517 - The Buffalo River Cult: Murder, Prophecy, and... a Ghost Girl??
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What happened when Haley Zega went missing on Cave Mountain in 2001?
In the spring of 1978, a very small religious group, read fringe group of fanatical Looney Tunes cult members, who called themselves Church of God in Christ through the Holy Spirit Incorporated, not kidding about the incorporated part, that's a nice touch, moved to the remote Buffalo National River wilderness in the Ozarks to await the end times, as one does when they're not playing games. They believed that the Great Tribulation was imminently approaching, a period of three and a half years of nuclear war and chaos preceding the second coming of Jesus Christ. The group was led by an unlikely duo, a 17-year-old prophet named Mark Harris and his interpreter, 31-year-old Suzette Freeman. Once they arrived in the Ozarks, Mark and Suzette declared a new prophecy, that three-year-old Stephanie Hall, daughter of cult member Goldie Hall, was possessed by the devil and had to die.
Stephanie would be murdered by two members of the cult, shot eight times, unceremoniously buried in a five-gallon bucket. And then the end times really did swiftly come, for the cult at least. They were all arrested. Ultimately, Suzette Freeman would be granted immunity, three would take plea deals, and one member, the mother of the child who was murdered, would go to trial. As time passed, the memory of this horrific case faded from the memories of most of the residents of Northwest Arkansas, except for those involved, and the records of the trial and court proceedings were lost to time. Many of the records were actually quite literally lost or perhaps destroyed. And I doubt any of us outside of a handful of people who lived in the Ozarks near where this happened, when it happened, would know about that cult today were it not for another story about another little girl who received a significant amount of media attention for something that happened to her in that exact same area.
Over two decades later, in April of 2001, six-year-old Haley Zaga was lost for three days in the Buffalo National River wilderness, just a few short miles from where Stephanie's murder occurred. Haley's story, fortunately, did not also end in tragedy. Haley would be found dehydrated but unharmed along the Buffalo National River. And after she recovered, she told her parents a very strange story. Haley said that her imaginary friend, a four-year-old girl named Alicia, had appeared to her when she was lost and guided her to the river. That Alicia kept her company when she was scared and alone in the woods, never leaving her side. Haley's grandmother and a man involved in the search to find her seeking to understand how a six-year-old girl descended a dangerously steep mountainside and survived three days alone in the remote woods, stumbled upon the 1978 case of the cult and found a few, quote, astounding coincidences.
Is it possible that Alicia was the spirit of Stephanie Hall and that this spirit guided Haley Zega to safety when she was lost in the woods? I know, I know. Not the kind of premise I usually toss out on this podcast. It can come across as wildly wackadoodle. but it is what some like to think. And even if it's not true, and I'm well aware there is no way to prove it is, I found these two stories and the connections between them absolutely riveting. One of my favorite subjects based purely on being a captivating tale that I've come across in a while. This week, we'll cover the Church of God in Christ through the Holy Spirit, Incorporated. And yes, they are absolutely as insane as I imagine you are expecting them to be.
Why this doomsday cult decided to murder a little girl and then how they were caught, punished, where they all ended up. And we will also cover Hayley Zega's ordeal and survival in the wilderness and the possible connections between these stories. In today's Tale of Two Girls, two separate narratives collide, two sucks for the price of one edition of Time Suck.
This is Michael McDonald and you're listening to Time Suck.
Happy Monday. Welcome or welcome back to the Cult of the Curious.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What happened when Haley Zega went missing on Cave Mountain in 2001?
0:00–13:59
2
How did search teams organize and ultimately find Haley after three days?
13:59–21:59
3
Who was the Buffalo River cult and how was Stephanie Hall murdered in 1978?
21:59–25:12
4
How did Edith Harris found the Church of God in Christ through the Holy Spirit, Inc. and recruit followers?
25:12–1:23:20
5
How did Goldie Hall get involved with the cult and what abuse did young Stephanie suffer?
1:23:20–1:25:44
6
Why did the cult move to the Ozarks and what led to Stephanie being taken into the woods?
1:25:44–1:34:31
7
How were the arrests, trials, and sentences handled for the Buffalo River cult members?
1:34:31–1:49:45
8
What connects Stephanie Hall’s murder to Haley Zega’s disappearance and what are the final takeaways?
1:49:45–2:49:13
Speakers
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