Mass suicide fears after 13 members of California 'cult' led by a woman disappear - leaving letters saying they were going to meet Jesus
- Cult 'leader' is single mother-of-two Reyna Chicas
- Her two children are among the missing
- Helicopter search launched
- Alarm raised by worried husband of missing woman
Missing: Reyna Chicas, 32, the leader of the 'cult-like' group, left letters along with the other members saying they would soon see dead relatives
The group - which includes children as young as three - left behind letters saying they were going to see Jesus and their dead relatives in heaven.
They also predicted an apocalyptic event.
Sheriff's officials in Palmdale, California, described the group, made up of El Salvadorean immigrants, as 'cult-like'.
It is led by Reyna Marisol Chicas, a 32-year-old mother-of-two 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.
Search: A police officer sits outside a home in Palmdale, California, where the 13 members of the group were last seen
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The men told investigators they believe group members had been 'brainwashed' by Chicas, and one expressed worries that they might harm themselves, Parker said.
The children in the group were aged three to 17. They include Chicas' two children: Genisis, 12, and Ezequel, 15.
WHO IS 'CULT LEADER' REYNA CHICAS?
She is being painted as a charismatic leader potentially capable of brainwashing 13 people and leading them to their deaths.
But today neighbours had a very different view of single mother Reyna Chicas.
They saw her as a simple woman - a good mother, but with little education and who was barely able to keep a job.
'She was not fanatic,' family friend Ricardo Giron, 51, told the Los Angeles Times.
She took her two children, Ezequel and Genisis, everywhere with her, he said, adding she seemed trustworthy.
But, he added, after Chicas and her husband split four years ago, she became increasingly religious.
Giron claimed she began attending a local church several times a week, for hours each time, often with her children in tow.
His wife, Jisela, also attended a few times. The sermons were in Spanish, the women consevative, she said - but nothing really made it stand out.
Chicas did not take a leadership role at the church, she said.
Some congregants did meet in separate prayer groups.
The Girons said Chicas had slowly severed ties with them. They last saw her at the church about six months ago.
'This is hard to believe,' Mr Giron was quoted as saying. 'Cult leader? She was not a serious person, very simple, not professional, not prepared.'
But today neighbours had a very different view of single mother Reyna Chicas.
They saw her as a simple woman - a good mother, but with little education and who was barely able to keep a job.
'She was not fanatic,' family friend Ricardo Giron, 51, told the Los Angeles Times.
She took her two children, Ezequel and Genisis, everywhere with her, he said, adding she seemed trustworthy.
But, he added, after Chicas and her husband split four years ago, she became increasingly religious.
Giron claimed she began attending a local church several times a week, for hours each time, often with her children in tow.
His wife, Jisela, also attended a few times. The sermons were in Spanish, the women consevative, she said - but nothing really made it stand out.
Chicas did not take a leadership role at the church, she said.
Some congregants did meet in separate prayer groups.
The Girons said Chicas had slowly severed ties with them. They last saw her at the church about six months ago.
'This is hard to believe,' Mr Giron was quoted as saying. 'Cult leader? She was not a serious person, very simple, not professional, not prepared.'
A house listed in Chica's name - a two-story green stucco residence with a three-car garage in a suburban subdivision in Palmdale - appeared to be empty early today.
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.
Maybe it is time for a rethink on 2012 or just time to catch the next ufo outa here,or is there something in it are these people being telepathically given instruction from someone who calls him/themselves god or jesus is there a truth to religion or is it us who are blind and cannot see ,what is in the great beyond .
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