LETTERS ABOUT OCCULT BRING QUESTIONS FROM PARENTS, LITTLE MORE

A supposed vampire cult discovered Monday by several parents may actually be a group of youngsters with too much free time, said school and police officials.

Gerald Richards, principal at Central Junior High School, said he was contacted by the parents of two students Monday regarding some correspondence found at their homes. The letters, which were discovered over the weekend, made references to occult practices and used special names for the writers.

"If I were a parent I'd be concerned about it too," Richards said. "I didn't read all of the letters, but I gather that the parents read them and pieced some things together."

School resource officer, city police Cpl. Barry Hovis, is working to determine whether police involvement into the incident is necessary. As many as 13 students have been identified in the letters as being involved in the group, although whether their involvement included any criminal action is undetermined.

"We're asking for copies of the letters so we can see if there's any criminal law violations, but I think this is more a parent-child issue discipline-wise," Hovis said. "You can belong to any organization, cult or gang. It's when there are criminal violations involved that I get involved."

Cape Girardeau police Cpl. Kevin Orr said police received several calls Tuesday requesting information about a meeting between parents and officers regarding the incident, but no meeting had been scheduled. He said he was unaware of any vampire cults existing locally, although several people have been arrested locally in past years who were involved in occult and satanic worship.

In 1996, four teen-agers in Eustis, Fla., were accused of killing the parents of one member of their self-proclaimed vampire cult. Police found a "V" surrounded by circular marks burned into one victim's body as a cult symbol. According to investigators, members of the cult took drugs, engaged in group sex and drank one another's blood.

Richards said he understood why the parents of local students were concerned but believed there was little danger of an incident at the school. Students are allowed very little unsupervised time during the school day in order to prevent delinquent or injurious behavior, he said.

"We know if we give kids much unsupervised time at school we're in trouble," he said. "It's the small number of people who are isolated who sometimes get involved in things for attention or as a way of getting noticed."

Young people also have a perpetual interest in occult practices that resurfaces in various forms each year, said Richards. Student involvement rarely escalates beyond mild interest in those activities, and that interest can be monitored if parents supervise their children.

"The idea of cults, interest in Ouija boards and witchcraft has been around as long as I've been in education," he said. "I think the real key is parents need to be involved in their kids' lives."