Leo Ryan Folsom Prison as an inmate. During his time in Congress, Ryan traveled to Newfoundland to investigate the practice of seal hunting. He was also famous for vocal criticism of the lack of Congressional oversight of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and authored the Hughes–Ryan Amendment, passed in 1974. Ryan was shot and killed at an airstrip in Guyana in November 1978 while his party was attempting to escape a dangerous situation. He had traveled to Guyana to investigate claims that people were being held against their will at the Peoples Temple Jonestown settlement. Ryan was killed the same day of
Leo Ryan Ryan had also asked his friend, Indiana Congressman and future Vice President Dan Quayle, to accompany himQuayle had served with Ryan on the Government Operations Committeebut Quayle was unable to go on the trip. While the party was initially planned to consist of only a few members of the Congressman's staff and press as part of the congressional delegation, once the media learned of the trip the entourage ballooned to include, among others, concerned relatives of Temple members. Congressman Ryan traveled to Jonestown with 17 Bay Area relatives of Peoples Temple members, several newspaper reporters and an NBC TV team.