What is the Christ Family cult? Missing Arizona child Holly Marie Clouse found after 40 years shares theories on her parents' murders
CUSHING, OKLAHOMA: Holly Marie Clouse, who was found alive 40 years after her parents were brutally murdered, has finally broken her silence, revealing that she believes they were killed by the Christ Family cult, which left her at an Arizona church.
The 42-year-old Clouse went unidentified until the summer of 2022 when she was discovered to be alive, living in Oklahoma, some 40 years after she vanished in the wake of her parents’ death.
She was just a year old when her biological parents, Harold Dean Clouse, 21 at the time, and Tina Clouse, 17 at the time, had been murdered in Houston, Texas in 1981.
At that time, investigators said that Tina and Harold were associated with the Christ Family cult, whose members reportedly handed over "Baby Holly" to a church following the couple's death, according to the New York Post.
Who ran the Christ Family Cult?
The Cult, which roamed between California, Arizona, and possibly Texas in the late 1970s and early 80s, was run by charismatic leader Charles McHugh, also known to his followers as Lightening Amen.
The group, which comprised around 2,000 people at its peak, openly consumed marijuana, which they considered to be a gift from God.
Christ's Family was described as traveling from coast to coast "like the wind" in a 1980 Washington Post report.
The report said that they did not wear leather goods, or eat meat, eggs, dairy products, or even honey as they say they are the product of captive animals.
The cult disbanded after McHugh was convicted of possessing and transporting methamphetamine for sale, and possession of a hypodermic needle and a concealed weapon.
According to court documents in Riverside County, California, Amen, who passed away in 2010, was charged with three counts of harassing or abusing a minor under the age of eighteen in 2001.
He was found guilty of one of them the following year and ordered to do 160 hours of community service, according to Daily Mail.
What did Holly Marie say about the Christ Family Cult?
Miller stated in an exclusive interview with ABC's David Muir that she believes the Christ Family cult, which her parents joined in the early 80s, was linked to their deaths.
“I really believe they were trying to leave the cult. That they were leaving when they were murdered. I really believe that,” the mother-of-five told the program.
Holly believes her parents 'knew too much' which led to their death. "I really feel that they came to a point where they had second thoughts and wanted to get away from the cult and were murdered while doing so,” she added.
Holly's extended family, including her grandmother and aunt, also believe that the cult is somewhere linked to Tina and Harold’s death.
However, surviving cult members spoke to ABC and denied that the group had anything to do with the murders/ Moreover, no charges have been brought.