Chico Felitti
Appearances
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of Don't Cross Cat early and ad-free. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Hey, Chico here. Just wanted to let you know that this episode has a short mention of self-harm. Please take care while listening. It was the middle of the night. Patty's face glowed in the light of her phone.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
As in the drug cartels. Even though Austin is nowhere near the Mexican border, and Kat had no connections whatsoever with the cartels.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
Now Patty was really scared. Not only about what might happen to her and her friends if they kept poking, but about Desiree's safety.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
Hours after Desiree reappeared in that video, another message came through.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
It said, Kat ended the text message by writing, This got Patty's mind racing even more. Oh, why she's talking about suicide? The line about suicide spooked Patty. Up to now, she had thought Kat was just a scammer. But what if she was actually capable of harming Desiree and the others?
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
Then, as fear swirled around the group, people started to drop out.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
Lau, by the way, is not her real name. Her words are spoken by an actor because she and other members of the group still fear retaliation. And there were other members of the group who didn't even know Desiree, like Lau's friend, Mada.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
Patty got more and more worried as the group dwindled. This was a crucial moment. Desiree was in danger. Someone needed to talk to the media. Someone needed to reach out to the authorities. Someone needed to give their contact details out to new witnesses.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
And Patti was scared too. She had a new job. She had her family to take care of.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
But even in moments of doubt, Patti remembered Desiree. She wanted her friend back. Someone needed to step forward. So she made a decision.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
But being the face of the search meant also becoming a target, even for someone who Patty thought would never betray her. About a month after the hostage video, Patty was sunbathing on the beach. She had booked a vacation to visit her family in Brazil. It was her once-a-year trip to recharge, and this year she needed it more than ever. But it wouldn't last long.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
She went online and checked Kat's profile. And there it was.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
Kat had released Patty's private personal information for anyone to see. All of it. But that wasn't even the worst part.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
To be falsely accused of such harmful things and with real pictures of her children and with their names, addresses and phone numbers, it was unimaginable.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
And there was something else eating at Patty. Where did Kat get her information from? Kat didn't know her address. She didn't have access to photos of her kids or even their names. There was only one person who could possibly have shared that with her. Patty's own friend, Desiree. She had to be behind this.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
After everything she had done to help Desiree, this was a thanks she got?
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
Here's the thing. Patty was convinced that there was another reason Kat had done this. It was because of something that had happened in the weeks before. Something that made Patty more sure that Desiree was in danger.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
Her words are also spoken by an actor, by the way. Patty felt relieved to join the group.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
It was a website called Eros, as in the Greek god of desire.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
On one page were photos of a semi-naked woman and a list of services. Dancer slash escort offering fetish and fantasy. It was Desiree.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
Look, all kinds of people with different personalities get into sex work, right? But to Patty, Desiree was one of the most romantic people she knew. She wasn't into casual relationships. Her friend, the Desiree Patty knew, wouldn't go on an escort website on her own.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
Patti knew she had to warn the world about what Cat was doing to her friend. So not long after, the Searching for Desiree Instagram page had a new post. It said Cat was using the vulnerability of Brazilian women to lure them into prostitution. Days after that post, Cat published the photos of Patti's kids.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
So yeah, Patty knew what Kat had done had completely crossed the line, but it showed Patty that Kat was desperate. She was willing to do anything to stop the search, which made Patty even more convinced. She was getting closer. And even if Desiree had given her kids' details to Kat, Patty was still determined to find her. There was one other photo on the escort site that caught Patty's attention.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
A woman with the name Star. Patty knew the face instantly. It was Leticia, the other missing girl whose mother had asked for help. There was no way Patty was going to drop the search now. Follow Don't Cross Cat on the Wondery app, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or Apple Podcasts.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short survey at wondery.com slash survey. If you have a tip about a story you think we should investigate, please write to us at wondery.com slash tips. From Wondery, this is episode two of six of Don't Cross Cat. Don Cross Cat is hosted and reported by me, Chico Felitti. Producer is Andres Caballero. Senior producer is Fernanda Echavarri.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
