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- Dec 27, 2016
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A coronial inquest was set up to shed light on one of the most baffling mysteries in Western Australia this century — the suspected deaths of a WA family linked to a doomsday cult.
But rather than offering up answers for what happened, the family's fate is now shrouded in more mystery, with serious doubt over whether the four missing people are even dead.
Internet cult leader Simon Kadwell, his partner Chantelle McDougall, their five-year-old daughter Leela and friend Antonio Popic, who lived in a caravan on the rural property the family was renting, vanished in July 2007 from the South West WA town of Nannup.
The inquest gave an insight into the group's "bizarre, alternative lifestyle".
They told friends and family they were moving to Brazil to join a spiritual community because they felt they did not belong in modern society.
A note saying they had gone to Brazil was the only clue they left behind.
But they have not travelled overseas on their passports and their bank accounts remain untouched.
Prior to their disappearance, Mr Kadwell told a woman in his online cult forum that he was planning a "peaceful" family suicide pact.
When the woman said that would amount to murdering his young daughter, Mr Kadwell reneged on the idea and said they would instead move to an isolated area where they could not be reached.
Over the past decade police have been at a loss as to what happened.
Did the family move to Brazil under false identities? Are they living "off the grid" at an isolated location? Did they take their own lives? Or were they murdered?
But rather than offering up answers for what happened, the family's fate is now shrouded in more mystery, with serious doubt over whether the four missing people are even dead.
Internet cult leader Simon Kadwell, his partner Chantelle McDougall, their five-year-old daughter Leela and friend Antonio Popic, who lived in a caravan on the rural property the family was renting, vanished in July 2007 from the South West WA town of Nannup.
The inquest gave an insight into the group's "bizarre, alternative lifestyle".
They told friends and family they were moving to Brazil to join a spiritual community because they felt they did not belong in modern society.
A note saying they had gone to Brazil was the only clue they left behind.
But they have not travelled overseas on their passports and their bank accounts remain untouched.
Prior to their disappearance, Mr Kadwell told a woman in his online cult forum that he was planning a "peaceful" family suicide pact.
When the woman said that would amount to murdering his young daughter, Mr Kadwell reneged on the idea and said they would instead move to an isolated area where they could not be reached.
Over the past decade police have been at a loss as to what happened.
Did the family move to Brazil under false identities? Are they living "off the grid" at an isolated location? Did they take their own lives? Or were they murdered?
The 'bizarre, alternative lifestyle' of a doomsday cult family
A family — including a five-year-old girl — involved in a cult in Western Australia's south could have moved to Brazil under false identities, be living "off the grid", have taken their own lives, or even have been murdered, an inquest hears.
www.abc.net.au