Torgo's Death Anniversary

As many of you know by now, I played Debbie the little girl in Manos The Hands of Fate and my dad played the Master.  Today's story will continue with John Reynolds aka Torgo.

Today is the anniversary of John Reynolds death.  He committed suicide on October 16, 1966.  He was only 25 years old.

I still remember the day my mother and I heard the news.  We were on our way to school.  She was a teacher on Ben Milam Elementary School on Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, and although my family wasn't military, I was a second grader at the same school.  It was Monday morning, October 17th.   Mom was driving while listening to the news on the car radio and I was daydreaming out the window when I heard my mother gasp and then burst into tears.  She instantly pulled over to the curb, and while still crying, said, "John's dead".  I knew who she meant.    She took some time to compose herself as I just sat in the passenger seat waiting for things to be normal again.  Later, I would get the details from overhearing the adults talking about it. That's when I learned he had put a gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger.   Although he was not military, he was buried at Fort Bliss National Cemetary.

He died almost exactly one month before the world premire of Manos, The Hands of Fate which was at the Capri Theater in El Paso, Texas on November 15th 1966.