To his congregation in Jackson, Mississippi, Pastor Caleb Whitmore was the embodiment of righteousness.

Charismatic, clean-cut, and only 34, he led the youth ministry at New Light Revival Church, preaching about salvation, purity, and resisting sin.

Parents trusted him with their teenagers. Elders saw him as a rising star. His sermons were passionate, powerful, and packed.

But beneath the sanctuary where hundreds gathered each Sunday, evil was rotting the foundation—literally.

Between 2017 and 2019, three young women from the congregation vanished:

Rachel Moore, 22 — last seen leaving a church Bible study.

Kendra Lewis, 19 — disappeared walking home from a worship service.

Vanessa Cruz, 25 — a church volunteer who never returned from an errand run.

Police opened missing persons cases. The church held vigils. Caleb Whitmore prayed from the pulpit, calling for God’s protection and healing.

But behind his solemn prayers, he knew exactly where they were.

A Storm Breaks — And So Does the Secret

On a muggy August evening in 2022, a violent thunderstorm slammed into Jackson, causing flash flooding across the city. Water filled the basement of New Light Revival Church, shorting circuits and blowing out a wall panel in the utility room.

Behind that panel, cleanup workers made a disturbing discovery: a hidden steel door, sealed with a biometric lock. When authorities arrived and forced it open, what they found would shock even veteran detectives.

A soundproof underground dungeon—built beneath the very sanctuary where Whitmore preached—containing: Three separate cells, each with a small bed, bucket toilet, and bolted chain, Hidden cameras, Rations and medical supplies, Handwritten “love letters” from Whitmore addressed to each woman, Religious texts, marked up with disturbing annotations, Evidence of years of captivity.

And most importantly: the three missing women, malnourished but alive.

Investigators were stunned.

The women told detectives they had been manipulated, abducted, and imprisoned—each one believing at first that they were in a “spiritual retreat” or “quarantine,” before realizing the horrifying truth.

Whitmore allegedly used his position, charm, and biblical rhetoric to lure them in — then drugged and isolated them one by one. Once trapped, he controlled every aspect of their lives: food, light, clothing, even prayer schedules. Any defiance was met with punishment — silence, starvation, or scripture twisted into shame.

He told each woman they were “chosen by God” to be his. He said the world outside was fallen, dangerous. That if they ever tried to escape, they’d be damned.

For years, they lived in darkness, hearing his voice every Sunday preaching just feet above them.

A Community Shattered

When Caleb Whitmore was arrested, the church was in disbelief. Congregants wept. Some refused to believe it, claiming it was a setup. Others were enraged, feeling betrayed by the man they had trusted with their faith — and their children.

Searches of Whitmore’s home and computer revealed blueprints of the dungeon, journal entries detailing his “divine mission,” and communications with a fringe online cult that glorified spiritual captivity.

His trial is scheduled for early 2025. He faces charges including kidnapping, false imprisonment, aggravated assault, and multiple counts of sexual abuse.

The three survivors, who had been declared legally dead or lost, are now undergoing therapy and have remained largely out of the public eye. Through a joint statement released by their legal team, they said: “He preached about God’s love while chaining us below his feet. But we never stopped praying — and we never gave up hope. We survived.”

He stood before a congregation every week, clothed in righteousness and speaking of redemption. But beneath his sermons was a dungeon, and inside it — three lives stolen. The case of Pastor Caleb Whitmore is more than just a scandal. It’s a reminder that evil can wear a collar, quote scripture, and hide in plain sight.

Some monsters don’t hide in shadows. Some preach in the light.