, Rajnish, also known as Osho, took his movement to Wasco County, Oregon. The community known as Rajnish Puram soon began to clash with its neighbors.

[00:04:42]>> We just heard that this cult had bought a or wasn't they didn't call it a cult then, did they? I don't know. A bunch of people had bought an agricultural commune. The cult members planned to take political power in the Dells, something they had been successful with at nearby Antelopee.

[00:04:58]However, when Rajnish Puram believed they wouldn't get the votes, they took action to reduce the number of voters.

[00:05:04]In 1984, the members poisoned food at several restaurants with Salmonella.

[00:05:09]This caused over 750 people to be infected.

[00:05:12]>> I had these creepy feelings in me. I don't know what it is. Something is wrong. Many of the members fled the country to avoid prosecution. However, after being publicly condemned by Rash Nish, many of the members were extradited back to the US and sentenced to jail for years.

[00:05:30]>> It amuses me immensely.

[00:05:36]It is our whole entertainment.

[00:05:39]>> The Manson family attracted by the hippie communal living around 100 people joined the Manson family which was formed in 1967. Yet once there, the members quickly fell under founder Charles Manson sway.

[00:05:52]>> What do you think those last moments were like?

[00:05:55]>> It must have been terrifying for these people. You know, they were just slaughtered.

[00:06:02]>> Charismatic and known to famous people in California. He convinced his followers that they were the original Christians, making them believe he was a reincarnation of Jesus Christ. Manson, inspired by the Beatle song Helter Skelter, prepared his followers for an apparent race war. In 1969, the Manson family began taking lives, at least nine altogether. The victims included stuntman Donald Sheay, actor Sharon Tate, and hair stylist Jay Sebring.

[00:06:27]>> Palansky was out of the country working on a film while Tate was home with friends awaiting the arrival of her child. Following many arrests and the trial beginning in 1970, several members were sentenced to jail, including Manson, who died in 2017 while imprisoned.

[00:06:44]>> Manson never admitted to ordering the killings and in this interview with Diane Sawyer put the blame on his band of followers.

[00:06:51]>> I never told anybody to do anything other than what they wanted to do.

[00:06:55]>> The Order of the Solar Temple.

[00:06:57]>> They're all believed to be members of the Solar Temple cult. It's the second time in 14 months that members of the cult have perished. Led by Joseph de Mambro with Luke Jere second in command, the order of the solar temple was formed in Switzerland in 1984. Advertising themselves as an extension of the Knights Templar with new age ideas. It's estimated that the cult grew to over 440 members at its peak across the world.

[00:07:19]However, the temple fell out of favor after several scandals, including purchasing illegal weapons and faking apparitions during ceremonies. In 1994, Dimamro sent out letters encouraging followers to take the lives of quote traitors within the cult and their own to transition to the next life. Three children managed to escape at the last moment. They're the only survivors of a tragedy that killed 74 people. In multiple events between 1994 and 1997, there were massacres in Canada, France, and Switzerland where over 70 people lost their lives, including Deamro and Jouer. The man police say is the mastermind behind the order of the solar temple. Swiss radio reported today Deamro's body is among those found in Switzerland.

[00:08:04]>> The branch devidians formed in 1955 by Benjamin Rhoden after splintering from the Devidian 7th Day Adventists. The branch devidians came into power struggle when he passed.

[00:08:14]>> As the Messiah, he should um generate a new population of people to inherit the kingdom of God. And to do that, all of the women in the group belong to him.

[00:08:26]>> One of the followers, David Caresh, believing himself to be a prophet, splintered off and formed his own group.

[00:08:31]In 1987, his followers forcefully took over the branch Devidian's compound, Mount Carmel Center in Texas, also incorporating the movement's name.

