Scientology faces claims its leader's lonely, devoted wife who has not been seen for seven years has been banished to secret lair after defying his orders



Shelly Miscavige, wife of David Miscavige, disappeared 7 years ago



After actress Leah Remini filed a missing person's report last year, the LAPD said they had spoken with Shelly

It is believed she is at a secretive Scientology base near Los Angeles

Sources have given new insights into David Miscavige's fiery temper, his wife's desire to appease him and her loneliness

They said she was ultimately banished because she defied him by implementing a new structure among his staff while he was out of town

Scientology spokespeople have always denied she is missing and that she is still devoted to working towards the church



The leader of Scientology, David Miscavige, banished his devoted wife to a secretive base after she defied his orders and reshuffled his staff while he was out of town, sources have claimed.

The revelations come after a ctress and Scientologist Leah Remini sensationally filed a missing person's report last year, claiming that Shelly Miscavige had been missing since 2007.

Police later said they had spoken with Shelly - but questions remained about what had caused her sudden and lengthy disappearance from the public stage she had once confidently graced.



Now Vanity Fair has spoken with sources who have given new insights into David Miscavige's fiery temper, his wife's desire to appease him despite her own loneliness and her ultimate banishment.

'Banished': Shelly Miscavige, left, the wife of Scientologist leader David Miscavige, right, disappeared in 2007 and now sources have revealed it is because she defied his orders while he was out of town



They painted a picture of an initially well-matched partnership when Shelly and Miscavige, who had been brought up as strict Scientologists, met while they were teenagers at founder L. Ron Hubbard's 'Sea Org', an order of the church made up with the faith's most devoted members.

Shelly, who had been left in Hubbard's hands after her parents divorced and struggled to raise her, married Miscavige in 1982. They became the 'It couple' of Sea Org, the article noted.

Sources told Vanity Fair that Shelly, who had always struggled to make friends in part because of her strict adherence to the church, put all of her attention on Miscavige.

'You'd see this pretty young girl with blond hair and sneakers,' former Sea Org executive Mike Rinder said. 'But suddenly she'd be interrogating people with "What are you doing and why are you doing it?"'

Questions: Actress Leah Remini, right, filed a missing person's report after noticing Shelly, left, was not at church events. But the LAPD said they spoke with Shelly and that there was no cause for concern

When Hubbard died in 1986, Miscavige - who had a reputation as a 'backstabber' - outmaneuvered fellow Sea Org members to take the job. At that point, his marriage became far less equal.



He gave his wife a role as Chairman of the Board Assistant, placing her not only in charge of the staffers who worked in the executive office but also at his beck and call.

Their relationship appeared to be strictly professional, sources said.



'I never, ever, ever saw them kiss,' Marc Headley, who worked with the couple, told Vanity Fair. 'I was there for 15 years... and never, ever saw them affectionate with each other.'

As Shelly obsessed over her appearance, her husband surrounded himself with young beauties who would wait on him. (There is no evidence that he has ever been unfaithful, the article notes.)

Throughout that time, he was cruel to Sea Org members - especially his inner circle - and banished transgressors to secret detention facilities, sources said.



While some said he was often verbally abusive to his wife, another added: 'I have no indication that he was ever [physically] abusive to Shelly - but if not, she would have been one of the exceptions.'

Chums: Miscavige is pictured right with Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes in July 2008 - after his wife disappeared

Devoted: Sources told Vanity Fair that Shelly seemed strict to many but was simply stressed by the orders her husband gave her. They said she was devoted to him and essentially shy, lonely and isolated



Subsequently, she took that stress and turned it on some staffers, sources said. Yet others saw beyond the anger and discovered a kind person who encouraged staff to help the community.

Others felt sorry for her because she appeared lonely and had no friends.



In 2006, Shelly was given the task of drawing up a better 'Org Board' but - despite hours of planning, drawing and redrawing - her husband rejected her plans, Vanity Fair reported.

At this time, he was on a lengthy trip to Los Angeles to oversee the publishing of the church's latest book - and while he was away, Shelly decided to implement her new system.

She started handing out new positions and duties to people, and boxed up some of her husband's belongings so that renovations could be carried out on his living area, friends said.

But within days she lived in fear and looked 'sheepish and withdrawn', and told her staff not to fuss over her. As she expected, she was stripped of her duties and told others she was losing her power.

Is she here? Shelly is believed to be at a secret base deep in the San Bernadino mountains, pictured

'Punishment': Sources said although she was initially banished there she is now probably choosing to stay

Then suddenly - in 2007 - she was gone.

Staff were told they no longer had to do her chores anymore as she was 'on a special project', and Sea Org members were too fearful to ask any questions.

Sources said she was likely interrogated so that she would confess to wrongdoing and repent, before the information was passed on to her husband who then banished her to be 're-programmed'.

This was then likely followed by months of menial labor until she proved she was obedient.

Friends said she was possibly moved to different bases but will now likely want to stay in seclusion due to her devotion to L. Ron Hubbard's word.

MailOnline learned last year that Shelly is probably living in an exclusive lair outside Los Angeles, known as Twin Peaks, where around 20 Sea Org members live.



Surveillance: It is believed the base, which is about 100 miles from Los Angeles, monitors all activity there



Ready for the end: The base was built exactly to Miscavige's specifications to withstand any nuclear holocaust - most of it is underground. Tom Cruise and John Travolta allegedly have special bunkers there

It is believed they are closely monitored as they 'safeguard Hubbard's word' and live in isolation from the world - and often each other.



'You really don’t have contact with other Scientologists at all,' Dylan Gill, who lived there for seven years, said. 'It's a good way to have somebody disappear.'

The base was built exactly to Miscavige's specifications to withstand any nuclear holocaust, and Tom Cruise and John Travolta are believed to have special bunkers there.

Church spokespersons have repeatedly denied that Shelly is missing and described her as a private person who 'has been working nonstop in the church, as she always has'.



But former adherents of the faith have other ideas.