Associate producers are Giovanna Romano Sanchez and Otavio Bonfá. Additional production assistance by Beatriz Trevisa. Fact-checking by Zoe Sullivan. Voice acting by Renata Saldar and Caroline Cota de Mello Freitas. Theme song by Mariana Romano. Sound design by Stephanie Lebeau and Jacob Rossati. Additional mixing by Julia Caruso and JJ Carubin. Sound supervisor is Marcelino Vialpondo.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
Managing producer is Heather Balocca. Development producer is Olivia Weber. Senior development editor is Rachel B. Doyle. Production services by Futuro Studios. Executive producers for Futuro Studios are Marlon Bishop and Maria Garcia. Executive producers for Wondery are Russell Finch, George Lavender, Marshall Louis, and Jen Sargent.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
But it also made one thing very clear. Patty wasn't the only one who had been ghosted. Desiree had cut everyone who loved her out of her life.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
After appearing on Oprah, thousands flocked to seek the guidance of renowned self-help guru James Arthur Ray. He was a charismatic speaker whose unorthodox methods and philosophies promised his followers a clear path to wealth and to happiness. But what many didn't know about were his more extreme methods.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
methods which pushed his followers to their limits, giving some the transformative experience they dreamed of and killing others. From Wondery, the makers of Dr. Death and Kill List, Guru, The Dark Side of Enlightenment, explores the dark side of self-improvement and the devastating price of blind faith.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
You can binge all episodes of Guru exclusively and add free right now by joining Wondery Plus. Start your free trial in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
Patty was sure if she could just talk to Desiree, reason with her, maybe she could find a way to break Cat's spell. But to do that, she had to find her first.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
From Wondery, I'm Chico Felitti, and this is Don't Cross Cat. Episode 2. Searching for Desiree. Even in a very online world, it's surprising how hard it is to find someone if this person doesn't want to be found. Desiree had been silent for over three months now. All the searchers really knew was that Desiree and her life coach Kat were living together somewhere in Texas.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
But they had no real idea where to even begin to track them down. At first, they thought they could just outsource it all to a detective. But they quickly realized none of them had that kind of money. So they came up with another plan.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
Each of the women had turned their homes into makeshift investigation headquarters. Lau and Madá in Brazil, and Patty in Canada. They covered the walls in printouts of everything they knew about the case. And they kept a close watch on Kat's social media, trying to find new clues.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
Kat did lots of live streams, promising her followers that if they listened to her, she would show them the truth and free them from troubles. Sometimes she mentioned the witches that worked for her.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
They're super happy and they're doing so well, Kat said.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
But it was tough to find out anything specific about Tessie Ray. And there were so many videos of Kat to go through. Like a true influencer, she posted a lot. Patty would join other searchers on video calls to talk about clues.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
She was still awake and still scrolling through Instagram.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
As Patty and the others scrolled through Kat's old content, they began to find videos that were a little strange.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
A special ritual, which Kat called an alien bath. Kat stood in front of the tub wearing a see-through black blouse. One of her assistant witches sat behind her, drinking wine.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
She put in some rubber toys, a bag of Gumby Bears, bath bombs, plastic packaging and all, gold tinsel. It all seemed pretty harmless, until Cat added razor blades to the bath. Cat said the blades couldn't hurt, because she was an alien. As weird as this alien bath ritual was, Kat's followers on social media seemed to be into it.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
It was now more than three months since her best friend, Desiree, had ghosted all her family and friends and moved in with her supermodel life coach, Kat Torres. And every day, Patty spent hours searching through social media for any clues to their whereabouts. Her friends had begun to notice the effect it was having on her.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
Followers would write comments praising Cat for her psychic abilities and her beautiful life. She's so strong, they would say. She's a phoenix reborn from the ashes. Lau's friend, Mada, didn't know Desiree directly. But as she watched all of this unfold, it began to dawn on her what was happening.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
It wasn't just Cat's followers who believed in her powers. It also began to affect the searchers. Some of them got scared of Cat's abilities. One of them even feared that Cat could put a curse on her. Patty, Lau, and Mada realized that if even some of the searchers started believing in Cat's powers, then there were so many other young women out there who could easily fall for her.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
They had to do more to warn people about Kat. They had to go public.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
They created a public Instagram account and uploaded a photo of Desiree.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
Searchers used this new profile to flood Kat's Instagram with comments. Where's Desiree? What have you done to her friend? Mostly Kat just blocked them. But soon, word began to spread about their efforts.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
