Some Jonestown remains found in Delaware still unclaimed
This file photo shows the site of the former Minus Funeral Home in Dover, Del. State officials have released the names of more than two dozen people whose cremated remains were recently discovered inside the abandoned funeral home in Dover after unsuccessful efforts to locate surviving relatives. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
The remains of several Jonestown victims along with some Delaware residents have yet to be claimed after being discovered at a former Dover funeral home last month.
The cremated remains were found at the site of the former Minus Funeral Home in August. The remains spanned from around 1970 through the 1990’s.
Nine of the remains were victims of the 1978 Jonestown massacre. The remains of four Jonestown victims, Irra Johnson, Wanda King, Maud Perkins, and Mary Rodgers have been returned to their family.
The remains of one local Delaware resident, Bryan Glass, was also claimed.
Staff members within the Delaware Division of Forensic Science have been working to identify family contacts. They’ve been coordinating that effort with the Jonestown Institute at San Diego State University, the California Historical Society and other Jonestown survivors.
Jonestown was the name of the compound established by the Peoples Temple cult in the South American country of Guyana. Led by Rev. Jim Jones, more than 900 members killed themselves by drinking a powdered drink laced with cyanide. It’s said many were forced to consume the drink.
According to the Associated Press, the bodies of massacre victims were brought to Dover Air Force Base, home of the U.S. military’s largest mortuary. It’s not known at this time how the remains wound up at the dilapidated funeral home.
DFS is releasing the names of unclaimed Jonestown victims, and other local Delawareans whose remains have not been claimed in hopes that family members will be identified. Anyone with information on the deceased or their family members is asked to call DFS at 302-5777-3420.
Jonestown Massacre Victims:
Ottie Mese Guy
Katherine Domineck
Tony Walker
Irene Mason
Ruth Atkins
Local Delaware residents:
Daisy Wilson
Essie Thomas
Benjamin Loper
Bernard Paskins
Miles Fletcher
John McClain
Rosella Gibson
Leroy Davis, Jr.
Charmaine Hicks
Willie Gaines
Lettie Anderson
Freeman Pettyjohn
Rayfield Barber
Mekhi and Genesis Gunter
Clifton Hawkins
Louis Bubbey
Berline Melton
Lizzie Owens
Maryone Jackson
Lonnie Wimbly
Diana Hunt
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