Elise Dallemagne was found dead on Koh Tao, Thailand. Photo / Facebook
Elise Dallemagne was found dead on Koh Tao, Thailand. Photo / Facebook
A Belgium backpacker reportedly found half eaten by lizards in paradise dubbed "Death Island" was living with a self-proclaimed guru in what has been described by some as a cult.
Elise Dallemange, 30, was found in the jungle on April 28 "partially eaten by animals, wrapped in T-shirts", according to local reports.
She had been travelling around Asia and included Australia and New Zealand in her itinerary before finding herself with an Agama yoga community.
"My daughter had been travelling for two and a half years, in India, Australia and New Zealand and always back again to Thailand," Elise's mum Michele van Egten said.
In a Facebook post on a Thai community Facebook page, Michele pleaded "please if you know something tell us".
"She lived there for months with Guru Raaman Andreas from Germany and two female friends."
The island of Koh Tao, otherwise known as Turtle Island, is a scuba diver's dream, and thanks to Sairee Beach, on the west coast of the Thai island, tourism has flourished in recent years.
But behind the beauty lies a macabre secret where local mafia allegedly rule, backpackers flock to party and, according to one report, there are "enough deaths and suspicious disappearances to warrant the island its own CSI franchise".
Elise had been living at a yoga and tantra retreat on neighbouring full-moon party island Koh Phangan.
"Mystic sexual practises like Tantra are a favourite of the islanders, who is describe it as 'a powerful union' which boosts 'spiritual evolution' in each partner," writes the Daily Star.
Elise Dallemagne. Photo / Facebook
Her mother's suggestion that Ms Dallemange was a member of a sect of what has been described as a "cult movement" in the form of controversial Indian "guru" and alleged miracle worker, Sathya Sai Baba, has put pressure on police to investigate.
According to its website, the Sathya Sai International Organisation is spread across 126 countries and includes approximately 2000 "Sathya Sai Centres". It is said to have six million followers worldwide.
Followers believed he had supernatural powers and could perform "miraculous healings" using holy ash. They use song and meditation to "control their passions".
He was one of India's most powerful spiritual leaders when he was alive.
Others believed he was a conjurer in disguise and Sai Baba was plagued with accusations of sexual abuse and fraud, which he denied.
Elise's death comes as a 30-year-old woman, a devotee of Sai Baba, was found hanging from the ceiling of a classroom run by the Sathya Sai Central Trust in India this month.
In released files, a CIA investigation into the quirky personality in the 1990s concluded the popularity of Sai Baba's movement "may even become another worldwide religion".
"He says he is the Biblical second coming. While such claims may be incredible, most of his devotees believe him," the report states.
Sai Baba died at the age of 84 in 2011, but Ms Dallemange was said to be living with the "self-proclaimed guru" Raaman Andreas before her death.
Michele is now "looking for answers".
Followers believed Sathya Sai Baba had supernatural powers and could perform "miraculous healings". Photo /
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Thai police have been forced to reinvestigate Ms Dallemange's case after she became the seventh tourist found dead on Thailand's Koh Tao island in the last three years.
Earlier, an officer from Koh Tao police said there were no questions to answer regarding Elise's death.
The policeman, who would not elaborate, said: "This news is so old already, it has been misunderstood. There is no more to say."
The circumstances around Ms Dallemange's death have been met with some conjecture, with police claiming she took her own life.
Police told Elise's mother that her daughter had committed suicide about three days before she was found and denied her body had ever been eaten by animals or wrapped up.
However no suicide note or message was recovered and Michele is desperate for information surrounding the mysterious death.
Koh Tao police chief Pol. Lt Colonel Chokchai Sutthimek on Thursday confirmed the tourist's death but said Elise was "found with a rope tied to her neck from a tree in the jungle and evidence showed that she could have died between April 23-24".
Elise's devastated mother revealed she does not believe the police account of events - as families fear the circumstances surrounding their loved ones' deaths are being covered up by authorities.
"I do not believe what the police have told us. We fear somebody else was involved," Elise's mum Michele said.
"We're more and more thinking that the police information is not the right explanation." The devastated mum told Der Farang magazine that she has still not been delivered an autopsy report which she was promised.
"Too many things show us that someone is involved. Police told us that Elise hanged herself up in the jungle. I cannot accept why my daughter should have killed herself.
"She was normal in the last conversation and no signs of depression were visible. I don't know why she would have booked a transfer to Bangkok and then went into the jungle to commit suicide.
Phone records show that Elise, who had a degree in medicine from the European Institute Of Medicine Natural in Brussels, called her mother on Skype on April 17 and was planning to return to Belgium.
Though unconfirmed reports suggested Ms Dallemange might have needed to flee the island quickly, in fear of her life.
She left on a Ferry April 19, but it is not known why she alighted on Koh Tao instead of continuing on to the mainland.
Michele has claimed her daughter used a fake name of "Elise Dubuis" to check into the Triple B Bungalows next to Mae Head Pier on Koh Tao as she travelled via the island on a ferry bound for Chumphon province on her route back to capital Bangkok.
An unexplained fire that evening burned down three bamboo huts, including the one Elise had been staying in. Police blame a candle that was likely in her room but did not collect any evidence after the fact because the owner of the resort would not file a complaint.
Elise fled 2.5km through the jungle to Tanote Bay and took a room at the Poseidon Resort where she booked another ticket for Bangkok leaving on April 24.
Eight days later when locals living near the island's idyllic Tanote Bay became suspicious of a monitor lizard going back and fourth into the jungle they discovered Elise's half-eaten body on May 27 among rocks behind the Tanote Family Bay Resort.
Elise's bags mysteriously appear to have been loaded onto the ferry she was due to take, and arrived at Chumphon province where she should have caught a bus to the capital.
But Elise had disappeared. She was later identified by dental records and previous X-rays. Her body was cremated at the Belgian embassy in Bangkok in the "presence of embassy staff", according to the Koh Tao police chief.
