On August 14, 1987, police entered Kai Lama.

But getting the children out was only the beginning.

In Part II of The Family: The Children Behind the Gate, Case follows what happened after authorities intervened in the world created by Anne Hamilton-Byrne: the struggle to untangle the children's identities, the investigation that followed, the search for Anne and Bill Hamilton-Byrne, their extradition back to Australia, and the surprisingly narrow criminal outcome that followed years of allegations from survivors.

But this story doesn't end in a courtroom.

We also look at the civil fight for accountability, the complicated reality of leaving a controlled environment, and the very different lives survivors built after The Family.

Because opening the gate was one thing.

Reclaiming the right to decide who you are was something else entirely.

Content Warning: This episode discusses child abuse, manipulation and control, food deprivation, physical punishment, drug administration, and the aftermath of childhood trauma.

Sub-Basement Six is a victim-centered true crime and dark history podcast. Allegations, survivor accounts, criminal findings, and civil proceedings are identified separately throughout the episode.

What happens when the adults around a child control not only the rules—but the truth about who that child is?

In The Family: The Children Behind the Gate — Part I, Case goes inside the world created around the children raised within Anne Hamilton-Byrne’s Australian group, The Family.

Through survivor accounts, we explore the children’s understanding of family and identity, the adults surrounding Anne, the different ways children came into the group, and daily life at Kai Lama near Lake Eildon, Victoria.

Survivors describe manipulation and control, food deprivation, physical punishment, medication and drugs, separation from close relationships, and fear of the outside world.

And eventually, some of those young people began speaking.

This story does not begin with Anne Hamilton-Byrne.

It begins with the children.

Content note: This episode discusses child abuse, manipulation and control, food deprivation, physical punishment, drug administration, and other mistreatment of children.

Part II continues with the August 1987 police intervention, the investigation that followed, Anne and Bill Hamilton-Byrne’s eventual arrest and extradition, the criminal case, later civil proceedings, and the lives survivors built afterward.

I’m Case, and this is Sub-Basement Six.

I’ll meet you downstairs.

The night before Nelson Rehmeyer was killed, two of the people involved in his death stayed overnight in his home. The following evening, they returned with a third person. Nelson let them in again.

In November 1928, the sixty-year-old Pennsylvania farmer became the target of men who blamed him for their misfortunes. Their explanation involved a hex, a lock of hair, and a book called The Long Lost Friend.

In this episode of Sub-Basement Six, Case examines Nelson’s life, the events leading to his murder, and the evidence presented against John Blymire, John Curry, and Wilbert Hess. Along the way, we explore Pennsylvania Dutch powwow traditions and how the later “witchcraft” framing shaped the story remembered as Hex Hollow.

Behind the name is Nelson Rehmeyer, a man who should have been safe in his own home.

Content note: Discussion of murder, a fatal assault, arson, burn injuries, and child loss.