Replies to '09/21 Cult Confrontations'

Quote From: cthelite

I have written to Dr Phil 3 times concerning my daughter's involvement in a one-on-one cult relationship but never received any kind of response. I know he is a very busy man as I am sure all of the staff is.  My daughter is 28 and has been under this man's (age 40) spell for 10 years. In the beginning we thought she was going thru a phase and it would pass. She was 18 at the time, just out of HS and had some college.  As the years went on, she began to withdraw more and more.  Her behavior has escalated to a level that frightens us but we understand she doesn't really understand her abnormal behavior. We have been fortunate to see her once or twice a year in the past but that has stopped. We KNOW this guy controls her every move and feel strongly she has been supporting him financially.  After doing some research we found a name to associate with what my daughter was into..New Age, Eastern Religion, UFOs, Buddhism, fairies, anti-government, anti-religion, reincarnation, chanting, auras and the list goes on.  When she lived in Ashland OR, she took me to one of her "meditation/yoga groups" to meet Mafu (aka Penny Torres-Rubine) who supposedly was the 35,000 yr old Channeler.  Currently, our daughter lives in a National Forest off a dirt road, which is off another dirt road that is off a main road. We have no communication with her at all.  The most recent was May 2006 at which time she showed us just how far gone she was!  I prefer not to get into all of it but we shared this with the "cult experts" and they felt like there may be some sexual abuse going on.  We have contacted Private Investigators, 2 to be exact, so called "cult experts" but no help. I feel like my daughter died years about 9 years ago and I am still grieving her loss.  I can relate to those parents who have lost their children but their bodies have not been found.  There's no closure.  The person we saw in May was not our daughter!!  She was exhibiting strange behavior that raised a lot of red flags but because she was of legla age, we felt like she knew what she was doing, we didn't want to interfere because she was an adult. My husband and I are in our mid 50's and thought our lives would mellow out by now.  Where we  live now most people know zero about cults and their activities.  I called around trying to find a psychologist, psychiatrist..anyone who might be of some help to us who could explain to us what was happening.  Nothing. From reading what we could, we learned the term "brainwashed" is no longer used...it's now "thought reformed" and rescues aren't made in the middle of the night anymore...  If ANYONE has any info as to how we can bring our only daughter back to us...her family PLEASE tell me.  We don't have the $3000-$5000 that it would take to hire a Private Investigator to take pictures and watch her.  They charge about $150 an hour which doesn't even include expenses, mileage or anything.  Last known address we had for her was Boulder, CO in Roosevelt National Forest. A couple of weeks ago she contacted her grandmother and said she had moved to Las Vegas because she wasn't making enough money at the restaurant where she just started working in May 2006.  We feel HE had her make that call. According to HIS adopted parents, he has not worked in years and NEVER paid taxes and they even hired a detective to find him without any success.  My daughter lives HIS life not her own.  We've been told HE probably has a narcissitic personality.  My daughter did not even go to her grandfather's funeral when he died a few years ago. The "experts" say she probably did not have permission to go.  We have also been told by the "experts" that what cult leaders normally do is erase childhood memories and make parents out to be the villains. which we found out later was the reason why our daughter kept making reference to her childhood and it being bad!!  We are many miles away from where our daughter lives and yes we could drive there but then what? The "experts" say cult intervention is very costly and we don't know, at this point, what to do, who to turn to, where to go? I am told I need to read this book and that book to educate myself, which I have but that's not bringing our only daughter home. She is missing the opportunity to know who her brothers are and vice versa.  Our family is so incomplete without her in it.  I wake up at all hours of the night with her on my mind.  I feel helpless to do anything more because I don't know WHAT to do?  Can ANYONE help by providing contacts with people who are familiar with this? This happens to other people.......we can't believe WE are the "other" people!! Please help if you can! Thanks so much for any guidance you can share.

Quote From: cthelite

I have written to Dr Phil 3 times concerning my daughter's involvement in a one-on-one cult relationship but never received any kind of response. I know he is a very busy man as I am sure all of the staff is.  My daughter is 28 and has been under this man's (age 40) spell for 10 years. In the beginning we thought she was going thru a phase and it would pass. She was 18 at the time, just out of HS and had some college.  As the years went on, she began to withdraw more and more.  Her behavior has escalated to a level that frightens us but we understand she doesn't really understand her abnormal behavior. We have been fortunate to see her once or twice a year in the past but that has stopped. We KNOW this guy controls her every move and feel strongly she has been supporting him financially.  After doing some research we found a name to associate with what my daughter was into..New Age, Eastern Religion, UFOs, Buddhism, fairies, anti-government, anti-religion, reincarnation, chanting, auras and the list goes on.  When she lived in Ashland OR, she took me to one of her "meditation/yoga groups" to meet Mafu (aka Penny Torres-Rubine) who supposedly was the 35,000 yr old Channeler.  Currently, our daughter lives in a National Forest off a dirt road, which is off another dirt road that is off a main road. We have no communication with her at all.  The most recent was May 2006 at which time she showed us just how far gone she was!  I prefer not to get into all of it but we shared this with the "cult experts" and they felt like there may be some sexual abuse going on.  We have contacted Private Investigators, 2 to be exact, so called "cult experts" but no help. I feel like my daughter died years about 9 years ago and I am still grieving her loss.  I can relate to those parents who have lost their children but their bodies have not been found.  There's no closure.  The person we saw in May was not our daughter!!  She was exhibiting strange behavior that raised a lot of red flags but because she was of legla age, we felt like she knew what she was doing, we didn't want to interfere because she was an adult. My husband and I are in our mid 50's and thought our lives would mellow out by now.  Where we  live now most people know zero about cults and their activities.  I called around trying to find a psychologist, psychiatrist..anyone who might be of some help to us who could explain to us what was happening.  Nothing. From reading what we could, we learned the term "brainwashed" is no longer used...it's now "thought reformed" and rescues aren't made in the middle of the night anymore...  If ANYONE has any info as to how we can bring our only daughter back to us...her family PLEASE tell me.  We don't have the $3000-$5000 that it would take to hire a Private Investigator to take pictures and watch her.  They charge about $150 an hour which doesn't even include expenses, mileage or anything.  Last known address we had for her was Boulder, CO in Roosevelt National Forest. A couple of weeks ago she contacted her grandmother and said she had moved to Las Vegas because she wasn't making enough money at the restaurant where she just started working in May 2006.  We feel HE had her make that call. According to HIS adopted parents, he has not worked in years and NEVER paid taxes and they even hired a detective to find him without any success.  My daughter lives HIS life not her own.  We've been told HE probably has a narcissitic personality.  My daughter did not even go to her grandfather's funeral when he died a few years ago. The "experts" say she probably did not have permission to go.  We have also been told by the "experts" that what cult leaders normally do is erase childhood memories and make parents out to be the villains. which we found out later was the reason why our daughter kept making reference to her childhood and it being bad!!  We are many miles away from where our daughter lives and yes we could drive there but then what? The "experts" say cult intervention is very costly and we don't know, at this point, what to do, who to turn to, where to go? I am told I need to read this book and that book to educate myself, which I have but that's not bringing our only daughter home. She is missing the opportunity to know who her brothers are and vice versa.  Our family is so incomplete without her in it.  I wake up at all hours of the night with her on my mind.  I feel helpless to do anything more because I don't know WHAT to do?  Can ANYONE help by providing contacts with people who are familiar with this? This happens to other people.......we can't believe WE are the "other" people!! Please help if you can! Thanks so much for any guidance you can share.