FIVE WOMEN VERY CLOSE TO CARLOS CASTANEDA DISAPPEARED AFTER HIS DEATH

Carlos Castaneda died on April 27, 1998, and shortly afterward, five of the women closest to him disappeared. They were:

Nury Alexander, Castaneda's adopted daughter

Taisha Abelar, one of Castaneda's witches

Florinda Donner, another of Castaneda's witches

Talia Bey, the president of Cleargreen, the company Castaneda founded to market his teachings

Kylie Lundahl, the leader of tensegrity instructors

Since then, nothing more has been heard of them, with the exception of Nury, whose skeletal remains were found in Death Valley.

The only woman very close to Castaneda who did not disappear was Carol Tiggs ("the nahual woman" and Castaneda's partner).

The strange behavior these women exhibited before Castaneda's death

In early 1998, Castaneda's health deteriorated rapidly due to liver cancer that was killing him.

The women most loyal to Castaneda, sensing that their guru's end was near, began to behave strangely.

On this matter, journalist Geoffrey Gray commented:

« Kylie appeared to be actively involved in helping some of her companions plan their departure from this world. With Castaneda's death imminent, she and other members considered purchasing a massive boat.

According to one correspondence from the group, they were looking to spend around $400'000 for a cargo/crew vessel that was 100 to 200 feet long, with a range of 10'000 miles and unlimited navigational capability.

To prepare for the voyage, Ahlvers purchased a handful of books, receipts from Barnes & Noble later showed, studying up on how to survive —at least temporarily— the high seas. Among the titles she picked out: 'Sea Vegetables: Harvesting Guide & Cookbook', 'Fishing for Sharks', 'Shark Liver Oil', 'Good Food Afloat', 'The Care and Feeding of the Offshore Crew'.

Meantime, the idea of guns —or at least talk of using them— arose. According to Amy, the compound buzzed with Carol’s confession that these womwn had acquired firearms to carry out a suicide pact after Castaneda died.

“What? Guns?!” one follower said, according to Amy. “Suicide? I refuse to believe that…just can’t imagine it. If they go poof! in front of me, and burn like they’ve always said, that’s one thing – but guns?!” »

Richard Jennings was a student of Castaneda during his later years, and he commented as follows:

« I was present when Kylie and Talia told us several times that they were looking for abandoned mines and similar places where they could disappear if they didn't achieve their ultimate goal of transcending death (and also minimize the possibility of their remains being found after committing suicide). »

Amy Wallace was a close friend of Castaneda's women, and she recounted the following event:

« Florinda Donner called me to ask if Kylie could come and burn her papers in the fireplace I had in my house.

I said yes, Kylie arrived and explained: "It takes so long with the shredder."

She only had one bag, so I took her to the small fireplace and while I helped her throw the papers into the flames, I watched as the printer's proofs of Castaneda's books and Kylie's personal papers (poetry, drawings, and a diary) burned.

I asked Kylie how she felt about it.

She told me, "I know exactly what to do. If I don't go with him, I'll do what I have to do. It's too late for us to stay in this world; I think you know exactly what I mean. It's been too late for a long time."

I told her that Carol had asked Bruce and me to help her stay, and I explained that I had given my word to Carol.

Kylie nodded and replied, "Yes, I heard something about it. The nahual doesn't care, and Taisha doesn't care anymore. But Florinda is upset. She's not taking it well; she wants Carol to leave too."

Kylie told me she was worried about suicides among the others in the group. "We told the nahual we were very worried about it. He said, 'What?' as if they didn't know what we were talking about."

Then she continued, "So we asked him if he wanted the workshops to continue. He said, 'I don't give a damn; if you want them, fine; if not, forget them. I don't care at all.' "

Kylie shook her head and added, "We convinced him he had to give them something to do because otherwise they really might commit suicide. So he issued instructions: he gave Darien, Aerin, Nyei, and Reni tasks, telling them to continue with the workshops. But he doesn't care about Cleargreen or the seminars. So Carol chose Reni as the new president of Cleargreen. Talia is going to tell her."

I told her, "That's good."

Kylie replied to me: "What else were they going to do? I'm surprised the Nahual didn't foresee the great risk this entails."