Every time Kat posted a new video, the group sifted through it looking for clues.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
Patti Lau and Mada kept a giant Google Doc of every clue the group found. And little by little, they began to piece together a location. All the evidence seemed to point to somewhere in the middle of the state, near Austin. It was something, but still not enough. By now, though, the group was consuming Patty's life. She'd found a new job as a teacher, but her mind was often with Desiree.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
Even when she was asleep, she couldn't shake the mystery. It still tormented her.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
And then, one day, a message popped up in the Searching for Desiree Instagram account. It was from a middle-aged couple from the small town of Perdoins, in southeastern Brazil. They said they had a 21-year-old daughter. Her name was Leticia. She had been a follower of Kat. And like Desiree, she had gone to live with her in the U.S.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
It had been about five months since they last heard from her.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
Now it was clear to the searchers. This wasn't just about Desiree anymore. There were other women missing, too.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
And Patty was beginning to wonder if maybe they were right.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
I was targeted, premeditated, and meant to sow terror.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
But then she got a message on WhatsApp. It was an invite to a group chat called Friends of Desiree.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
The searchers struggled to process the fact there was another young woman missing. Leticia had only been 14 when she first started to follow Kat's teachings. This really, really hit Patty. One of her own children was about the same age. She couldn't stop thinking about Leticia's mom.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
Leticia's family told them they had been urging the police to take action. But progress was slow. Patty and the others kept up the search, but it wasn't until Desiree had been gone for six months that they finally got something to go on. At first, it was just another notification on Patty's phone, one of the many she got every single day.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
She tapped on it and froze when she saw the face on the video. She took a breath and hit play. There on her screen was Desiree. Stop looking for me. Stop asking about my whereabouts. If I blocked you, it's for a reason, she said.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
But the Desiree Patti saw in the video wasn't the one she remembered.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
One of the people in the group chat was Lau. She had met Desiree a few years before at an English language school.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
To the searchers, it looked like a hostage video. It didn't seem like her. Had Desiree been forced into filming it?
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Searching for Desirrê | 2
The searchers began to cycle through all the worst case scenarios.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of Don't Cross Cat early and ad-free. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
Not long after the consultation with Kat, Patty met up with Desiree at the gym. She had a plan for how to start the conversation with her. She was going to keep it simple.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
Patty paused, waiting for Desiree's reaction.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
Desiree just didn't want to hear what Patty was telling her about Kat. Kat's relationship with her followers seemed to be superficial, at least from what I could see publicly. Her fans would write comments complimenting her on her appearance and advice. Kat's response to them would be just emojis. Or she would try to sell herself, saying things like, hey, book a one-on-one with me.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
They put out the girl stuff in the front yard for anyone to take, which was interesting.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
Essentially, Kat was hot, blonde, and appeared American. That was the big appeal. Anyway, after that day at the gym, Desiree only got more obsessed with Kat. It seemed Kat was all she talked about now. She talked about how Kat told her what to eat, what to wear, and even what to do with her husband.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
Now Desiree was saying that she wanted her husband to be more spiritual, to join her in working with meditation, energy, and yoga. But Patty knew the spiritual stuff wasn't his thing.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
They'd been happily married for years. This was just normal couple stuff. And then came the pandemic.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
As COVID brought the world to a standstill, Desiree's life changed completely. Her husband lost his job, which meant that they would have to move back to Germany. Desiree promised to stay in touch with Patty as much as possible. But as she began her new life in Europe, Patty noticed that Desiree started to see more and more of Kat.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
Patty says Desiree was booking two, sometimes three consultations with Kat every week. And Desiree's husband noticed.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
And of course, Desiree told her life coach all about her husband's concerns. Patty could see how this was going to go for Desiree's marriage.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
It was mid-2021, about a year since Desiree had moved away to Germany. And Patty's phone rang.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
Desiree believed her husband was using supernatural forces to keep her with him, an idea that Kat had put in her head. Patty told Desiree that it all sounded crazy to her, that she didn't think her husband even knew what black magic was. But Desiree believed Kat. A couple of months later, it was all over between Desiree and her husband.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
