Autopsies Completed, Search for Answers Continues

SAN DIEGO: Doctors have completed autopsies on all of the 39 cult members who committed suicide in a Rancho Santa Fe mansion earlier this week. Tests confirm that they died primarily from lethal doses of the drug Phenobarbital. Dr. Brian Blackbourne, the medical examiner in charge of the autopsies, disputed media reports that Applewhite suffered terminal cancer. "Marshall Applewhite has no gross physical evidence and no visual evidence of cancer in his liver or any other organs," he told the Associated Press. Officials say the families of 31 group members have been notified so far. Although the group's videotapes and website constitute one of the most elaborate suicide notes in history, the search for information about their activities and their reasons for choosing to die continues. Police have removed all of the computers from the house and turned them over to the FBI. Experts will pour over hard drives in the coming weeks, looking to clear up mysteries like the world map with several cities marked on it that investigators found in the cult house. Officials hope to learn whether there may be surviving members of the cult in other locations. Meanwhile, Mark Applewhite, the 40-year-old son of cult leader Marshall Herff Applewhite issued a public apology to the relatives of his father's followers: "I am appalled by the things that have resulted from the actions of my father and others in that cult." He is not alone.