A look back at local, national and world events through Deseret News archives.
On Nov. 18, 1978, U.S. Rep. Leo J. Ryan of California and four others were killed on an airstrip in Jonestown, Guyana, by members of Peoples Temple; the killings were followed by a night of mass murder and suicide resulting in the deaths of more than 900 cult members.
Even now, 46 years later, the numbers seem overwhelming. Coverage of the murder-suicide deaths was spread over several days due to the remoteness of Guyana on the northeast coast of South America.
Per reports, Ryan had come to investigate the remote agricultural settlement built by a California-based church. But while he was there, more than a dozen people had stepped forward: We want to return to the United States, they said.
Peoples Temple sprang from the heartland in the 1950s. Jones built an interracial congregation in Indianapolis. Moving his flock to California, the minister transformed his church into a leftist social movement with programs for the poor. He was head of San Francisco’s public housing commission when media scrutiny and legal problems spurred his retreat to Jonestown.
Here are some stories from Deseret News archives about Jonestown, Guyana, and how the survivors have tried to move forward:
“Young Jonestown survivors built new lives amid grief, scorn”
“30 years later, legacy of Jonestown tragedy endures”
“Jonestown survivor says ‘we were duped’”
“Lessons of Jonestown wear a human face”
“Little remains at Jonestown, but legacy haunts Guyana”
“Woman fled Jonestown, tried in vain to alert world”
“Pain remains 20 years after Jonestown”