[00:08:40]>> He had uncommonly powerful capacities to manipulate people and instantaneously decay souls. After reports of abuse and the cult stockpiling weapons in February 1993, the authorities attempted to serve a search warrant. Instead, they were met with armed resistance that became known as the Waco siege. Despite taking place outside of the Texan city, the standoff lasted until April when a fire broke out at the compound. Altogether, over 80 perished, including Caresh. People have been coming here at the former branch Devidian compound just to take pictures and kind of reflect on what happened back in 1993.

[00:09:20]>> The movement for the restoration of the Ten Commandments of God.

[00:09:23]>> Well, the leaders of that cult had told followers that doomsday would come during the millennium year and promised to deliver them to heaven. In 1989, after separating from the Roman Catholic Church in Uganda, Joseph Chiueter and Quidonia Muering formed the movement for the restoration of the Ten Commandments of God. With a fanatic approach to the Ten Commandments, the MRTC later took up an apocalyptic approach, claiming the end of the world was on December 31st, 1999.

[00:09:50]>> Because they promised they promised heaven on earth, you know, they promised miracles. They encouraged their members, who were estimated to be thousands, to sell their possessions and give the money to them. However, when the apocalypse didn't happen, the members were furious. The MRTC chose a new date, March 17th, 2000. While partying that day, the building was set ablaze.

[00:10:13]Further bodies were found elsewhere with over 900 people killed. The leaders, including Chibuet and Merinde, escaped, and their whereabouts are unknown.

[00:10:23]passed on in a blaze. The cult members are suspected of setting the building al light and they were never found. Over 700 deaths reported.

[00:10:32]>> Heaven's Gate.

[00:10:33]>> Unfortunately, very little of the human element across the globe is even interested in this information.

[00:10:39]>> In 1974, Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles formed Heaven's Gate. With a mixture between Christianity, new age, and eupfology ideologies, the group believed they'd ascend to heaven or the next level with aid of an alien spaceship.

[00:10:53]>> And you would go physically on board a UFO and sail physically into heaven, what they would call the next level.

[00:11:02]>> The cult resonated with many, bringing in a couple of hundred followers with dozens in the core group. However, after Nettles passed away in 1985, Apple White shifted Heaven's Gates doctrine. Instead of physically moving to the next level, their souls would transfer to new bodies in the afterlife.

[00:11:18]>> Believing their souls would board a spaceship following a comet, taking them to another level of existence above human.

[00:11:24]>> In 1997, with comet Hailbop approaching the Earth, Apple White believed a UFO in its wake would transition them to the next level. Nearly 40 people took their lives at a mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, California, including Apple White.

[00:11:38]>> Makes me want to cry cuz I think what a waste. All of those 39 people, what a waste.

[00:11:45]>> The People's Temple of the Disciples of Christ. In 1955, Jim Jones, armed with left-wing racial equality and Christian ideologies, formed the People's Temple of the Disciples of Christ. The message resonated with many as thousands became members.

[00:11:59]>> He used to say, "When I go, I'll be the most hated man on the planet. You know, my name will be on the lip on everybody's lips." Guess what it was?

[00:12:09]However, after clashing with the government and fearing a raid on their headquarters by the police, Jones relocated his base from San Francisco, California to Guyana, where he created Jonestown. In 1978, US Representative Leo Ryan and multiple journalists arrived at Jonestown to investigate allegations of abuse within the cult.

[00:12:27]>> They had been victims of racism. They're victims of poverty. Jim Jones came along and offered them something.

[00:12:36]They trusted him and they believed him.

[00:12:39]>> However, as Ryan and his group attempted to leave with defectors, Temple followers opened fire, taking their lives while several managed to escape.

[00:12:47]Shortly after, Jones ordered his followers to drink a fatal concoction.

[00:12:51]Over 900 perished, including Jones.

[00:12:54]>> He had become their father, their mother, their sister, their savior.

[00:13:00]>> He got you so far in, you couldn't imagine getting out. Are there any infamous cults that don't exist anymore that you can think of? Let us know in the comments.