Photo: Saguache County Sheriff’s Office
The mummified body of the “Love Has Won” cult leader Lia “Amy” Carlson was found last Thursday in a Denver, Colorado, home, resulting in the arrests of seven of her alleged followers.
Captain Ken Wilson of the Saguache County Sheriff’s Office told the outlet Friday that Carlson’s body appeared to have been deceased for several weeks.
Lia “Amy” Carlson.Dr.phil
A law enforcement source toldThe Daily Beastthat the body was unable to be identified through fingerprints, but witnesses confirmed it was Carlson – who was referred to as “Mother God” in the cult.
The Saguache County Sheriff’s Department and the Rio Grande Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request to comment.
The Saguache County Coroner’s Office is conducting an autopsy into the exact cause of death, PEOPLE confirms.
Coroner Tom Perrin tells PEOPLE they are unable to get a positive identification from the corpse’s fingerprints due to the state of the body or nor could they find adequate dental records. The office is considering sampling DNA. They are also waiting on toxicology reports before the autopsy concludes.
Carlson’s sister Chelsea Ann Reninger discussed the death on Facebook on Fridaywriting, “For those of you that knew my sister Amy, I wanted to let you know we found out yesterday of her passing! Please pray for us and the people involved in this awful situation. We are choosing to remember who she was when she was in our lives on a regular basis and not who she became from this manipulating cult!”
Alivestreamfrom “Love Has Won” members on April 16 stated that Carlson was “very, very, very close to dying” and that “she’s slowly, slowly going out of her vessel.”
Inanother livestreamon April 21, members claimed Carlson was “in stasis” and refusing medical care.
Kramer, Robertson, Castillo and Gonzalez are all being held on a $50,000 bond each with two counts of “child abuse” and one count of “tampering with deceased human remains;” Royer and Rudolph and being held for two counts of “child abuse” and “abuse of a corpse” on a $2,000 bond; and Raymond is being held on two counts “child abuse,” “abuse of a corpse” and “false imprisonment” on a bond of $5,000, according to Guru Magazine.
The children were taken into protective custody, the outlet reported.
The Saguache County Sheriff’s Department located Carlson’s body inside a mobile home that is reportedly the “Love Has Won” headquarters, Sergeant Royce Brubacher told The Daily Beast
The Saguache County Sheriff’s wrote in the affidavit that Lamboy told them Castillo, Robertson, Raymond, Raymond and Cramer asked to stay at his place on April 27. Lamboy ran several errands and when he returned, he found Carlson dead.
Lamboy told officials Carlson’s eyes appeared to be missing, she looked “mummified” and her teeth were “exposed through the lips,” per the affidavit.
Sheriffs found the “Love Has Won” leader dead in a sleeping bag, according to the affidavit.
The office also wrote that the corpse had “glitter type makeup on around the eyes” and “the mummified remains were decorated with Christmas tree lights” in what they described as a “shrine.”
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The seven arrested are expected to appear in court on Wednesday, per Saguache Combined Court docket records. It is not clear if they have entered pleas or if they have retained legal representation at this time.
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation is “providing assistance” to the Saguache County Sheriff’s office in the ongoing investigation, a rep confirms with PEOPLE.
source: people.com
