This Day in History: br Heaven’s Gate Cult br Members Found Dead March 26, 1997 Led by Marshall Applewhite, br 39 members of the cult peacefully br committed suicide by drinking a br mixture of vodka and phenobarbital. Clothed in matching Nike sneakers br and dark uniforms, the 21 men and br 18 women were were found in br several rooms throughout the mansion. The macabre scene was br discovered by police in a br mansion in a San Diego suburb. The Heaven's Gate members were convinced br their suicides would free them from their bodies, br allowing them to enter an alien spacecraft br hidden behind the rare Hale-Bopp comet. The cult advocated sexual abstinence br and several of the men had undergone br castration surgery, including Applewhite. None of the 39 bodies br showed any signs of br blood or trauma.