28 years ago, Heaven’s Gate couldn’t wait
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Dateline Rancho Santa Fe. March 26, 1997. A 911 call came into the San Diego Sheriff’s Communications Center.
It was treated as a prank call at first. From what turned out to be a nearby payphone, the caller said something so preposterous that dispatchers took their time in relaying the information to central command.
“This is regarding a mass suicide. I can give you the address,” the caller said, adding that dozens of people had committed suicide at a Mediterranean-style villa in the gilded San Diego suburb of Rancho Santa Fe.
Two hours later, San Diego Sheriff’s Deputy Robert Brunk arrived at the rented 9,200-square-foot mansion, located near 18341 Colina Norte (later changed to Paseo Victoria) in a gated community of upscale homes.
What Brunk found was shocking to say the least. All wearing the same black Nike shoes, covered in purple blankets with no noticeable signs of trauma, 21 men and 18 women, ranging in age from 26 to 72, lay dead in peaceful repose.
This was the largest mass suicide in American history. Each had taken a lethal cocktail of phenobarbital mixed with apple sauce and vodka.
As they went in they kept finding more bodies and more bodies, retired San Diego County homicide detective Chuck Curtis told San Diego NBC 7 this week about the suicide scene. Curtis was the first officer there.
“It was an astonishing thing to them that they thought, ‘Is this ever going to end?’” Curtis said, adding, “I’ve never seen anything like it, and haven’t seen anything like it since.”
Many of the Heaven’s Gate 39 adherents who were found dead in a Rancho Santa Fe mansion had been with the group for most of their adult lives. Their leader was Marshall Applewhite. Just before the suicide, he posted an alarming video saying of group members, “They’re about to leave and they’re excited to leave,”
They were ready to go — somewhere. Deputies found them with their bags packed. Most were neatly laid out on beds, covered with purple shrouds. They wore running shoes and matching uniforms with “Heaven’s Gate Away Team” patches. Each had a $5 bill and three quarters in his or her pockets.
Content retrieved from: https://www.escondidograpevine.com/2025/03/16/20-years-ago-heavens-gate-couldnt-wait/.
