DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
COMMUNICATION MESSAGE FORM
DATE: 12/5/78
CLASSIFICATION: UNCLAS
PRECEDENCE: IMMEDIATE
FM DIRECTOR, FBI
TO FBI SAN FRANCISCO (IMMEDIATE)
FBI NEW YORK (IMMEDIATE)
FBI BROOKLYN QUEENS METROPOLITAN RESIDENT AGENCY (IMMEDIATE)
FBI BALTIMORE (IMMEDIATE)
BT
UNCLAS
RYMUR
For information BQMRA, the Department of Justice has requested that autopsies be conducted by the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology on the remains of Reverend Jim Jones and six other victims of the Jonestown, Guyana, incident. The FBI has been requested to obtain consent of the next of kin in written form before the autopsies are conducted. Suzanne Jones who is in contact with BQMRA has previously declined to sign a consent for an autopsy of the Reverend Jim Jones stating she desires to consult with her brother Steve [Stephan] Jones who is to arrive
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in New York from Guyana on December 6, 1978. In your interview of Steve Jones and continuing contact with Suzanne Jones, ensure the matter of an autopsy of Reverend Jones is discussed and provide a copy of a consent form to be executed by either Suzanne or Steve Jones to them for signature. Once executed, the original of the form should be forwarded to the Baltimore office for delivery to appropriate personnel at Dover Air Force Base. A copy should be kept for the BQMRA file. The text of the consent form to be provided to the Joneses is as follows:
Date
City, State
I/we request and authorize the physicians in attendance at the Dover Air Force Base, Dover, Delaware, to perform a complete autopsy on the remains of (insert name of deceased). I/we understand that the autopsy may include an examination of the head, eyes, spinal cord, chest, abdomen, and extremities. I/we authorize the removal and retention or use for diagnostic, scientific, or therapeutic purposes of such organs, tissues, and parts as such physicians deem proper.
I/we represent that I am/we are the (insert relationship),
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legal next of kin of the deceased and entitled by law to control the disposition of the remains.
Signed
Witnessed (insert signature of FBI agent)
BT
#
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Note: The above instructs New York to continue efforts to obtain consent of next of kin of Reverend Jim Jones for an autopsy of his remains.