McFALL, MO, Mar. 2 – Investigation in the Sharon Tate murder case, in which five or six persons were murdered in the Los Angeles, Calif., area back in late 1969, reached Gentry county and the McFall area during the past few days.

This was learned from Sheriff Benny Rainey of Albany and Deputy Sheriff Dallas Wright of Stanberry Tuesday morning.

Indications are that the Rev. William R. Cole, pastor of the Youth for Life organization, and several of his “flock” were involved with the Charles Manson “family” in California before they began their organic farming project in the McFall area in August, 1970. Manson, of course, and other of his followers, were charged in California in the Tate murders and other killings.

The connection came to light late last week when Los Angeles county officials contacted Sheriff Rainey in connection with the Rev. Mr. Cole and two feminine members of his “flock.”

To add emphasis to the connection, two Los Angeles county deputies, William Gleason and Paul Whitley, arrived in Gentry county Sunday and conferred with Sheriff Rainey and Deputy Sheriff Wright. They informed local officers that there are felony warrants out in California for Cole, who went by the name of Van Sickle in California, and Linda Baldwin, 24, who has been at the farm near McFall since August, 1970, with Cole.

The two deputies also were interested in the whereabouts of Patricia Baldwin, 26, at times alleged to be a half-sister of Linda Baldwin, who has not been seen in the McFall area since she was supposed to have left for Memphis, Tenn., late last August. Officers are of the opinion that she may have met with foul play because “she knew too much.”

Deputy Sheriff Wright visited the Youth-for-Life farm last Friday in a routine investigation, which apparently led to the Rev. Mr. Cole, Linda and others of the “flock” leaving for parts unknown that night.

Sheriff Rainey and Deputy Wright visited the farm near McFall early Tuesday morning and found four young men and three young women, who had spent most of the summer there, collecting their belongings at the farm.

In addition to Cole and the two young women, the Los Angeles county deputies are interested in a tape recording believed to be in the possession of Cole. It is believed that the tape contains information that would be extremely pertinent in the Manson case, which is still more or less underway in California.

The Youth for Life organization was chartered in January, 1970, in Kansas City, Mo., but when the Rev. Mr. Cole and his “family” arrived in the McFall area seven or eight months later they had a Dodge pick-up truck with a California license, according to Deputy Sheriff Wright.

The three members of the Manson “family” in California who later became Gentry countians are not wanted in connection with the actual series of murders in California. They are believed to have “split the scene” before the killings occurred.

The search for the trio continues, but indications are that it will not be centered in Gentry county — and the Youth for Life organization is no longer headquartered in the McFall area.