Then Kylie thanked me and told me she loved me. When she hugged me, she lifted me in her arms, as she had done before, and that's when I knew it was her last hug. »

Carol's Confession

In the weeks following Castaneda's death, Carol told Amy that Florinda, Taisha, Kylie, and Talia had committed suicide. She also said Nury had called her desperately from a motel in Death Valley. And she also described to Amy the last conversation she had with Florinda:

« Florinda was getting ready to leave. She didn't show any affection towards me, not even an 'I love you,' nothing. She was very cruel. Suddenly, at the door, she turns to me and says:

"Carol, were you ever jealous of the Nahual and his other women?"

I replied, "No, Florinda, I didn't have any. I had other problems with him, believe me, but that wasn't one of them. I'm not jealous. I mean, listen, after all, I was the number two pimp."

Then Florinda smiled and said, "Well... he had many women, you know?"

And I thought to myself, "Now she wants to go to confession?"

She added, "I was just curious," and turned and left. Not a hug, not a kiss, not a thank you, not a goodbye, nothing. »

Richard's opinion

On his website  SustainedAction.org, he commented on this matter as follows:

« According to reliable sources, none of the other four women have been seen or heard from according to any reliable accounts since the two Ford vehicles they were driving (Taisha and Florinda in Taisha’s Ford Aerostar; Kylie and Talia in Kylie’s four-door red Taurus) left the Westwood compound in April 1998.

Although the four were primary beneficiaries under Castaneda’s will, the estate executor, Deborah Drooz (Castaneda’s lawyer) confirmed to Talia’s persistent brother, Luis Marquez, years after Castaneda’s death that she had not had any contact with the four and that none of them had received any of the money they would have been due under the will.

Amy Wallace and I were both convinced the four had headed east to an abandoned mine in or around Death Valley, or possibly further east in Nevada, that they had previously identified as a place they could commit suicide and ensure their remains would not be found.

This is based not only on what we heard directly from Castaneda during night and Sunday sessions regarding research and plans Talia and others had made, but also on Amy’s interactions with Taisha, Florinda and Kylie in the days leading up to Castaneda’s demise and both of our dealings with Carol Tiggs and others at Cleargreen in the weeks following his death.

Nury failed to join them when they headed out but followed a day or two later and ended up driving to where her red Ford Escort was subsequently found, days later.

In 2014, family members of Talia met Ru Marshall and a private investigator in Death Valley to search a mine located near where Nury’s remains were found for the other four missing women: Parumph Valley Times story. They were blocked from doing so by a park ranger who claimed they hadn’t followed the proper procedures.

From my trip to Death Valley in May 1998, after I learned where Nury’s car had been found and based on having heard from Castaneda about the research into abandoned mines that Talia and others had done, I felt confident–after having studied maps of the park and talked with park rangers–that there were no suitable locations where human remains were likely to be left undisturbed due to the park’s heavy traffic by sightseers and hikers.

My theory at that point was, and remains, that the missing women had continued on to a much more remote location, most likely in Nevada, to carry out their group suicide.

Meanwhile, Carol and Cleargreen continued to lie and obfuscate about the fates of the missing women for years, as summarized here.

Nonetheless, some family members of the missing women, as well as others who were involved with the group, understandably hold out hope they are still alive, albeit without having received support all these years from Castaneda’s estate.

At the least, family members and others, like me, who loved and admired the women hope their remains might one day be found, to help bring some closure to this specially painful aspect of the Castaneda phenomenon. Toward that end, Ru Marshall helped family members set up a website soliciting leads and other support for locating them. »

Here is the link to this site: 4 Missing Women

What did they do?

Some theorize that they went to live somewhere else, but I find this posibility very unlikely because then they would have taken their share of the inheritance; and most likely they committed suicide, and did so in a hidden place where their bodies could not be found.

Nury was Castaneda's disdainful, petulant, and spoiled child; the others didn't like her, and that's why they sent her to Death Valley so she wouldn't bother them. And the reason why Nury died in this desert is explained in this other chapter (see link).  

OBSERVATION

And this shows how manipulative and Machiavellian Carlos Castaneda was, who intended to turn his disciples into free beings, but as far as his closest female disciples were concerned, he transformed them into beings so dependent on him that when Castaneda died, these women, despite inheriting large sums of money and still having many years to live, she preferred to die rather than continue being on this Earth without their "Nahual".