Back in 1997, 39 bodies were found lying on the floor of a home inSan Diego, Calif. They had committed suicide, believing that thearrival of the Hale-Bopp Comet was the end of the world. Witheveryone seemingly gone, it begs the question of just who iskeeping up the Heaven s Gate website. Though the site itself hasn t been updated since 1997 (its Comic Sans alert banner is adead giveaway), records show that the domain has been activelymaintained. CBS Las Vegas dug into the matter a little bit deeper, finding that up until last year it had beenrenewed by the TELAH Foundation. Industrial Dehumidifier
The Foundation is seemingly linkedto a trustee of the Heaven s Gate group. Since then, who owns thedomain name has been cloaked in a shroud of mystery. ( MORE : Cult-Like Group Found Alive, No Plans of Group Suicide ) Despite the cult s demise, the group maintained an online presenceback when the Internet was just starting to take off. According toan article from the Associated Press , website design actually funded the group s activities, throughthe name of Higher Source: Higher Source designed Web sites and offered programming, systemsanalysis and computer-security services. Clients described Higher Source employees as diligent andprofessional. Centrifugal Humidifier
They said the Web-site designers didn't lookparticularly unusual for computer experts with a lot of work in theentertainment industry, with dark, collarless shirts and closelycropped hair. CBS Las Vegas finally e-mailed the website owners, who replied thatthe site is still run by the TELAH Foundation. There are only twomembers left; unsurprisingly, the remaining group members after the1997 incident also later met the same fate as the others. In asparse e-mail, few details were given: The Group left us to takecare of the website, book and the tapes that they wanted to speakfor them. [But] very few people ask for the book or tapes, so verylittle is given out. China Industrial Dehumidifier
MORE : Missing: Cult-Like Group in California Erica Ho is a contributor at TIME and the editor of Map Happy . Find her on Twitter at @ericamho and Google+ . You can also continue the discussion on TIME s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME .
The Foundation is seemingly linkedto a trustee of the Heaven s Gate group. Since then, who owns thedomain name has been cloaked in a shroud of mystery. ( MORE : Cult-Like Group Found Alive, No Plans of Group Suicide ) Despite the cult s demise, the group maintained an online presenceback when the Internet was just starting to take off. According toan article from the Associated Press , website design actually funded the group s activities, throughthe name of Higher Source: Higher Source designed Web sites and offered programming, systemsanalysis and computer-security services. Clients described Higher Source employees as diligent andprofessional. Centrifugal Humidifier
They said the Web-site designers didn't lookparticularly unusual for computer experts with a lot of work in theentertainment industry, with dark, collarless shirts and closelycropped hair. CBS Las Vegas finally e-mailed the website owners, who replied thatthe site is still run by the TELAH Foundation. There are only twomembers left; unsurprisingly, the remaining group members after the1997 incident also later met the same fate as the others. In asparse e-mail, few details were given: The Group left us to takecare of the website, book and the tapes that they wanted to speakfor them. [But] very few people ask for the book or tapes, so verylittle is given out. China Industrial Dehumidifier
MORE : Missing: Cult-Like Group in California Erica Ho is a contributor at TIME and the editor of Map Happy . Find her on Twitter at @ericamho and Google+ . You can also continue the discussion on TIME s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME .