15-year-old girl lured into "vampire" cult

A 15-year-old child prodigy studying at Drury University in Springfield, Missouri, was drawn into an underground cult of "vampires" as she struggled to fit into her new environment, a local newspaper reports.

LaCallia Wiggins was approached in August by a group who told her she'd been a vampire queen in a past life – a fact they could deduce from the shape of her ears. They told her they just needed to awaken her and she could be a queen again.

Over the next two months she hung out with the group – mostly composed of teenagers, but led by a man in his 20s – in their underground hideout, where they cut themselves, drank each other's blood and sucked each other's wounds. They also discussed an impending battle between good and evil.

On Halloween LaCallia was reported missing by her mother, having run away from home that morning. When she was found by police that evening, she said she was off to Springfield cemetery for her "awakening" ceremony: "You have to drink the blood of a vampire and they have to drink your blood".

On returning home she hissed at her mother and stepfather, calling them "humans", as well as hissing at the family dog. The newspaper reports that she has since calmed down and has been seeing a counsellor. However, LaCallia will not sleep with the light off and says she was received death threats from the vampires warning her that her tongue will be cut out.

While local police say they haven't noticed a problem with such a group in the area, the newspaper says that many elements of the girl's story check out. For instance, there is evidence of a dwelling in the drainage tunnel where LaCallia claims the vampires gathered.