over the years, a number of conspiracy theories have flourished. who pulled the trigger? were the russians behind it? was the cia involved? there's one conspiracy theory you may not know about. the belief president kennedy and his son, john f. kennedy jr., who died in a plane crash in 1999, are alive and hiding. it may sound preposterous but there are those who absolutely believed this. a group led by a qanon viewer, some have abandoned their spouses, parents, grandchildren. for the past year, cnn's donie o'sullivan has been investigating what's behind this conspiracy. over the next hour, he takes us across the country to meet the believers, confront their leader, and spend time with the confused, frustrated, helpless families who just want their loved ones to come home. >> god bless america! >> word on the street is junior, jfk jr., will show up and introduce his parents. >> you're expecting jfk jr.? >> absolutely. >> the same time of day that jfk sr. was shot here in this spot. >> any minute now, the big reveal. >> then after that? >> he'll probably be the vice president with trump. . >> i belelieve todayay is going be b biblical. >> you don't believe jfk is dead? >> no. >> this woman, pamela, calls herself nanny coates. when i met herer in n dallas sh toldld me she left her familily louiuisiana 16 mononths ago bec of h her belelief in this. >> so whatat wasas youour questu pointeted over there? >> jfk got assasassinated just few yayards from h here. > so did d jesus chchrist. > what abouout jfk jr.? >> i belelieve he's s alive. >> so hehe dididn't die in a pl crash?h? >> no,o, he didndn't. >> you t think that t was ststa somehow? >> yes, itit was. it's a a war. it's a war agagainst good and evilil. they've bebeen trying g to kill bloodline of jesus christ forever. >> a bloodline? >> a bloodline, yes. >> reporter: these women also believe in president kennedy's' resurrrrection. >> abrahamam lincoln w was a a descendent of jesus christ's bloodline? >> right. >> then you would have your connection with donald trump, jfk jr., and -- am i forgetting anybody? >> well, michael flynn. >> geneneral flynnnn. >> elvlvis preresley. > cororrect. >> t they alall l come from m t blbloodline. >> repororter: j fchfk was a d . so i thihink peoeople arare con why y all these trumump suppppo love jfk so much? >> well,l, becauause t the syst riggeded. there'e's democratat, republicit dodoesn't matttter.. it's's all aboutut values. >> the common belief is that president john f. kennedy knew what the deep state was up to, soso for that t he was a assass. thisis is hard f for people e t belilieve becaususe kennedy y w democrat, qanon is a far-right group. but kennedy was also an extrememely populalar reporter. >> repororter: she's's working book, the devastation conspiracy theories have caused for families across america. the jfk conspiracy is fringe even in conspiracy circles but it led to all these people showing up in dallas waiting for a kennedy. >> jfk jr. wanted to carry on the fight against the deep state, so he partnered with donald trump all these years ago and started plotting. in '99 -- >> slow news date. >> he feared for his life so he faked his december and laid low for two decades. the hope is jfk jr. will eventualally re-emererge in n p and take o on the whitite househ donaldld trump. >> reporter: so jfk was a democrcrat. are e you all democratats? >> n nope. > nope. >> no,o, i'm not. >> not a republican either. i'm a god-fearing patriot. >> i think for people who have really rallied around the jfk jr. belief, qanon is less an ideology than identity. these beliefs are part of who they a are, and facts can'n't ce that. it's more e important t to beloo the e group thanan to bebelievee truth.h. >> jfk is s the e second comomi jesusus christ. . >> how l long have y you believ that for? >> sincece i first started listening to michael around april of 2021. >> when you spell out 120, it becomes 141, president 41. ♪ happy birththday mr. presiden♪ >> c can you telell me about th first time you heard -- > i don't k know how to expl the wordrds, put it t into word. it wasas just likeke t this fee > i can't explalain it. it's just t soothing.. liststening to h him for houour know? anand fall asleep to i it. it wasas calming. and it's's not a a voioice j ju telling stories. you know it's true. >> jfk is your president. trump's also your president. junior's your vice president. jfk is the second coming of jesus christ. you're about to see him. >> reporter: that's the voice of this man. >> how much of this gathering today are you responsible for? >> 98% of it. >> reporter: michael properties man. to his followers known as negative 48. >> negative 48? do i refer to you as negative 48? >> that's fine. >> what's that mean? >> 48 is evil. negative evil, negative 48. >> reporter: those numbers are geomatria, an ancient practice that assigns a numerical value to each letter of the alphabet. >> nothing can stop what