Garry and Lane accompanied Congressman Leo Ryan and his delegation on their investigation of Jonestown in November 1978. On November 18, 1978, Garry and Lane escaped potential harm at Jonestown by talking their way past Temple security at a house to which they were sent that was located some distance from Jonestown's pavilion. That day, 918 people died in Jonestown and Georgetown, which comprised the greatest single loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster until the incidents of September 11, 2001. In addition, five people were murdered by Temple members at a nearby airstrip, including Congressman Ryan, who became the only Congressman murdered in the line of duty in United States history.