Patty tried to support Desiree as much as she could across the time zones. She texted her all the time.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
One of the women was a social media influencer famous in Brazil with more than a million followers. I was there because, well, I'm kind of an influencer myself. But that was basically an accident. I'm a journalist first, and I've made a name for myself investigating stories in Brazil where things aren't quite what they seem.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
After one of her first dates, Desiree called Patty in tears. She told her she was 30 minutes late to her date and the guy got upset and said a bunch of mean things to her.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
Patty told her to ditch the guy. It wasn't worth her time. But when Desiree told Kat about it, she had a very different answer. Kat told Desiree that guys like him have a strong energy, so they need women with an energy that's a little more soft. And Desiree seemed to agree.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
Patty's concerns kept growing. She decided to look at what Cap was posting on social media. And what she found was disturbing. When Patty looked online, she saw that Kat's social media had changed.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
She wasn't the same gentle life coach that Patty had met a few years before, when her online presence gave more of a yoga zen vibe, and she posted videos of inspirational meditations, breathing exercises, and positive affirmation. Now, she had become intense, angry even. She posted long videos rambling about paranoid conspiracy theories.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
On COVID, she told her followers not to self-isolate if they got infected. If they just believed hard enough, they would magically get cured. And she had found herself a large audience, more than a million followers, as well as her select group of paying clients, like Desiree. But she was getting noticed by other people too. An influential science blogger spoke out on YouTube.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
She warned everyone not to follow people like Kat on Instagram.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
And that's what brought me to Texas, because the woman who lived there, Cat Torres, seemed like she had a picture-perfect life online.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
Then one day, just when Patty thought she had seen it all, a new, more bizarre video popped up on Kat's Instagram profile.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
She filmed herself against a white wall. No details provided. It was honestly all very cryptic. Like, how did she even have her cell phone with her? Anyway, she said she needed her followers to send money to help pay for ransom.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
A few days later, Kat posted another message.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
But Kat wasn't relaxed for long, because there was one of her followers who hadn't sent her any ransom money. Desiree. Kat went live on Instagram, talking to her million-strong following. She got crazy. Desiree is so fucking arrogant, Kat said. She's an idiot, I tell you. A moron.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
Soon after, Patty got a frantic voice message from Desiree. She couldn't believe Kat would do that after everything she had done to show her loyalty. This is not the person I knew, Desiree said on the voice note. I'm not going to waste my time. Patty saw her chance. This was the moment she'd be waiting for, so she sent her a message back.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
Finally, this was the fork in the road. The point when Desiree would see Cat for the scammer Patty saw. A week later, Patty noticed a new post on Kat's Instagram. Kat said she was making some changes around her house in Texas. She was expanding her business. And from now on, Kat wouldn't be the only one providing the coaching services. She had some assistants living with her.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
Wayne told me the more he looked through the stuff the women left behind, the more questions he had about them.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
The post read, Meet the witches who work for you. And there, in the photo, was a familiar face.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
Patty realized the truth. Her best friend hadn't left Kat at all. Instead, Desiree had gone all in on what Kat had to offer.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
Four or five days went by and nothing. Patty texted again. This time, Desiree did reply.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
How can you put an Instagram influencer ahead of the friendship we have? Betty wrote. Someone you're paying to give you attention. After that, Desiree disappeared.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
Patty started looking for other people who may have been in touch with Desiree.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
She even called Desiree's former school in Brazil, hoping to find a contact for her parents.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
True friendships are often at the core of our lives. We share our innermost secrets with our friends. They are the people we turn to when we need help. The people we will drop everything for. But in an online world, it's easy to have a sense of closeness with the people we see on Instagram every day.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
So when a beautiful, rich influencer gives you attention, even if you're paying for your time with them, it could feel like a real connection. Like you really know them, and they really know you. Kat had more than a million followers, but she was showing Desiree one-on-one attention. And if you're a real-life friend, like Patty, how could you ever compete with that? Patty was about to find out.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
