'Joy Morgan's murder case was underreported - now I'm helping her family get answers'

When Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff was scrolling through Twitter, it was Joy Morgan’s smile in a missing person poster shared by Hertfordshire Police that caught her eye.

Charlie, who was the editor-in-chief at Gal Dem at the time, said: “There was something about Joy's picture that really struck me. She was smiling broadly in the picture, and she looked like someone who could be one of the Gal Dem.”

20-year-old Joy Morgan disappeared in 2018 after becoming a devout member of a controversial church named Israel United in Christ (IUIC). Later, Joy’s body was discovered in woodland in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, on October 5 2019 - two months after married father Shofah-El Israel was jailed for life for her murder.

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In 2019, the IUIC told the BBCthat when Joy went missing "all indications pointed to her leaving the church or wanting time away, not being in danger". They explained that Israel was no longer a member of the church and that it doesn't address criticisms or allegations made by ex-members.

The church said Israel's "conduct throughout the investigation and trial has been nothing short of disgraceful and is not in line with church principles".

"We will make this clear, though, Israel United In Christ cares strongly about the wellbeing and safety of all our members and constantly strive to ensure improved safety procedures are in place," they added.

Describing what happened as an "isolated incident", they concluded: "Regardless, we want the world to know that we seek to follow the laws of the land when not conflicting with the laws of the most high."

Joy's story was widely under-reported and mystery still surrounds the murder of a midwifery student by a fellow member of her church after an inquest failed to identify the medical cause of death.

In 2023, Missing People’s Missing Ethnicity report found that 23% of episodes in which a Black adult had been reported missing were for longer than 48 hours compared to 17% of cases in which a White adult had been reported missing.

They also found the data showed that people from Black and Asian communities were less likely to be found by the police, and less likely to be recorded as being at risk, than White people.

Award-winning writer and editor, Charlie had seen this first hand in Joy’s case, and told The Mirror that there was a “massive gap” between when she was last seen and when she was reported missing.

“It was quite unusual, especially for a young woman, for there to be such a large gap of six weeks,” she said. “All these questions percolating around and quite quickly, the question of the church started coming up again and again.”

Resource at Gal Dem, which closed publication in March 2023, was low and a lack of financial backing meant that Charlie wasn’t able to act as quickly as she’d have hoped. But six years on from Joy’s death, she’s determined to get to the bottom of her case.

In The Missing Sister Podcast, Charlie takes listeners on a six-part journey, detailing her investigation into Joy’s disappearance and death. When she finally got the commission to make this podcast, Joy's family gave Charlie their blessing and had one clear message: “The church needs to be taken down. They ruined our lives.”

The podcast spotlights never-heard-before testimonies from Joy’s friends and family to illustrate the devastating impact of the church.

The investigation reaches its peak when Charlie travels to the US to learn more about IUIC’s origins. She attempts to confront the head of the church, an elusive former NYPD detective named Bishop Nathanyel Ben Israel, about Joy’s murder.

“I really want people to listen to that portion in the US,” Charlie said. “I’d been warned a huge amount before I went out basically to not go, and that it was going to be extremely dangerous. It would be a very vulnerable place to find myself.”

IUIC's French branch, which was recently banned in France in a decree signed by President Emmanuel Macron, has been accused of being violently misogynistic, homophobic, Islamophobic, anti-Semitic, and anti-white.

The organisation is part of the broader Hebrew Israelite movement, which claims that Black, Native American and Hispanic people are the true descendants of the biblical Israelites. IUIC encourages followers to turn away from mainstream society, to find salvation, and family, within its ranks.

Charlie’s experience with the US IUIC branch ultimately helped her understand the deeper story of Hebrew Israelites. The Mirror has reached out to the IUIC for comment.

From the moment she began live blogging updates on Joy’s case in 2019, to now hosting The Missing Sister podcast, Charlie has made significant efforts to get real answers for Joy’s family.

In 2024, she wrote a report for Reuters about how the narrative surrounding missing person cases is skewed and “heavily influenced by media biases that favour certain demographics over others and outdated practices that put profit and page clicks over people.”

Discussing victimhood now, Charlie said: “As journalists, we should be critical of falling into these patterns of looking for the perfect victim. We have a big responsibility on our shoulders, and we need to think super critically and carefully about our headlines, our language, etc.”

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She’s partnered with The Mirror’s Missed campaign to ensure “better protections of people who go missing”. The campaign aims to pressure the government into publishing a new missing children and adults strategy, invest in prevention for those at most risk of going missing and offer support to every missing child and adult on their return.

Having explored victimhood and the improvements the media need to make when covering missing cases, Charlie felt the Missed campaign was a breath of fresh air. “I was thrilled to see the Missed campaign,” she said. “I love that there's been a real focus on impact.”

Ultimately, Charlie hopes The Missing Sister podcast will raise awareness of the dangers of entering institutions like the IUIC and bring Joy’s story into the light in a way that only the best investigative podcasts can.

The Missing Sister podcast is available to listen to exclusively on Wondery+ for six weeks.

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