Two Toddlers Missing in Suspected Cult Case

When a child goes missing, families are faced with so many worries, but few are prepared for the unthinkable: that their disappearance may be linked to a cult. 

It all started in November 2022. Ma’Kayla Wickerson and her 2-year-old daughter, Malaiyah Wickerson, moved from St. Louis to Berkeley, Missouri, on what Ma’Kayla described to her family as a “spiritual journey.” Ma’Kayla’s mother, Cartisha Morgan, said she was nervous about the decision from the start.

Soon after the move, phone calls became infrequent, and then nonexistent.

Eight months later, in July 2023, a similar story was repeating 300 miles away. Gerrielle German and her 3-year-old son, Ashton Mitchell, moved from Lake Horn, Mississippi, into that same house in Berkeley.

Ashton’s grandmother, Shelita Gibson, described an almost identical experience with Cartisha. She too felt very uneasy about the move and didn’t know any of the people her daughter or grandson were living with as part of this “spiritual journey.”

“I just didn’t have a good feeling about the whole thing,” Shelita said. “But my daughter was adamant, and I couldn’t stop her from going.”

And the same pattern again. Soon after the move, phone calls stopped completely.

Cartisha and her granddaughter, Malaiyah Wickerson. (Courtesy of Cartisha Morgan)

Both Cartisha and Shelita contacted police, concerned that they still hadn’t heard from their daughters or grandchildren. On Aug. 14, Maj. Steve Runge with the Berkeley Police Department conducted a welfare check at the house in Berkeley. No one was there.

“It's not normal for people to just vanish, and that's what it appeared these people did,” said Runge.

Investigators say they found disturbing evidence in the house suggesting whoever was staying there was involved in a cult; specifically, the University of Cosmic Intelligence. Police say the children may be living without proper care or access to basic necessities.

Ashton Mitchell (left) and Malaiyah Wickerson (right). (Courtesy of Shelita Gibson and Cartisha Morgan)

Authorities quickly located surveillance footage from earlier that month, showing Ma’Kayla and Gerrielle, along with another known missing group member, inside a convenience store in nearby Florissant, Missouri, on Aug. 4.

Police knew the group had left the Berkeley home, but the question was, when? Investigators checked nearby hotels and discovered the group had been staying at a hotel across the street from the convenience store between Aug. 2 and Aug. 6, 2023.

But since checking out of that hotel on Aug. 6, there have been no confirmed sightings of the missing adults or children.

From left: Mikayla Thompson; Ashton’s mother, Gerrielle German; and Malaiyah’s mother, Ma’Kayla Wickerson. (Courtesy of the Berkeley Police Department)

The families of Ashton and Malaiyah continue to search and remain hopeful they will be reunited soon. “I want Ashton to know I love and miss him so much,” Shelita shared. “Whatever the reason is for them being gone, there is no judgment, and they can always come home.”

“It’s been over two years since I’ve seen or spoken with Malaiyah or my daughter, and not a day goes by that I don’t think about them,” Cartisha told NCMEC. “I pray they are safe, and I love and miss them so much.”

To help generate more leads, NCMEC is releasing age progressions showing what Ashton and Malaiyah may look like today, both at 5 years old. 

Ashton (left) and Malaiyah (right), age progressed to 5 years old. (Courtesy of NCMEC)

Local and federal agencies continue to investigate and believe the group may travel to Mexico, the Caribbean or Atlanta, Georgia.

If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Ashton Mitchell or Malaiyah Wickerson, please contact NCMEC at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) or the Berkeley Police Department at 1-314-524-3311.

Ashton Mitchell’s missing poster: https://www.missingkids.org/poster/NCMC/2043797/1

Malaiyah Wickerson’s missing poster: https://www.missingkids.org/poster/NCMC/2043796/1