And that search for her missing friend was going to cost her a lot more than she had imagined. Still to come.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
Very scary. That's all coming up on this season of Don't Cross Cat. Follow Don't Cross Cat on the Wondery app, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or Apple Podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short survey at wondery.com slash survey.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
If you have a tip about a story you think we should investigate, please write to us at wondery.com slash tips. From Wondery, this is episode one of six of Don't Cross Cat. Don't Cross Cat is hosted and reported by me, Chico Felitti. Producer is Andrés Caballero. Senior producer is Fernanda Echavarri. Associate producers are Giovanna Romano-Sanchez and Otávio Bonfá.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
And that was in all. Wayne started to wonder if he had been getting a little carried away. But soon he would see reports of what was really going on in that house, and he would realize that maybe he was right to have been suspicious. Because there was something troubling going on. Something dark. Dangerous, even.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
Additional production assistance by Beatriz Trevisan. Fact-checking by Zoe Sullivan. Theme song by Mariana Romano. Sound design and mixing by Stephanie Lebeau. Additional mixing by Julia Caruso and JJ Carubin. Sound supervisor is Marcelino Vialpondo. Project manager is Nancy Trujillo. And supervising senior production manager is Jessica Ellis. Managing producer is Heather Baloga.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
Development producer is Olivia Weber. Senior development editor is Rachel B. Doyle. Production services by Futuro Studios. Executive producers for Futuro Studios are Marlon Bishop and Maria Garcia. Executive producers for Wondery are Russell Finch, George Lavender, Marshall Lewy, and Jen Sargent.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
From Wondery, I'm Chico Felitti, and this is Don't Cross Cat. Like most of you and anyone else, I post on Instagram, quite often. I post pictures of the usual stuff, my dog, Pachorra, my travels, and my overpriced outfits. Actually, my producer pointed out that in quite a few posts, I don't seem to have my shirt on. But hey, cut me some slack. I'm Brazilian.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
I'm not the first Brazilian to set foot in Leander, Texas. And the Brazilian women who came and lived here before me made quite the impression on their neighbors. Wayne Murray lived across the street from them.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
I use Insta to post about my podcasts and my books too. I've been a journalist for 20 years now. I've reported all across Brazil, telling stories of armed conflict, homelessness, indigenous tribes, you name it. And somewhere along the line, people started following me. I remember when I reached 100,000 followers on Instagram and an American company offered me 10 grand to pose with a bag of chips.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
That was the exact same amount I got for a book that took me a year to write. A whole year. I'm not proud of it. It's something I only tell my shrink. But nowadays, I make a living from social media as much as being a journalist. This was not my plan, I have to emphasize. I promise. I became an influencer by chance. So, when I came across the story, I knew I had to know more.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
Because it's all about influence. The lengths people will go to have it, and what they will do to keep it. This is episode one, The Witches Who Work For You. It all begins far from Brazil and far from Texas, in rainy Vancouver, in the fall of 2016. Patti Bertoldo was a 32-year-old from Brazil.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
She had a white smile and long light brown hair when she walked into Le Crocodile, an upscale French restaurant in the city center.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
It was Patty Bertoldo's first day on the job. She looked around her for someone to talk to as the restaurant staff bustled around her. She was not feeling great about being there. She had just moved to Canada from France and needed money.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
As she continued to walk through the restaurant, Patty came across a young woman who said hi to her right away. And she was... Beautiful.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
Wayne says that in Leander, people do two things. Wave to each other and then mind their business. At least Wayne did. Then, in 2022, that's when these new neighbors moved there, right across the street.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
Patty followed this array around the restaurant as she briefed her on her new co-workers. This one's really nice. That one is not trustworthy. This one's just, eh, okay, like most of them. Patty was taking note.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
It felt so comforting to talk to someone from Brazil. Someone who knew that in Brazilian Portuguese, we don't have an equivalent for personal space. Someone who knew that we don't just shake hands when we greet someone. Of course not. We kiss. Twice. Sometimes three times.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
After that first shift at the restaurant, Patti started seeing Desiree outside of work, at music festivals, the beach, picnics. And soon they started texting each other daily.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
Desiree was in a wonderful marriage with a man from Germany. She and Patty became close. They talked for hours, sharing their life stories. Desiree told Patty she had some struggles.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
One day, on their way to yoga, Desiree told Patty about a famous Brazilian wellness influencer she just found online.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
Her name was Kat Torres. She had hundreds of thousands of followers on social media. She posted inspirational quotes about manifesting and nourishing your body and your spirit. She posted hundreds of videos like this one, looking beautiful in an off-the-shoulder summer top.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