is coming. it comeses to 31316. john 3:16. >> what is it about michaeael prprattsman? >> he's a a teacher. god uses him to teach his perfect language. a is 1, b is 2, c is 3. >> reporter: michael prattsman convinced his followers that ge geomatria can reveal god's secrets. he's used it to build up tens of thousands of followers on social media. in 2021 when he called his followers to dallas, m many bebelieved they'd see e the ret of jfkfk or his soson, j jfk jr >> h he said, who's comingng to dallas?? i lolooked at my daughteter, i . i'm gogoing to d dallas. i wentnt home ththat nigight an my husbaband. he was watatching tv.. he w was watching cncnn. i told himim, i said, i'i'm goio dallllas. he goes, what? i'i'm going toto dalallas. for whatat? i don't knknow, , i'm gogoing g dallas.. i actualally did say, i know i' going to dallas to meet jesus christ is what i told him. and he said, you're nuts. >> what does it mean to be a part of this group? >> it means everything. i i would leavave my f family f months foror it. it's's everythining. i i have two g grandchildrdren adore and love. they're very young. and i've missed a couple of birthdays. >> reporter: after neither jfk none his son materialized in dallas in 2021, most people went home and went on with their lives. but some stayed. >> he was only supposed to be in dallas for a few dayays? >> yeah. > reporter: leavingng behind heartbroken families. >> it's true torture. no one should know this pain, nobody. >> if you don't personally have someone close to you who has been sucked into this, you just don't know the pain it's causing. we as a country, i think, have looked at qanon as this big joke. it is insane. but there's a lot of pain behind the insanity that has been happening in the darkness. >> reporter: the pain when a loved one gets lost t down the rabbit holole. >> one timime we went to play tennisis and he gogot a a phone. jasoson believeded it wawas jun >> j jfk? >> jfk jr. calling him. and ththis was mayaybe a week ke he w went to dalallas. >> see, you'rere plalaying tenn with youour brbrother. >> yes. . >> he gets a a c call. >> cororrect. > he thinksks it's jfk jr.? >> he does. >> at that point, like there is something seriously wrong here? >> yes, but what do you do? the best is yet to come. kennedys 97! >> there's people will say they're all-in, but some had to go home and some didn't believe. but we're all in. >> i had never heaeard the word qanon or the p phrase qanon n u a few weeks before h he went to dallas. i had never heard of this group. >> erika vygrass' brother jason went to dallas and went months without coming home. >> my name is jason. >> jason and erika. >> know each other existed until 2010 when erika, who was adopted, tracked down her birth family. and so at age 39, you found your long-lost brother? >> i did.. >> a and he e became onene of y best fririends? > yeah. he -- he d did.. >> r reporter: jasason, anan aie veteran, moved to pittsburgh to be c closer to hisis newfound sister. there, he openeded his own constrtruction bususiness. >> it was s like i'd known him whole e life.. we a ate dininner r togethther. i woululd say y at least s six a week. and we d did everyththing toget. > reporter:r: what kind of g was hehe? >> the b best personon i ever m. hilaririous. a great friend. amazing uncle. he was the best of everything. >> repeporter: so what happened? >> as s the story goes, my youngestst daughter r said someg alonong ththe linenes of, yeahaf mymy biggestst fears is i'm goio get snatcheded off the s street trafficked. and he was like, what are you talking about? anand i thinink k that set him path of finding g out what w wa goining on. >> reporter: it t isn't cleaear jason had alreready been s searg conspiracy theories online before this, but erika says her brother was soon sucked into a qanon universe that includes the popular belief that celebrities and politicians, usually democrats, are involved in child trafficking. the claims are made with zero evidence. >> child trafficking is a very, very real problem in this country. but qanon has latched on to those fears and explploited d t and dramamatized thehem for iti gain. >> reporteter: soon, e erika s her brotheher was fully down th rabbit holole. >> h he starteted to get investn polititics. afteter the 2020 election, it jt flared. it just started getting weirder. it was nonstop. it was all seriousus and doom a gloom.m. the thoughght that the natioion guarard was goining g to takake anand you haveve to prepepare. you u have to o have food fofor on endnd. and d he just was consumed by these dreadful scenarios with the government. >> reporter: in october 2021, jason told his sister he was going to dallas. >> i didn't realize how involved he had become with many of these people in his online life. >> kennedy, kennedy! > it starteted very smamall.. kindnd of after the electition. afteter trump's electionon wasa stolenen, you knowow, as t they. becacause