The Australian Family Cult That Vanished Overnight
3/18/202653 min
In 2007, a family of three and their friend vanished from their secluded home in Nannup, Western Australia, leaving only a cryptic note claiming they had moved to Brazil. They never arrived.
As investigators delved into the lives of Chantelle McDougall, her partner Simon Cadwell, their daughter Leela, and friend Tony Popic, they uncovered a web of doomsday prepping and cult-like spiritual beliefs.
Was this a voluntary disappearance to a "higher plane," or something far more sinister?
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First 90 secondsGemma Bath· Host0:00
[suspenseful music] It's 1998, and 17-year-old Chantelle McDougall has just moved into a secluded home in Melbourne's outskirts to take on a job as a live-in nanny. Her dreams in the city of becoming a famous actress have been put on hold for now. She didn't get into the school she wanted, so she's keen to regroup and make some money. As she starts the job and becomes enmeshed in her nanny family's life, in charge of baby Daniel, she starts to pull back from her parents. They don't really hear from her much, and when they do, what she says is worrying. The dad of the family, Simon, seems to be some kind of self-styled spiritual guru with some pretty wacky beliefs, beliefs Chantelle is starting to also spruik. As the years go by, Chantelle's life gets more and more secretive. To her parents, it gets more and more concerning. She is now dating the dad, Simon. She has his baby. They move to a tiny town in WA. They're rarely allowed to visit. Then, nine years later in 2007, Chantelle, Simon, their five-year-old daughter, Leila, and their friend Toni, a man who'd been living on their property, simply go missing. They are never heard of or seen again. [gentle music] I'm Gemma