The Reincarnation of a Goddess from Aztec Mythology
As the reincarnation of a goddess from Aztec mythology, Magdalena Solis devised a human sacrifice ritual. In it, her followers would brutally beat, burn, cut, and maim a victim. They would then drain his or her blood into a chalice, and drink it down while they used marijuana and peyote. The blood-filled chalice first went to Magdalena. She then passed it on to her “high priests”, the Hernandez brothers, then to her own brother Eleazar, and finally to the rest of the cult members. Things began to unravel in May, 1963, when a fourteen-year-old kid wandering around the area saw a human sacrifice ritual as it was performed in a cave. Shocked at what he had witnessed, he ran over fifteen miles to the nearest police station. The cops were skeptical, but the next day, they sent an investigator over to take a look.
The investigator and the kid headed out to see the caves – and neither was ever seen alive again. The disappearance of a cop sent to investigate the claims of grisly goings-on in Yerba Buena convinced the authorities to take the matter seriously. Police and soldiers flooded the town, and Magdalena Solis and her brother Eleazar were arrested. In the meantime, Cayetano Hernandez was killed by a disgruntled cult member. Santos Hernandez and many other cultists barricaded themselves in caves, and were killed in shootouts with soldiers and police. The authorities eventually uncovered the bodies of eight cult victims, including that of the police investigator and the kid who had first tipped off the cops. Magdalena and her brother were tried, convicted, and sentenced to fifty years behind bars. Many of her surviving followers were sentenced to thirty years.