More than 900 members of the People's Temple died at their compound, Jonestown, in Guyana on Nov. 18, 1978. The causes of death were mass murder and suicide.
Yulanda Williams was 12 years old when her family joined the People’s Temple – a religious cult that led to the deaths of more than 900 followers. But before Williams and her family found themselves at the center of 'a living nightmare,' the church appeared to be a utopia, a safe haven in San Francisco during the ‘70s. 'My dad had experienced a heart attack,' Williams recalled to Fox News Digital.
Williams and her family didn’t think twice about following Jones. 'He made it sound like it was heaven on earth – the promised land,' Williams explained. 'We’ve seen beautiful pictures of the jungle, the rainforest. He showed us all these delicious fruits that grew there, and he promised us that we would each have a home for our families. 'We wouldn’t have to work any longer. We would live off of the crops that we grew.
Williams and her family were among the few who had permission to leave Jonestown, Time magazine reported. They reasoned that Williams, by then a college student, needed to finish her studies at the University of California. According to the outlet, Jones warned Williams that if she and her family ever were to speak negatively about Jonestown, 'the angels would get us,' she said.
Those who didn’t make it have remained on her mind over the years. 'I believe with my whole heart that 900 people wouldn't have just stood there in line, on their own free will, and kept drinking this Kool-Aid that was going to kill them,' she said. 'Jim Jones was a monster.'
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