New Shelly Miscavige sighting actually took place earlier than you may have heard
Reporting on things like missing persons can be very tricky. We hear rumors all the time, but we do our best to make sure we have some confidence about sourcing before we bring things to you.
That’s especially true with the whereabouts and condition of Shelly Miscavige.
The wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige, Shelly disappeared from Int Base near Hemet in late August or early September, 2005.
We have talked to multiple people who were there at the time in order to nail down that timing.
From multiple lines of independence evidence, we believe strongly that Shelly was moved in 2005 to a compound owned by a Scientology corporation, the Church of Spiritual Technology, near Crestline and Lake Arrowhead in the San Bernardino Mountains.
Shelly was then seen by multiple witnesses at the 2007 funeral of her father, Maurice “Barney” Barnett, which took place on a boat in San Pedro Harbor. We have talked to a person who was actually there and saw it with their own eyes, and who confirmed that Shelly was there with a Scientology “handler.”
After that, we reported that a woman in Crestline saw someone in town in 2015 and 2016 who looked like Shelly Miscavige. This person, who we gave the name “Rachel,” said that she saw Shelly in a hardware store and a grocery store on two different occasions, and that both times Shelly did not look well. On those occasions, she was being escorted by young men.
In 2021, we recorded an interview with Ron Miscavige several weeks before he died, and this is when we first learned that Shelly had actually been taken to the CST compound with two other women: Antonella Tisi, who had been Shelly’s Scientology auditor, and Anne Rathbun, Marty Rathbun’s ex-wife, who was acting as Shelly’s “handler.” We made this interview public in January.
Also, some months ago we began hearing about a sighting of Shelly at a café with three other Scientology Sea Org workers that took place in Redlands, supposedly in 2020.
We did not tell you about this sighting because we had not reached the person who actually made it.
Now, after some effort, we have finally heard from the person who made the sighting of Shelly with her three friends.
This person knew Shelly personally, and recognized her and the three Sea Org friends she was with, one of whom was Anne Rathbun, and that they appeared to be spending some free time. “They seemed relaxed and appeared to be having a good time.”
They tell us that this sighting did occur in Redlands — which is conveniently just about 35 minutes from Crestline — but that the timing was much earlier, sometime between 2008 and 2013.
The person said that while Shelly did look well, they pointed out, “most likely, this was long before the interminable nature of her isolation had set in.”
They also agree with us that Shelly has likely been held at the CST headquarters near Lake Arrowhead (with some short excursions to Crestline or Redlands) this entire time.
We will continue to seek information about Shelly Miscavige, and we’ll do our best to bring you the facts.
Again, to review the timeline:
2005: Taken to CST headquarters
2007: Seen at the funeral of her father with a handler
2008-2013: Seen by someone who knew her in Redlands with Anne Rathbun and others
2015-2016: Possibly seen in Crestline looking unwell
For more information about Shelly’s fate and her likely current location, please see our annual roundup of reporting about her.
Straight up and Vertical, with Chris
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I realise this doesn't apply here because the sighting took place some years ago, but I wouldn't put it past Miscavige to ensure Shelly was seen out and about, looking healthy, in places where she'd likely be photographed, to quiet the rumours. Unless, of course, she no longer looks healthy...
This predates Shelly’s disappearance by about 2 years, 2003. I talked with DM at the Celebrity Centre Gala Anniversary. Shelly was in tow. David and I were having an animated conversation on the original Dianetics campaign and the music that I and Chris Many had created. At the time I observed that Shelly was extremely subdued and introverted. She said nothing to anyone and stood a few yards away from us. We were all in a line with lots of Celebrity Centre public. Unusual in itself that DM would be waiting in line to get into the event that was not quite ready to let in the audience. Those were the days when DM was more accessible. Rare days when it was actually popular for non-Scientology celebrities to be invited to the Celebrity Centre Gala, where people like Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Kirsty Ally would show up. From that experience it appears Shelly knew her place. Be seen and not heard.