Malaiyah Wickerson

Malaiyah, circa 2023; Rashad Jamal

  • Missing Since 08/06/2023
  • Missing From Florissant, Missouri
  • Classification Endangered Missing
  • Sex Female
  • Race Black
  • Date of Birth 10/08/2020 (5)
  • Age 2 years old
  • Height and Weight 1'7, 30 pounds
  • Distinguishing Characteristics Black female. Black hair, brown eyes. Malaiyah's ears are pierced.

Details of Disappearance

Malaiyah and her mother, Ma'Kayla, were reported missing on July 28, 2023. At the time of their disappearances they were living in a rental home on Graham Lane in Berkeley, Missouri near the St. Louis Lambert International Airport with four other people: Gerrielle German, German's three-year-old son Ashton Mitchell, Mikayla Thompson, and Naaman Williams.

Neighbors said the residents of that house practiced daily meditation and worship in their backyard, sometimes in the nude. The home was owned by a company in Arizona, and Ma'Kayla's name was on the lease, but on July 27, 2023, the six residents were served with an eviction notice; Ma'Kayla owed at least three months' rent.

All six of them disappeared. They were last seen at a Quality Inn Hotel in the 50 block of Dunn Road in Florissant, Missouri on August 6. When the police conducted a welfare check at the rental home in Berkeley, they found no indications of forced entry, but they did see signs that the occupants had left unexpectedly. There was food in the microwave, dishes in the sink and laundry in the washing machine, and valuables had been left behind, including a closet full of expensive women's shoes.

The disappearances may be connected to Rashad Jamal (whose legal name is Rashad Jamal White), who is serving an eighteen-year sentence in Georgia for child molestation. A photo of him is posted with this case summary. Authorities stated Jamal was the leader of a "spiritual cult" called the University of Cosmic Intelligence, whose followers would often quit their jobs, disconnect from their phones and social media accounts, and go "off the grid."

Jamal says it isn't a cult but only a YouTube channel with 200,000 subscribers, and that he doesn't know any of the missing persons. In the YouTube videos, Jamal shared his belief that black and Hispanic people are gods and goddesses and people of other races are aliens, that elite families including presidents are "reptilian shapeshifters", and the weather is being controlled by machines disguised as "5G towers."

There has been no indication of any of the missing six people's whereabouts since their sighting at the hotel in Florissant. Investigators believe they may be in Mexico, on an island in the Gulf of Mexico, or in Atlanta, Georgia. Their disappearances remain unsolved.

Updated 1 time since October 12, 2004. Last updated January 20, 2026; casefile added.