Ryan Delegation's Initial Investigation in Georgetown
Congressman Leo Ryan, who represented a district in Northern California, announced that he would visit Jonestown. Ryan was friends with the father of Bob Houston, whose mutilated body was found near train tracks on October 5, 1976, three days after a taped telephone conversation with Houston's ex-wife in which leaving the Temple was discussed. Over the following months Ryan's interest was further aroused by the complaints of the Concerned Relatives represented by Timothy Stoen and the allegations following the defection of Deborah Layton.
On November 14, 1978, Ryan flew to Georgetown, Guyana, which was 150 miles (240 km) from Jonestown, along with a team of 18 people consisting of government officials, media representatives and some members of the Concerned Relatives. The group included Congressman Ryan; Ryan's legal adviser, Jackie Speier (now a Congresswoman); Neville Annibourne, representing Guyana's Ministry of Information; Richard Dwyer, Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy to Guyana; Tim Reiterman, San Francisco Examiner reporter; Don Harris, NBC reporter; Greg Robinson, San Francisco Examiner photographer; Steve Sung, NBC audio technician; Bob Flick, NBC producer; Charles Krause, Washington Post reporter; Ron Javers, San Francisco Chronicle reporter; Bob Brown, NBC video operator; and Concerned Relatives representatives, including Tim and Grace Stoen, Steve and Anthony Katsaris, Beverly Oliver, Jim Cobb, Sherwin Harris, and Carolyn Houston Boyd.
The Peoples Temple's lawyers, Mark Lane and Charles Garry, initially refused to allow Ryan's party access to Jonestown.
Read more about this topic: Jonestown
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