10 Terrifying Stories of People Who Escaped Cults

10 Terrifying Cult Escape Stories

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at ten horrifying stories of someone escaping a cult.

Linda Kasabian

The Manson Family

Linda Kasabian was the only member of the Manson Family who possessed a valid driver’s license, and that made her a crucial logistical asset. She was brought along as a lookout and driver during the horrific Tate-LaBianca murder missions, and though she never physically harmed anyone, witnessing the gruesome slaughter at Cielo Drive shattered her devotion to Charles Manson. Just three days later, on August 13, 1969, Kasabian fled Spahn Ranch in a borrowed car, even going so far as to leave her infant daughter behind (although she later returned to retrieve her). After surrendering in New Hampshire, Kasabian was granted total immunity and turned star witness for the prosecution, enduring eighteen grueling days on the stand in front of her old, murderous captor.

Lilia Tarawa

Gloriavale

Growing up in Gloriavale, a hyper-isolated religious commune in New Zealand, Lilia Tarawa knew nothing but identical blue uniforms and absolute submission. But once the cracks in the community’s idyllic facade began to show, her family planned their departure. Determined to stay together, her family piled into a van and fled the only world they’d ever known, driving straight into the unknown. Tarawa’s transition from a cloistered commune to the modern world was a massive shock to the system, as she struggled with simple things like clothing choices and social cues. Even worse, she was forced to confront the reality of her grandfather’s crimes. Known within the community as Hopeful Christian, Tarawa’s grandfather was a convicted sex offender who was jailed for indecent assault against young women and girls.

Carolyn Jessop

FLDS

As the fourth wife of a powerful FLDS leader, Carolyn Jessop lived in a reality dictated by fear and control. Forced into the marriage at eighteen, Jessop spent seventeen years in a loveless relationship with a 50-year-old and endured multiple life-threatening pregnancies. Realizing that her daughters were doomed to the same fate, she orchestrated a high-stakes getaway. Jessop silently woke her eight children and loaded them into a minivan, fleeing the compound’s ruthless reach with just $20 to her name. That was only the beginning. She later faced the monumental tasks of evading secret sect members, winning legal custody of her children, and weaning them off the cult’s vicious teachings.

David Thibodeau

Branch Davidians

The 51-day standoff at the Mount Carmel Center in Waco ended in an apocalyptic inferno, but David Thibodeau walked out alive. He was one of only nine survivors. Thibodeau was trapped inside a labyrinth of smoke and exploding ammunition as federal tanks breached the Branch Davidian compound and fire spread throughout the building. With the roof literally caving in around him, Thibodeau blindly crawled through the burning wreckage and threw himself through a hole in the smoldering wall. He narrowly dodged death inside the building, only to emerge into the literal crosshairs of FBI snipers outside. His miraculous survival from the ashes of one of America’s deadliest sieges remains a harrowing tale of survival and escape.

Sarah Edmondson

NXIVM

For over a decade, Sarah Edmondson was a prominent member of the self-help organization NXIVM. She was also completely unaware of the sinister sub-group operating in the shadows. When she was initiated into this sub-group, called DOS, Edmondson was physically branded with the initials of Allison Mack, and the horrifying truth finally clicked. Unfortunately, Edmondson was forced to play along, trapped by the threat of damaging collateral. Instead, Edmondson quietly distanced herself from the group and began gathering evidence from her home in Canada. Once safe, she blew the whistle on the cult and took her story to the New York Times. Her methodical exposure and dismantling of the group remains a testament to her courage.

Leah Remini

Scientology

Not all escapes require a midnight run through the woods. Some involve facing down a multi-million dollar organization in broad daylight. After decades as one of Scientology’s most visible advocates, Leah Remini started asking the wrong questions about the whereabouts of Shelly Miscavige, the wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige who hasn’t been seen since 2007. Subjected to grueling interrogations, she ultimately decided to defect. It was a massive professional and personal risk. By walking away, she knowingly triggered a barrage of smear campaigns, harassment from private investigators, and the heartbreaking reality of so-called “disconnection” from lifelong friends. Unintimidated, she turned her defection into a crusade and brought unprecedented scrutiny to the organization.

Elissa Wall

FLDS

Forced by prophet Warren Jeffs to marry her own cousin when she was just fourteen, Elissa Wall endured a nightmare of abuse inside FLDS. Desperate for freedom and fleeing her cousin-husband’s home, Wall found a temporary sanctuary by driving her truck out into the desert to sleep alone. During this time, she met Lamont Barlow, a former sect member who offered her a vital connection to the outside world. With his assistance, Wall systematically planned her departure from the church at just seventeen. Her deliberate escape from the church marked the true beginning of her fight, and her historic courtroom testimony ultimately exposed the cult’s abuses and helped convict Warren Jeffs.

The Phoenix Family

Children of God

Long before they were Hollywood royalty, the Phoenix family belonged to the notorious Children of God. John and Arlyn Bottom moved their children through South America as missionaries but eventually chose to leave as the group’s practices devolved into systematic abuse. Totally broke and stranded in Venezuela, the parents desperately needed a way out. With no other viable options, they stowed away on a cargo ship bound for the United States, with the crew taking pity on the destitute family. They sailed home among a cargo of Tonka toys, and a young Joaquin even celebrated his third birthday onboard. They safely reached Florida shores, and John and Arlyn took the surname Phoenix to celebrate their profound rebirth.

Vernon Gosney

Peoples Temple

Deep in the Guyanese jungle, Vernon Gosney realized that the utopian promise of Jonestown was nothing but a deadly lie. When US Congressman Leo Ryan arrived on a fact-finding mission, Gosney covertly passed a reporter a desperate plea for help. He then boarded a truck to the Port Kaituma airstrip with the delegation, but freedom was violently ripped away. As Jim Jones’ armed loyalists ambushed the runway outside, a fake defector inside Gosney’s plane pulled a gun and opened fire at point-blank range. Gosney was shot three times in the abdomen and leg, but he survived and his fellow passengers were able to disarm the gunman. His chilling firsthand testimony of the massacre is a haunting reminder of the cult’s devastating and infamous end.

Marc Headley

Scientology

Marc Headley knew that his time in Scientology was running out, and he was physically trapped inside the cult’s heavily-fortified Gold Base in the California desert. Subjected to intense surveillance and facing reassignment to a punitive remote location, he hopped on his motorcycle one fateful rainy day and made a break for the gates. What followed was a high-stakes confrontation straight out of a movie. Base security guards chased him down the freeway and even drove him off the road, leading to a tense argument. A passing motorist noticed the crash site and called emergency services, and the arriving police officers escorted him to safety. His wife, Claire, was left behind, but she managed to escape herself just weeks later by feigning a need for contact lenses and taking a bus across the country.

Do you have any stories of your own? Let us know in the comments below.