A TikTok video has become the most promising lead in the mysterious disappearance of six people in Missouri nearly three years later.
The group, including two young children, vanished after allegedly becoming involved with an online cult known as the “University of Cosmic Intelligence.”
Investigators are working to track down the owner of a TikTok account that shared a video they believe possibly shows one of the missing women, Ma’Kayla Wickerson.
Wickerson, 28, and her five-year-old daughter Malaiyah Wickerson have been missing since August 2023 along with Mikayla Thompson, 27; Naaman Williams, 32; Gerrielle German, 30, and her 5-year-old daughter Ashton Mitchell. All six lived together in a St. Louis residence before their disappearance.
Berkeley Police Major Steve Runge described the lead as “very promising.” Detective Sgt. George Ervin told Fox2Now that he is seeking a warrant to identify the TikTok account holder, but the court process has been slow.
“Was it actually our missing person? Or is this some copycat just using a picture?” he said.
“I know that it seems like some stuff you’d see fresh out of a movie in Hollywood, but this is real life. These people are missing,” Ervin added.
“I really hope we find them,” Runge chimed in. “I’ve promised the families that we will not give up, and we haven’t given up.”
Police believe the six people were connected to an online cult called the University of Cosmic Intelligence, founded by self-proclaimed prophet and rapper Rashad Jamal, who amassed tens of thousands of followers across social media platforms.
Runge has been investigating the case since they disappeared. “There’s no footprint whatsoever, no current digital footprint,” Runge said.
“We’re trying to find any lead. Common places they went, rental cars, phone records out of state, out of the country, trying to find any ties to give us a lead as to where they are.”
The group was last known to be living in a rental home on Graham Lane near St. Louis Lambert International Airport. Neighbors reported disturbing and unusual behavior.
“Really off the grid kind of stuff,” Runge had told The Independent in 2024. “How to prepare for doomsday. A lot of it, the end of the world is coming. And they had a very solid belief that we’re not from here. We’re not from this planet.”
Neighbors told police the group worshipped the sun, dug in the yard and were sometimes seen running naked outside in the rain.
The six were last seen on August 13, 2023, at a Quality Inn hotel on Dunn Road in Florissant, Missouri. When police searched the rental home, they found food still in the microwave, laundry in the washing machine and valuables, including a closet full of expensive shoes, left behind. Officers also found an altar and items wrapped in copper.
“We recovered a diary from one of the people that went missing, and the writings in that diary are something you would see with brainwashing, just repetitive, I am a god, I am a god, I am a god,” Runge said.
Investigators say Jamal’s followers often adopted aliases tied to gods and goddesses, encouraged polygamy, rejected government authority and cut ties with family and friends.
Before disappearing, the group had been active online, making money through spiritual readings and selling items. All of their social media activity abruptly stopped on August 13, 2023.
For Cartisha Morgan, the grandmother of Malaiyah and mother of Ma’Kayla., the TikTok lead represented a glimmer of hope after a long silence.
“I just want them home, and I hope that they’re safe,” Morgan said. She added that she believes her daughter’s struggles and vulnerable state were exploited.
“When you start seeing the signs of mental illness,” Morgan said. “…take it seriously. This situation has brought awareness not only to my family. I just want to get the word out there.”
Anyone with information about the missing six is urged to contact the Berkeley Police Department at 314-524-3311.
