[Editor’s note: The State Department FOIA release of 1981 withheld the name of a Jonestown relative from this cable. It is denoted below in red type.
[The text for this document was released in 2014 by the now-defunct Wikileaks website at https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/1978STATE144548_d.html. This URL may be available through the Wayback Machine.]
UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 01
STATE 144548
ORIGIN SCS-06
INFO OCT-01 ISO-00 /007 R
DRAFTED BY CA/SCS/JGUNN/MRER
APPROVED BY CA/SCS/SADOBRENCHUK
CA/SCS/RLRIVERA
——————103322 072257Z /14
P 072204Z JUN 78
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY GEORGETOWN PRIORITY
UNCLAS STATE 144548
E.O. 11652: N/A
TAGS: CASC(HARPER, ARTEE)
SUBJECT: W/W ARTEE HARPER
1. DEPARTMENT CONTACTED BY MR. CHARLES WHITE CONCERNING WELFARE AND WHEREABOUTS OF MOTHER, ARTEE HARPER. MS. HARPER IS REPORTEDLY A MEMBER OF THE PEOPLE’S TEMPLE, AND RESIDING IN JONESTOWN. SHE HAS NOT BEEN HEARD FROM FOR APPROXIMATELY ONE YEAR.
2. DEPARTMENT REQUEST THAT CONSULAR OFFICER ATTEMPT CONTACT MS. HARPER WHEN HE VISITS JONESTOWN IN AUGUST. PLEASE INFORM RESULTS VIA DIRECT RELAY CABLE TO MR. CHARLES WHITE, 2579 OAK GLENN, FORRESTVILLE, MARYLAND 20028, TELEPHONE 301-350-1591. POST’S EFFORTS APPRECIATED.
3. PRIVACY ACT AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED IN CASES WHERE INFORMATION IS TO BE RELAYED TO-INQUIRER BY DEPARTMENT OR POST. AUTHORIZATION SHOULD BE INCLUDED AS A SEPARATE ITEM IN ANY REPORT TO THE DEPARTMENT.
VANCE [Secretary of State Cyrus Vance]
UNCLASSIFIED
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