'MY DAUGHTER VANISHED WITHOUT TRACE

Catherine fears the worst after last seeing Chantelle 16 years ago

- Michael Crooks

When Catherine McDougall visited her daughter for the last time, she knew something was wrong.

In 2007, Chantelle McDougall, 27, and her six-year-old daughter Leela were living in an isolated farmhouse in Nannup, a three-hour drive south of Perth, with self-styled spiritual leader Simon Kadwell.

During her visit, Catherine sensed the couple were planning something because a passport arrived in the mail for Leela, although Chantelle hadn't mentioned travel plans.

"On the day I left, I burst into tears," Catherine, 70, tells Woman's Day. "In my gut, I knew something was going on." Weeks later, her suspicion was confirmed when Chantelle and Leela, along with 45-yearold Kadwell, who ran an online sect, and their friend, Tony Popic, 40, disappeared.

CORONIAL INQUEST

In what has become one of Australia's most baffling missing persons cases, the four have not been seen since.

In 2018, a coronial inquest found that Kadwell ran a cult called The Truth Fellowship with around 40 devotees worldwide, some of who died by suicide under his influence.