In 1997, deputies of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department discovered the bodies of 39 adults in a 9,200-square-foot Rancho Santa Fe mansion as they followed up on an anonymous tip. As the investigation into the horrific scene would reveal, the deceased were members of one of the most prolific American cults known to exist – Heaven's Gate – with early roots of the organization forming in Colorado long before a mass suicide took place that would make headlines worldwide.
Eslam Mohamed