she e referred to hih the creaeator. > reporter:r: this s woman, asked d me not to o use her nam toldld us how w her mom, a schoololteacher, g got sucked d. it starts for r your momom a afe 202020 electction. she believeves it was ststolen. and then it goes allll thehe w her believeving that jfk, jfk j, is goioing to show bacack upup dallasas? > y yeah. that one honestltly cacame kind quickly.y. it startrted off w with, o oh, goining to come back, and we're meeting g him at deaealey plazad he's g going to rurun for prese inin 2024, he e never died, it a body double, n now donald d trus jfk jr. in a mask. it was just -- it just got crazier and crazier. >> reporter: her mom began traveling to spend time wiwith prprattsman's s group. >> your paparents lilive a few s from d dallas. your momom startrts cocoming ba forth from here. tell me what happens. >> yeah, she started going back and forth. it only really last the a couple of weeks. she started taking time off of work and my dad was not super concerned at first. he's like, whatever you got to do, go do it. she made friends, i guess. and then by i think the third visit that she took, she didn't come back. wewe didn't hear from her. yeah, it w was about - -- - pro ababout a weekek that we didn'nr from her beforore we startrted calllling the popolice. > reporter:r: after mulultip calllls to p police, her famami eventualally went t to court. >> and we e got emergency y guarardianship of her, a and th went and they tookok h her to a psychihiatric hospspital. >> reporteter: more ththan a ye later -- h how is she e nonow? > she's f fine nonow. she wawants nothining to do wiw. she'e's just realllly y embarra thatat it all hahappened andnd shshe let hersrself get susucke it. she's glad she got some help, and she's doing much better. >> reporter: her mother is home. erika's brother, jason, still attends trump rallies with pratattsman's followers.s. the maman standiding next toto his famimily is not so lucky. >> which o one is that? >> leses. >> repeporter: u.s.s. marine ven clause ricichter wenent to d da too.o. do you rememember the e last ti yoyou saw klauaus befofore he lr dallas?? >> yeah. we sat out there in the livingn room. we sat for most of the night, talking. i don't t know why, bubut i was as little leery about it, maybe you u shouldn't t go at t all, know. > reporter:r: klaus looooked his mom hehere i in sarasota, florida, b but when hehe didn'te hohome from dallas, , his famim bebegan to worryry. >> i thinknk with all l of us,s titime progressed, the longer h was gone, we all started to get a little more concerned as to what was going on. >> reporter: klaus stayed in dallas and began traveling the country with michael prattsman's group, going to a series of trump rallies. photos and videos suggest he was having a good time, like here, dancing in front of prattsman. but his sister, carmen, says at one point he began to express concncerns. > he gogoes, , somethining's right hehere. anand i go, wewell, what are yo goining to do? do you want to get extricated? let's get you out. he's like -- he goes, just give me a day or two. >> reporter: klaus richter never did leave the group. april 14, 2022, his sister, carmenen, , got a cacall f from prattsman. >> there was an accident, and klaus is in the hospital. and i'm like, what? >> there is going to be a power line down. >> i've got one confirmed injury. >> reporter: klaus was a passenger in this vehicle. the driver was this man, another member of prattsman's group. >> what happened? >> mr. richter, what's your middle name, sir? >> reporter: the richter family rushed from their homes here to this hospital in mobile, alabama. when they eventually got here, ththey were nonot abable to see. >> one of the individuals from the group claimed to be his daughter. >> reporter: that woman began making decisions on klaus' behalf, according to m medical records provided t to cnn by hi famimily. >> w when we e explained to o t hospital t that he d did notot daughter, they said, yes, it's his daughter. mom basically explained to them, he doesn't have any children. eventuallyly, we gotot up there. it was very disturbing. >> and you're a nurse? >> yes, correct. i knew automatically that it was a very grave situation. hehe was -- - pretty much the w leleft side ofof his body y was crushed.d. >> repeporter: dayays later, k wawas dead. his obituary notes how he loved god and america and was a caretaker for his mother, always helping as needed. >> i love you, my son. i love you. >> reporter: a grand jury in alabama voted in april 2023 to close the investigation into the crash, but the richthter familis still lolooking for answerers a the circumumstances surrououing klklaus' deathth and hisis trer at thehe hospital,l, includingn someone e falsely claimingng to his daughthter couldld make mem decisisions on hisis behalf. >> when you lose somebody, especially somebody unexpectedly, you want answers. >> i i hope theyey