In mid-September 1978, Teri Buford left Jonestown for the last time and returned to San Francisco. The circumstances of her transfer are not completely known, but Buford herself later said she had become disenchanted with Jim Jones and vowed to herself never to go back to Guyana. She did not make the decision to leave the Temple itself, however, for another month. Two weeks after that decision, on October 27, she left a letter for Jean Brown claiming that she was going to hunt down Tim Stoen, a ruse which she used to buy time to effect her final departure.
During the two months in San Francisco, Buford wrote numerous administrative reports and letters to Jonestown. These reports should be read with the understanding that she was likely downplaying or cloaking her frustrations with the group.
These reports, which the FBI collected and put in its file RYMUR 89-4286-BB-7 – designated “Terri Buford” – are listed below in chronological order. The single PDF has been organized to match the texts.
The Buford reports should be read in the context of the reports written by Jean Brown, as well as Buford’s letters to Jones during the same period.
These reports were transcribed and annotated by Cole Waterman. The editors are grateful for his invaluable assistance and considerable eye to detail.
Other reports that appear at FBI Section 97 • R-1 • Terri Buford have been included below, with the prefix “R-1”.
|
PDF page numbers |
# of pages | Description | Text | |
| 96-99 | 4 | D21-24 | Report of 8/26/78 | |
|
238 (R-1) |
1 | R-1-D-21 | Report of 9/21/78 | Text |
|
203 |
1 | AA12 | Report of 9/22/78 | Text |
|
239-242 (R-1) |
4 | R-1-D-22 – 22c | Report of 9/23/78 (#1) | Text |
|
231-232 (R-1) |
2 | R-1-D-16 – 16a | Report of 9/23/78 (#2) | Text |
| 92 | 1 | D17 | Report of 9/27/78 | |
|
233-234 (R-1) |
2 | R-1-D-17 – 17a | Report of late September 1978 | Text |
|
100-102 |
3 | D25-27 | Report of 10/1/78 | Text |
| 93 | 1 | D18 | Report of Early 10/78 | |
| 94-95 | 2 | D19-20 | Report of conversation with Pat Richartz | |
|
155 |
1 | N6 | Report of 10/16/78 | Text |
| 55-56 | 2 | A56-57 | Report of 10/20/78 | |
|
54 |
1 | A 55 | Report of 10/21/78 | Text |
| 53 | 1 | A 54 | Report of 10/22/78 | |
|
44-45 |
2 | A 45-46 | Report of 10/24/78 | Text |
| 38-39 | 2 | A39-40 | Report of 10/26/78 | |
|
43 |
1 | A 44 | Report of 10/26/78 | Text |
| 156-157 | 2 | N7-8 | Report of 10/78 | |