The mummified corpse of a controversial cult leader has been found in a sleeping bag wrapped with Christmas lights in a United States home, resulting in the arrests of seven of her alleged followers.
Officers from Colorado's Saguache County Sheriff's Office found the body of Amy Carlson last Wednesday in the back room of a house in Moffatt. A 13-year-old girl and two-year-old boy were also found in the house who appeared to be in good health, according to the arrest warrant.
Carlson was the leader of spiritual cult group Love Has Won. She was a self-proclaimed "divine being" and was called "Mother God" by members of the group.
Investigators believe Carlson's followers had driven her body from California to Colorado and her death was then reported by Miguel Lamboy, who is believed to be a member of the group. He told police that other members of the group had brought the body into his home after they said they needed a place to stay. Lamboy allowed them in and left his home to run errands, only discovering the mummified remains when he returned later that day.
The cause of Carlson's death hasn't been released and it is currently unknown exactly when she died.
The arrest warrant says the "mummified remains appeared to be set up in some type of shrine" while the body was decorated with Christmas lights. The body also had "what appears to be glitter type makeup on around the eyes".
Seven people aged from 32 to 52 years old were arrested and were each charged with abusing a corpse and two counts of child abuse.
Carson's son Cole told The Daily Beast had been "taking huge amounts of colloidal silver", which she sold as a cure for COVID-19.
Local police say they have received "many complaints" from families across the United States over the years who say Love Has Won is brainwashing people and stealing their money.
Carlson wrote on the group's website that she was on the "534th reincarnation in my quest to recover my beloved Planet, the Center of the Universe, and the first Planet I created".
Rick Alan Ross, CEO of Cult Education Institute, appeared with Carlson on television show Dr Phil in September. He says Love Has Won is a "destructive cult".
"The group is essentially predicated upon the belief that Amy Carlson is God and like other personality cults is entirely defined by her claims as the leader. Carlson was the driving force and defining element of the group," he told HuffPost on Tuesday.
He says Carlson is "extremely authoritarian and controlling" and claims the group has a history of abusing members.
