0 302022Z NOV 78
FM TAMPA (89-79) (P)
TO DIRECTOR FBI (89-4286) PRIORITY
SAN FRANCISCO (89-250) PRIORITY
INDIANAPOLIS (89-181) PRIORITY
BT
UNCLAS
RYMUR, AFO (A).
Re Tampa telephone call to San Francisco, November 29, 1978.
On November 29, 1978, [name deleted] (protect identity at her request and at request of her attorney), [address deleted] advised that [information deleted] Timothy Morris Swinney, white male, born September 28, 1938, a longtime follower of Jim Jones and one of those found dead at Jonestown, Guyana. [Line deleted] In 1966, Swinney took their two young daughters to the Peoples Temple (PT) settlement at Redwood
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Valley, California. The daughters ultimately were returned to their mother in Tampa as a result of a civil suit in 1971, and no contact has been maintained between the girls and/or Swinney.
Swinney had several relatives involved in the PT as follows:
Father – Cleavis [Cleve] Swinney; mother – Helen Swinney; brother – Marvin Swinney, now residing in North Carolina, address unknown; brother – Robert Swinney, wife – Lee, currently residing in Indianapolis, Indiana, address unknown; sister – Joyce Touchette, nee Swinney (deceased); brother-in-law – Charles (Chuck) Touchette; nephews and nieces (children of Joyce and Chuck Touchette) – Albert (deceased), Michelle (deceased), and Mickey, currently resides in San Francisco, California, where she was the subject of a TV interview, Michael, whose current whereabouts are unknown.
Swinney’s parents, sister and brothers were all members, either past or current, of PT. All had been with PT in California and Guyana. The parents originally had resided in Indianapolis and went to California with Jones and numerous
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other followers in the early or mid-1960’s. Helen Swinney is believed to have been “very high” in the PT hierarchy.
Helen Swinney has a sister, Irma (LNU) [last name unknown], living at an unknown address in Tampa, Fla., who supposedly visited Jonestown in 1975, where she observed armed guards patrolling the settlement and thereafter had an argument with Helen Swinney and left a settlement after only two to three days.
Information also developed that Helen and Cleavis Swinney, along with Charles Touchette, were sent, by Jones, to Venezuela and Trinidad for the purpose of obtaining more supplies for Jonestown. The date and method of departure are unknown by [name deleted] as is the nature of supplies for which they were sent.
[Names deleted] have made numerous telephone calls to the Dover (Delaware) Air Force morgue, telephone number 302-678-6882, regarding claiming of Timothy M. Swinney’s body. It is believed they had spoken with a [name deleted].
Referenced telephone call to San Francisco reflected that Helen Swinney and Charles Touchette are known to have been aboard one of Jones’s boats, the Marceleen [Marceline] (phonetic),
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which may be identical to the Albatross III.
Original FD-302 will follow to San Francisco.
Indianapolis at Indianapolis, Ind. If not already done, attempt to locate and interview [name deleted]. It is noted San Francisco requests interview also ascertain if above two boats are the same with merely the name changed. Also ascertain address of [name deleted] and any other relatives who may furnish first-hand information.
Tampa at Tampa, Fla. will attempt to identify, locate and interview [name deleted].
Armed and dangerous.
BT