How Jonestown cult survivors started new lives after mass suicide
WARNING, DISTRESSING CONTENT: Jonestown cult survivors have revealed how they rebuilt their lives after the horrific murders and mass suicide attempts which occurred in the jungle of Guyana in 1978.
The cult was started by the Reverend Jim Jones, who controlled the lives of more than 900 people in the jungle commune, until a mass murder and suicide on November 18, 1978.
It claimed the lives of 918 people, including more than 300 children.
However, some followers survived and managed to rebuild their lives.
‘The best thing in my life’
Mike Touchette, 65, was a self-taught bulldozer operator in the cult and is now a grandfather who has worked for a Miami hydraulics company for nearly 30 years.
“We built a community out of nothing in four years,” Mr Touchette said, recalling his time in the cult.
“Being in Jonestown before Jim got there was the best thing in my life.”
Jordan Vilchez , 61, was sent to Jonestown from San Francisco and survived the tragic day because she raising money in Georgetown, Guyana’s capital.
She has worked as office manager at a private crime lab for 20 years and now sells her artwork.
“The temple really became my family,” Ms Vilchez said.
‘How can you ever be proud of your father?’
Stephan Gandhi Jones was the biological son of Jim and Marceline Jones. Stephan was sent to Jonestown when he was a high school student.
“People ask, ‘How can you ever be proud of your father?’” he said.
“I just have to love him and forgive him.”
Mr Jones is now a father of three daughters, ages 16, 25 and 29, and works in the office furniture installation business.
Man lost 11 relatives
John Cobb, 58, was born to a mother who was already a member of the cult.
He was sent to Jonestown from San Francisco as a teenager and became part of Jones’ personal security detail.
Mr Cobb lost 11 relatives on the day of the tragedy – including his mother, youngest brother and four sisters.
He now owns a modular office furniture business in the East Bay and is married with a daughter, 29.
A 40th Jonestown anniversary memorial will be held Sunday at Oakland’s Evergreen Cemetery, where remains of unclaimed and unidentified victims are buried.
-With AP
