Last year my sister ran away from her home and broke into a strangers trailer and "squatted" for a week or so. When the police arrested her, she said that her friend Michael told her to go there and wait for him. She says they communicate by telepathy. She stayed with mom for awhile, but seemed very obsessed with this Michael and being reunited with him. She told my mom that when she leaves, no one will be able to find her. Plus she has a strong Christian faith, but refused to go to Sunday Mass. She ran away again, and it took many months to find her. The detective found her in New Mexico, but was not allowed to give us any details. I am trying to follow any lead on any new or old cults established or moved to New Mexico. Does anyone have any recent info on this? I have already checked the Rick Ross list of articles on site. Thanks!

I don't know the names of any New Mexican cults right off hand but Sedona, Arizona seems to be a hotbed of really strange activity. I have a co-worker who is getting sucked into this kind of crap--she calls me close-minded but refuses to read anything I recommend--and she just got back from Sedona just bubbling over about all the fantastic stuff going on out there.

You might want to contact the Catholic hierarchy in New Mexico, particularly the Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Taos regions and ask them about any questionable groups in their area. Usually bishops have a pretty good idea of what is going on in their areas and if things get serious enough they will put an interdict on the individual/group/region in question. This happened in Necedah, Wisoonsin in the 1980's. An interdict is somewhat like an excommunication in that anyone who knowingly travels to the interdicted area to participate in religious activities may also find themselves excommunicated. So you see it's pretty serious business. However, it only applies to groups and individuals that are Catholic in origin. So if she is involved in something outside the Catholic church they might be of limited help. But it would be a start.

I can only think of Michael Roach, who runs a Tibetan Buddhist center in Sedona, AZ, that has been highly controversial, especially after one retreatant died. I'm in NM, and I don't know of any cults here. But in the Tibetan tradition, it's not unheard of for teachers/lamas to claim to communicate with a devoted follower via telepathy.