Rhianna Benson
In the summer of 2007, Michele 'Shelly' Miscavige, the 'First Lady of Scientology', and wife of the church's founder David Miscavige, vanished into thin air.
The 65-year-old attended her father's public funeral that year, but was never seen again. Her lawyers insisted she'd started a new life away from the limelight, but friends uninformed of these supposed plans were convinced something far more minister was afoot, and Hollywood insiders alleged she'd been sent to a secret Scientology camp in the suburbs of Los Angeles.
The fact remains that to this date, no one truly knows her whereabouts for certain.
For those unfamiliar with Shelly, she first hit headlines back in the early 80s, after marrying aspiring religious leader David Miscavige, famed in the area of his volatility and passion.
Advert
Before this, her life had long been intertwined with the Scientology movement, with her parents been close friends of L. Ron Hubbard. Shelley and David had first met after joining the Sea Org - a rigid initial arm of Scientology - formed under Hubbard.
When the original frontman of the movement passed away, David was considered next in line to the powerful position, and Shelly, his right-hand woman. Not only did she serve her husband in a personal capacity, but Shelly worked as his administrative assistant, largely responsible for recruiting influential new members of the mysterious group, most notably actor Tom Cruise.
According to former members of the movement, working so closely with David was deemed a risky decision.
"The law is: The closer to David Miscavige you get, the harder you’re going to fall," Claire Headley, an ex-Scientologist, told Vanity Fair in 2023.
"It’s like the law of gravity, practically. It’s just a matter of when."
Throughout the duration of their marriage, David and other Scientology leaders were subjected to allegations of human trafficking, child abuse, coercive fundraising, harassment and slavery, claims he ceaselessly denied.
In 2006, insiders claim that Shelly had started to restructured Sea Org.’s 'Org Board', which many had already tried to do, but that David had not approved. That same year, despite having been invited to co-worshipper Cruise's wedding to fellow film star Katie Holmes - which was dubbed the religious movement's 'wedding of the century' - his wife Shelly failed to turn up to the nuptials.
This was something of an oddity, considering David attended the $3m soiree, and she was usually always at her husband's side.
The following year, Shelly attended her father's funeral. She hasn't been seen in public since.
Some of her closely friends and colleagues claim to this day that they haven't set eyes on her in over a decade.
In August 2013, six years after her 'disappearance', Shelly's close friend and former member of the church, Leah Remini, filed a missing person report with the Los Angeles Police Department.
Despite providing the actress with no viable evidence that Shelly was alive and well, the LAPD closed the case a matter of hours later, slamming Remini's report as 'unfounded' and claiming no investigation was necessary.
"The LAPD has classified the report as unfounded, indicating that Shelly is not missing," Detective Gus Villanueva told press at the time, even going as far as to claim he's met with Shelly, but couldn't say when or where.
After a number of Scientologists claimed that this assertion in no way proved she was actually alive, a spokesperson for the religious group announced: "She is not a public figure and we ask that her privacy be respected."
The same representative added that the investigation served as 'nothing more than [a] publicity stunt for Ms. Remini', which was supposedly 'cooked up with unemployed anti-zealots'.
Several media outlets have speculated that Shelly might be held at a secretive Scientology compound, either at her husband’s command, or of her own will. These claims have never been confirmed.
Her father-in-law, David's father Ron Miscavige - who departed from the religious movement in 2012 - believes something's afoot, claiming he has no idea where Shelly might be.
"Shelly, she'll never be free," he insisted in a 60 Minutes chat. "These are pretty bad people, but they don't have a conscience and that lets them do it."