Love Has Won: Bodycam footage released of moment police find mummified cult leader
‘There’s something back in there. I don’t know what the [expletive] it is!’
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Bodycam footage has been released showing the moment the mummified corpse of the Love Has Won cult leader was discovered by police.
The Saguache County Sheriff’s Department released the video to local media on Friday revealing the grisly sight that officers encountered at the cult’s house.
“Mother God” aka Amy Carlon was found dead, wrapped in an REI sleeping bag, her eyelids plastered with white glitter, in a room filled with Christmas lights, rainbows, and stuffed animals.
The sheriff’s department released footage to Colorado news outlet The Gazette on Friday.
In the video, recorded from the bodycam of one of the attending officers, the sheriff’s team can be seen moving through the house past what appears to be a kitchen area and into the gaudily decorated bedroom.
The blinking lights run across the ceiling and are centred on the bed, which at first glance appears to be piled up with bedding.
As the officers approach, their flashlights scanning the room, an officer says: “There’s something back in there,” indicating towards the bed. “I don’t know what the [expletive] it is!”
The second officer leans in and their flashlight illuminates a blue-tinted face peeking out from the mound of bedding.
Coroner Tom Perrin found that Ms Carlson has been dead for weeks and decomposition was so advanced that there were no fingerprints. An autopsy is ongoing.
In an exclusive interview with NBC’s Dateline, the sheriff who discovered the body spoke out after prosecutors dropped charges over the morbid ritual.
Sheriff Dan Warwick said that the group was burning sage in the room and covering Ms Carlson in essential oils to “keep the odour down” when he came across the scene. He said the group was effectively worshipping the mummified corpse.
Seven members of the spiritual cult were taken into custody after the decaying body of Ms Carlson, 45, was discovered in the group’s headquarters in Colorado in April.
They were charged with misdemeanour child abuse as two minors were inside the home, but the Saguache County District Attorney later dropped all charges.
Mr Warwick told Dateline they should have faced charges for abuse of a corpse after he searched the cult’s headquarters on 29 April.
Investigators believed Ms Carlson died elsewhere and was transported to Colorado, possibly from California.
The Gazette reports family members saying that she had cancer and had been treating herself with coloidal silver. The coroner noted that this may account for her skin turning a blueish colour.
Saguache County Sheriffs Office’s “probable cause statement in support of warrantless arrest”, seen by The Independent, said police were tipped off to Ms Carlson’s death by group member Miguel Lamboy, also known as “Archangel Michael Silver”.
“Mr Lamboy stated that Ms Carlson’s skin appeared to be grey in colour and her eyes were glazed over or missing. Mr Lamboy stated that it was obvious that Ms Carlson was dead because her eyes were missing,” the statement said.
“Mr Lamboy stated that the body appeared to be mummified with Ms Carlson’s teeth exposed through the lips. Mr Lamboy stated that Ms Carlson was wrapped in a cloth.”