pay for w why did. >> reporter: we asked the university of south alabama health, which runs this hospital, for answers. they say they investigated this incident and found the hospital had acted appropriately. ♪ we are the world ♪ ♪ we are the children ♪ >> repororter: but how do peopl get suckcked into this w world? >> rololling, yeah? > yeah. >> michaelel, how are e you? >> are youou a con manan? >> no.o. whores, globalist pimps,s, g ge thatat out of mymy face. shshut the doooor. the power goes out and we still have wifi to do our homework. and that's a good thing? great in my book! who are you? no power? no problem. introducing storm-ready wifi. now you can stay reliably connected through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery back-up to keep you online. only from xfinity. home of the xfinity 10g network. ♪♪ >> i have 1 1,700 notes in h and ththis is whwhere i do alll calclculations.. my born n name comomes to o 182. >> okakay. > you know?w? >> s so what doeoes that m mean? > e every alphahabet lettere codeded. >> e every cult has s these e t that, from the outside, seem crazy. they have the secret codes. these easy ideas to complex questions are very appealing when you are emotionally vulnerable. >> reporter: diane runs antidote, an organization that helps people get out of cults. diane knows a lot about cults because she says she was in one. >> i i w went t from beieing a teenager to being a disciple of the second coming of christ. >> reporter: she was in the monys, better known as the unification church. they believed their leader, sung young moon, was jesus christ. from the mansons -- >> it's my world. i got rights that my fathers died for, that my uncles bled for, that my kin and my kind died for all down the road. >> reporter: to jonestown to heaven's gate. >> if you follow me, i can give you the good news of the kingdom of heaven. >> reporter: there's been no shortage of cults in america through the decades. they've all had leaders who present themselves as messiahs, offering their followers watched biblical promises. >> stop the war in vietnam! >> reporter: cults can be appealing during times of tumult where people are looking for answers. experts say covid-d-19 was -- >> the perfect storm. there's a pandemic, and we're told to stay inside, and we don't know what's going on. >> 7/16/99 was jfk jr.'s plane crash said. 7 could be 61. 61 is red tie trump wewears. 122 2 equals jfkfk they are e a. >> can you check what my name is? >> of course, let's do it. >> my name is donie -- > 47. >> okay.y. >> johohn is 47. okay? sesee? >> so the significicance of mym nunumbers addiding up to john'n- >> it t just s shows howow powe the languagege is.s. it shohows o our cononnection wd or witith jesus christ or with e blbloodline ofof the g good sid. >> negatative e 48, geomatrea, s languauage. >> i is it mentitioned in ththe? >> good question, i'm not t sur >> i'm notot positive.e. i don't t know that. >> how do o we know itit's god' hang waj? >> it't's just -- - it -- it's mathematicically imposossible t have a all those c coincidencec. >> h human beings s have psycholological painin of diffe kikinds. whenen they feelel lost inin th world, it's relieveved by these easy answewers to life's's hard questions. by these groups that c claim th they're gogoing to buiuild a wh new worlrld. >> whenever he talked to me, he had to go far awaway from m the hehe can actuaually tatalk. >> so you'u're saying klaus wou be calling you -- >> he hahad to make e sure thah could geget away frorom them to talk. > get away y from who?? >> the whole group. >> okay, l let's go o home. oftentimimes, , family memember considerered the enenemy. becaususe they're e the bibigge threat. anand itit's d disloyal to be t to t the enemy. >> i got cut off for eight weeks,s, so inin the very begin, he wouldldn't call me. he wououldn't text me. and i'm m sure it wawas cacalcu. how else do o you gain controlo someonone's life unless you kee them from their life? >> truth wins the day, 215. >> michael prattsman builds an audience on his anything 48 channel, on the social media messaging app telegram. at one point he had 80,000 followers and was a prolific user of the app's audio stream feature where he preached for hours at a time. >> i just go simple. general patton is trump's father. and his uncle is jfk. and that means jfk jr. and trump are cousins. >> i think a l lot of timemes, pepeople just t looking on will, i don't see what people see in this guy, he just looks like an idiot. you know, people say that about cultlt leaders all the timime. but therere's, i'm sure, some et of chaharisma he has w when his talking with his followers that just makes him seem, like, lofty. >> john's first 15 words that night came to 1,087. zero means nothing. 187. >> and so interesting, andnd he knowows so much.h. >> prattsmsman's groupup has spa lot of t time e here at the hya regency y hotel in dallas. whenen is kekennedy y sho