Greece Ousts Total Of 25 Colo. Cult Members

Rocky Mountain News, December 8, 1999
By Charlie Brennan

- The number of Colorado doomsday cult members deported from Greece has risen to 25 and may go higher.

Still, authorities report having no hint as to the whereabouts of 45-year-old Monte Kim Miller, the leader of the group called Concerned Christians.

"According to the police headquarters in Athens, Greece, the number of those deported so far on the basis of expired travel documents has reached 25," said Dimitris Gemelos, press consular for the Greek mission to the United Nations. "Included in this number are nine children."

Gemelos said estimates are that at least 60 more cult members may still be in Greece.

Friends and relatives of the 80-plus Concerned Christians who vanished from Colorado in September 1998 fear their loved ones could come to harm under Miller's influence.

Miller, a former Denver resident, has claimed to speak with the voice of God and has predicted he would die as a divine martyr in the streets of Jerusalem in the final days of this month just before Jesus Christ's return.

Greece began deporting the first of the Concerned Christians on Sunday. They arrived at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport that night. Different officials have put the number on that flight as 16 or 18. Gemelos said another four two adults and two children were returned to the United States on Tuesday. A third flight Wednesday brings the total number of deportees to 25, he said.

There appears to be no organized effort to find Miller. "I don't think they (Greek officials) are looking to behead their leader or anything," said Gemelos.

Miller's whereabouts is also of no pressing interest to the FBI. "The FBI is not actively looking for Mr. Miller," said Jane Quinby, a special agent in Denver.

Christopher Lamora, a press officer for the Bureau of Consular Affairs at the Department of State, said the department is unaware of Miller's whereabouts _ and doesn't see a need to know. "The Department of State has no reason to be searching for this individual," Lamora said. There have been persistent but unconfirmed reports that Miller is in Britain. Eileen Barker, a professor of sociology at the London School of Economics, has had contact with Concerned Christians members. But she doesn't know where Miller is.

And, she said, she doubts he or his followers pose a threat. "If you read the theology, Miller is quite clear that until Jesus returns, they should not do anything," Barker said. "It's only when Jesus returns which is an event I presume will be very obvious to you and me. Until then, I'm not particularly worried. But one never knows."

Gershom Gorenberg, senior editor for The Jerusalem Report and a resident of Jerusalem, has been following the Concerned Christians closely for more than a year. He also cautioned against assuming the worst about Miller. "Nobody from the outside has talked to this guy in a long time," Gorenberg said of Miller. "We don't know what's going through his mind."