And here's the thing about Brazilians. We love a good life coach. It's up there with how much we love supermodels and soccer stars. Because we value happiness. A balanced life. And there are plenty of life coaches in Brazil who have found a lot of success by telling other people how to live their lives. For a fee, of course. Cat seems successful, healthy and wealthy.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
She posted about her designer bags, fancy hotels, even exotic-looking animals. She had a huge albino dog that looked like a wolf and a really big cat that looked like a leopard. Desiree's eyes lit up as she scrolled through Kat's posts. She told Patty this life coach had helped her manifest all the good things into her life. And the way she did that was through a special gift.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
That phrase, that cat talks to the light, stuck out to Patty.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
And there was something else about his new neighbors.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
Desiree talked about how pretty Kat was, how insightful she was, how she could read people's energies, how she could communicate directly with the universe to find answers to people's questions. And around that time, Patti did have a lot on her mind.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
When Desiree heard about Patti's breakup, she insisted Patti try booking an appointment with Kat.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
Patty went home and pulled up Kat's website. She was curious, but skeptical. She scrolled through the supermodel photos and got to the payment plans.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
On the day of the appointment, Patty rushed home to get set up for the video call. She was a little nervous.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
Patty was hoping to actually get some answers. Was she meant to be in Canada? Had her breakup been the right decision? Would she ever find happiness? So she sat down in front of her computer, ready for this beautiful woman with psychic abilities to tell her the answers. But then she wasn't there.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
Tall, thin, gorgeous, right out of the latest Victoria's Secret fashion show. I mean, I'm super gay, and even I can see it. And it wasn't just having a house full of gorgeous Brazilian women in a nondescript American suburb that was unusual. One day, he just stopped seeing them. The house was empty. The women were gone. Eventually, a rental company came to clear the house.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
Then, 20 minutes later, Kat finally appeared.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
So, okay, she was late, Patty thought. But Desiree had spoken so highly of Kat that this was about to be good. Real good, right?
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
Then Kat started talking about her guiding light.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
Patty had to hold back from rolling her eyes in front of Kat.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
The Witches Who Work For You | 1
She didn't get why Desiree was so taken with Kat. So she decided she would gently bring it up with Desiree. Patty wasn't thinking about how Kat would feel about all of this. After all, Kev was just a life coach on social media. She couldn't cause any harm, right?
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Introducing Guru: Don't Cross Kat
When influence turns into control, how far would you go to break the spell?
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Introducing Guru: Don't Cross Kat
I'm Chico Felitti. You can listen to Don't Cross Cat on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. For bonus content and ad-free episodes, listen on Wondery+. Get started with your free trial at wondery.com slash plus.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Introducing Guru: Don't Cross Kat
And there was one person who knew the answer.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Introducing Guru: Don't Cross Kat
A gorgeous Brazilian influencer called Cat Torres, whose perfect life in the United States inspired hundreds of thousands of followers.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Introducing Guru: Don't Cross Kat
You turned my life around. I was nothing without you. But who was hiding a secret?
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Introducing Guru: Don't Cross Kat
From Wondery, based on my smash hit podcast from Brazil, comes a new series, Don't Cross Cat, about a search that captivated a nation.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Introducing Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Everyone has that friend who seems kind of perfect.
Guru: Don't Cross Kat
Introducing Guru: Don't Cross Kat
A search that led me to a mystery in a Texas suburb. I'm calling to check on the two missing Brazilian girls. Maybe get some undercover crew there.
Morbid
Episode 658: Listener Tales 96: Buhtz
This was not an operation that was performed. This was attempted murder.
Morbid
Episode 662: The Exorcism of Roland Doe
Everyone has that friend who seems kind of perfect. For Patty, that friend was Desiree.
Morbid
Episode 662: The Exorcism of Roland Doe
Desiree was gone. And there was one person who knew the answer.
Morbid
Episode 662: The Exorcism of Roland Doe
A gorgeous Brazilian influencer called Cat Torres, but who was hiding a secret. From Wondery, based on my smash hit podcast from Brazil, comes a new series, Don't Cross Cat, about a search that led me to a mystery in a Texas suburb.
Morbid
Episode 662: The Exorcism of Roland Doe
I'm Chico Felitti. You can listen to Don't Cross Cat on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Morbid
Episode 662: The Exorcism of Roland Doe
You're listening to a Morbid Network podcast. When a young woman named Desiree vanishes without a trace, the trail leads to Kat Torres, a charismatic influencer with millions of followers. But behind the glamorous posts and inspirational quotes, a sinister truth unravels. Binge all episodes of Don't Cross Kat early and ad-free on Wondery+.