Mom of US woman 'found' alive living thousands of miles away makes heartbreaking claims about daughter’s ‘brainwashing’
The mother of a tribe member who fled the United States to become a handmaiden to a so-called King has spoken out, imploring the UK authorities to ‘do something’ about her ‘vulnerable’ daughter.
A missing person report was filed against Kaura Taylor, 21, in June after she’d mysteriously vanished from her aunt’s house in Texas.
However, the young adult was quickly found to be living as part of a ‘lost African tribe’, some 3,000 miles away in Scotland.
Her clan, known as the ‘Kingdom of Kubala’, is allegedly hoping to reclaim the ‘land’ they believe belonged to their Hebrew ancestors.
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Melba Whitehead, 45, said that before her daughter left for the UK, she had harboured dreams of becoming a lawyer and was a popular straight-A student getting her nails done every week.
After becoming ‘more insular’ during the COVID-19 pandemic, Taylor started seeing a psychologist in 2021. Upon returning to school in the fall, teachers noticed she no longer seemed like herself.
The following January, she fell out with her mom and moved in with her aunt, Vandora Skinner, as per The New York Times.
Despite grand academic ambitions, the mom-of-one reportedly turned down a paid-for scholarship at a law school in Atlanta, Georgia, insisting she wanted to study cosmetology in Dallas instead.
The outlet stated that a year later, the father of Taylor’s one-year-old child introduced her to the Kingdom of Kubala, whom she officially fled the US to join on May 25.
According to Skinner, she tried to get her ex-boyfriend to join her, but he was allegedly put off by the 'ungodly rituals' they allegedly carry out.
Taylor now goes by the names ‘Asnat of Atehene' and 'Lady Safi’ and lives in an area of a forest in Jedburgh, around 40 miles from Edinburgh.
Whitehead, speaking from her home in Dallas, has branded the so-called ‘lost tribe’ in Scotland as a ‘cult’.
She further claimed her child had been ‘brainwashed’ by its leaders, Jean Gasho, who goes by Queen Nandi and her husband, Kofi Offeh, AKA King Atehene.
The distressed mother is also worried that Taylor is pregnant again after she said in a social media video that she’d become a ‘surrogate’ for Nandi.
“This cult is crazy. They pose a threat to everyone around them. I don’t want my daughter dead,” Whitehead told the outlet.
She has also condemned the Scottish government for its alleged refusal to give her custody of her one-year-old granddaughter, whom officials previously rescued from the camp.
Whitehead said she needs the authorities to ‘do something’, claiming she needs both her daughter and her grandchild back in Texas.
“I need them to open their eyes and take a look at what Kaura is doing and who she’s with,” she said.
“Evidently she is not capable of making decisions that are good for her and her child. So send her home. I am her mother. I will ensure she gets the help that she needs.”
The Scottish Borders Council has been liaising with the police regarding the situation.
A spokesperson said: "This has included the provision of advice and information about housing options and other support services."
Despite her family being worried about her, Taylor has previously stated that she is not a ‘helpless child’.
In a Facebook post, she said: "I’m very happy with my King and Queen, I was never missing, I fled a very abusive, toxic family.”
She has also implored UK authorities to ‘leave her alone’.
Ella Scott