LOS ANGELES, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- Authorities in Southern California said Sunday they found the 13 members of a small religious group they had feared might have made a suicide pact.
The group's alleged leader, Reyna Marisol Chicas, 32, was being held for questioning but no one had been charged, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Members of the group was found about noon sitting on blankets on the grass under a pine tree at Jackie Robinson Park east of Palmdale after a resident who had seen news reports about the group called the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, the Times said. Chicas was playing with some of the group's children on the swings, Capt. Mike Parker said.
"They seemed shocked," Parker said. "They said we are Christians, and we would never harm ourselves".
The five adult Salvadorans and eight children ranging in age from 3 to 17 set out from a prayer meeting Saturday, leaving behind ominous letters about their intentions. They told authorities they had spent the night at the home of a friend of Chicas.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office had issued a statement explaining why the California Highway Patrol had joined the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in the search for the group.
UPI
