Naman Shrestha
In the episode titled ‘The Doomsday Cat Cult’ of ‘The Curious Case of…,’ the focus is on the self-proclaimed prophet named Sheryl Ruthven, who is alleged to be the leader of a cult run under the guise of a church and cat rescue business. She is reported to make her followers believe that cats have supernatural powers and souls that could help them survive the Apocalypse. The documentary also delves deep into the tactics she allegedly used to lead her followers toward financial ruin and break their familial bonds.
Sheryl Ruthven Was the Owner of a Church and Cat Rescue Business
In 2001, Sheryl Ruthven, formerly known as Sheryl Walker, founded her own church called Freedom Fire Ministries after the church she went to split. With the support of most of the congregation, she ran her church and made her followers believe that she was in direct contact with God. According to her former followers’ claims, anybody who disagreed with what she preached or said was bound to get banished from the church. Thus, they were allegedly forced to conform to her belief system and prophecies, which also included aspects of other faiths and spiritual traditions.
Reports suggest that her church focused on Jewish holidays and stopped celebrating Christmas and Easter altogether. A few years later, the church group was renamed to Oneness Foundation and relocated to the former Masonic Hall in Blaine, Washington. By then, she had allegedly claimed herself to be a messiah figure and made her followers drink communion juice mixed with a drip of her blood. On the other hand, she preached veganism to them and taught them to volunteer at local animal shelters to serve Mother Nature.
When Sheryl’s cat, Eva, passed away unexpectedly, she was devastated. Not long after, she started her own cat rescue business called Eva’s Eden and claimed that cats were supernatural beings in disguise. In order to get her followers to believe in the alleged powers of cats, Sheryl also told them that cats would prevent them from any harm during the Apocalypse. While most of the followers described Eva’s Eden as a non-profit cat rescue organization that helped dozens of kittens find home, the others claimed that it was a religious cult led by Sheryl. According to several of her former followers, she claimed to be a reincarnated messiah figure of Divine Magdalene.
When Conflict Arose Within Her Organization, Sheryl Ruthven Went on the Run
Given the growing conflict within her group, Sheryl decided to move to Tennessee and told her followers to stay prepared for the looming Apocalypse. Soon, she and her followers wasted no time in establishing a small yet functional shelter in downtown Columbia, Tennessee. They even purchased an air-conditioned trailer for hosting cat adoption events. In the process, she allegedly was responsible for destroying many families and draining people of their bank balance.
Around the mid 2010s, various former followers of Sheryl joined forces and created a Facebook Page called “Is There a Cult in Columbia, TN?,” through which they wanted to expose the truth about the alleged cult. They shared the personal experiences they had while being associated with The Oneness Foundation. After several years of rivalry between the two groups of people — the believers of Sheryl and the non-believers — the founder of Eve’s Eden seemingly went on the run.
Apart from the turmoil within her group, Sheryl reportedly also had issues with her former husband, Marc Walker, whom she accused of abuse. Although he was arrested, his charges were later dropped. They filed for divorce, and Marc went on to remarry a woman named Mary. They also met up with estranged family members of many of Sheryl’s followers. According to reports, her shelter was run by her daughter-in-law, Nicole Walker, when she moved to Columbia, Kentucky.
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