Authorities Search for Missing Religious Sect Leader Reyna Marisol Chicas and Her Cult Including 8 Children (Update: All Found Safe)

Los Angeles County Sheriff authorities are looking for a missing  group of El Salvadoran immigrants, described as “cult-like” , and their leader, 32 your old Reyna Marisol Chicas. There is fear that they religious sect may be planning awaiting “Rapture” and planning a suicide. Others have describes Chicas as devout and not a fanatic. However, according to authorities, the letters left behind by the missing cult members basically stated that they are all going to heaven to meet Jesus and their deceased relatives.

Reyna Marisol Chicas

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. He eventually looked inside and he and another member’s husband called authorities, Parker said.

The men told investigators they believe group members had been “brainwashed” by Chicas, and one expressed worries that they might harm themselves, Parker said.

LA county Sherriff’s office has mounted a search for the missing religious sect members, including 8 children. Their fear is that the group is planning a mass suicide plot.

The group was believed to be traveling in three vehicles: a white 2004 Nissan Quest, a 1995 white Mercury Villager and a newer-model, silver Toyota Tundra, according to the California Highway Patrol, which issued an alert for them.

“It is believed, through further investigation, that [their] intentions are to commit mass suicide,” said a CHP alert, which was based on information from sheriff’s officials.

UPDATE I: Reyna Marisol Chicas and all members of the religious sect have been found safe, including the children. The group was found around noon at Jackie Robinson Park, east of Palmdale, CA, sitting on blankets laid out on the grass in the shade of a pine tree. Reyna Marisol Chicas has been held by authorities for questioning.

The woman identified as the leader of a small religious group was being held for questioning after a 22-hour search sparked by fears of a suicide pact, officials said.

Reyna Marisol Chicas, 32, who has been identified by family members as the leader of the group, initially gave authorities a different name when approached by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies in a park east of Palmdale, authorities said.

Sheriff’s Department spokesman Steve Whitmore called Chicas “disingenuous” about her identity.