# What happened to the surviving Branch Davidians?

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-surviving-branch-davidians/307142
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [June 6, 2005, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-surviving-branch-davidians/307142 "2005-06-06T16:15:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2005, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-surviving-branch-davidians/307142/1 "2005-06-06T16:15:12Z")

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[This current Pit thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=319692) asks if the Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints compound in Texas will become another Waco, where a mishandled FBI raid on David Koresh’s Branch Davidian compound resulted in a number of deaths. Koresh, the cult’s leader, was among those killed.

But what happened to the rest of them? Is there still a Branch Davidian church, perhaps with a new earthly leader, waiting for Koresh’s resurrection or something? Or were the survivors deprogrammed by their families, or did they simply get disillusioned on their own, or what? Has any serious follow-up work been done on what happens to former cult members?

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### Author: ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2005, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-surviving-branch-davidians/307142/2 "2005-06-06T16:42:48Z")

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They’re still around - and active. A small chapel had been (re)built at the Mt. Carmel site by 2002 (shortly before the tenth anniversary of the final assault) and it is visited frequently by some of the survivors and they say they hope to rebuild the entire compound. A few are still in jail.

[http://www.cesnur.org/2002/waco.htm](http://www.cesnur.org/2002/waco.htm)  
[http://www.cesnur.org/2002/waco\_001.htm#Anchor-11481](http://www.cesnur.org/2002/waco_001.htm#Anchor-11481)  
[http://start.at/mt.carmel](http://start.at/mt.carmel)

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### Author: ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2005, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-surviving-branch-davidians/307142/3 "2005-06-06T21:47:47Z")

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I knew the family of one of the surviving, in prison, Davidians. I used to work with one one the mothers of a Davidian who is still imprisoned.

From what little I read, the surviving Davidians seem to echo the same sentiments: We did not do anything wrong. I don’t know why they did this to us. And when asked about specific details. They refused to answer. Or should I say, what they answer doesn’t address the questions asked.

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### Author: ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2005, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-surviving-branch-davidians/307142/4 "2005-06-07T02:13:57Z")

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The General Association of the  
Branch Davidian Seventh Day Adventists  
Mt. Carmel Center  
1785 Double EE. Ranch Rd., Waco, Texas 76705  
Phone: (254) 863-5985  
P.O. Box 120, Axtell, Texas 76624 :eek:
