The Finders was a 60s-style commune/cult group operating in Washington D.C. that came to public attention in February 1987 when two of its members were arrested in Tallahassee, Florida for transporting six disheveled children in a white van. The group, led by former Air Force Master Sergeant [[Marion Pettie]], was discovered to be engaged in international child trafficking operations with connections to intelligence agencies.[^1] ### The Tallahassee Incident On February 4, 1987, police in Tallahassee, Florida received a call about six poorly cared for children under the supervision of two well-dressed men. The children were dirty, malnourished, and one showed signs of sexual abuse. The children demonstrated unfamiliarity with the outside world and stated they were being taken to a special school in Mexico for brilliant children. When asked about their parents, they replied they had been weaned from their mothers and were under the control of the game caller. One child indicated they would go to people's houses and babysit, stating this was fun because they got to eat what was there and do what those people wanted them to do, but would not elaborate further.[^1] ### The Washington Raids The white van used to transport the children was registered to a warehouse in Washington D.C. This information was relayed to U.S. Customs officers and Metropolitan Police, who discovered they had preexisting information from an informant stating that a group calling themselves The Finders was conducting brainwashing techniques and that children were used in rituals by the groups. Search warrants were secured for the warehouse and a nearby duplex house owned by Finders leader [[Marion Pettie]].[^1] Inside the warehouse, investigators discovered hot tub and sauna facilities, various film sets, a video screening room, a library containing books on mind control, and a room full of networked computer equipment with a satellite link on the roof. According to U.S. Customs official [[Ramon J. Martinez]], who conducted the raids, a member of The Finders named [[Stuart Miles Silverstone]] was found inside a computer room at the duplex home, which was also equipped with a satellite link. Files on the computers contained detailed instructions for obtaining children through impregnation of female members, purchasing, trading, and kidnapping.[^1] ### International Trafficking Operations Files seized during the raids contained printouts of messages sent through an electronic mail system called telex to other networked computer terminals across the United States and abroad. One telex message was a purchase order for two children in Hong Kong to be arranged through an official at the Chinese Embassy. Others detailed activities such as bank secrecy and interests in high tech transfers in London, Europe, and Africa. A recently received message found in Silverstone's possession provided a detailed summary of the arrests in Florida and included instructions to move the children and keep them moving through different jurisdictions to avoid police attention.[^1] ### Intelligence Community Connections The investigation took a significant turn on February 6, 1987, when the FBI took over the investigation and classified all MPD reports related to The Finders investigation as Secret. According to an MPD report dated February 19, 1987, an MPD Detective reported speaking with a CIA official who told them The Finders investigation had been treading on their toes and that the CIA apparently had a vested interest in the group. The CIA connection was later confirmed when it was revealed that Finders leader Marion Pettie's late wife had been a CIA employee named [[Isabelle Pettie]], and one of his sons had worked for [[Air America]], a CIA cutout used to traffic heroin in the golden triangle region during the Vietnam War. It was also learned that [[Future Enterprises]] had provided software training for CIA employees, and that an employee of the company named [[Robert Garder Terrell]] was a member of The Finders let go in February 1987.[^1] ### Evidence of Ritual Abuse Among the evidence seized were photographs of children engaged in what appeared to be cult rituals. A photo album found during the warehouse raid contained pictures of men and children from The Finders group dressed in robes slaughtering goats. Customs officials reported finding photos showing children involved in bloodletting ceremonies of animals and one photograph of a child in chains. When news of the investigation was picked up by [[The Washington Post]] on February 7, they reported that D.C. police sources said some of the items seized showed pictures of children engaged in what appeared to be cult rituals, and that Customs officials were looking into whether a child pornography operation was being conducted.[^1] ### Connection to John David Norman's Odyssey Network The connection to broader trafficking networks was revealed in 2019 when the FBI released heavily redacted case files. A list of names and addresses found on The Finders men arrested in Florida contained names linked to both [[NAMBLA]] and [[John David Norman]]'s [[Odyssey Network]]. The FBI reported that one name was reflected in a Buffalo file concerning alleged members of the North American Man/Boy Love Association with possible murder connections, while two other names appeared as members of the Odyssey Foundation in Dallas file 145-0, which was related to child prostitution.[^1] ### Cover-up and Media Spin The satanic cult aspect of the investigation was allowed to circulate in the national press for about a week before the FBI declared their investigation had uncovered no evidence of a federal crime. An FBI spokesman stated the investigation was pretty well winding down and that they had not uncovered any evidence of federal violations, including no evidence of kidnapping or using children for pornographic purposes. The media quickly realigned themselves, with The Washington Post publishing an op-ed dismissing the incident as a hoax reminiscent of the satanic panic, comparing it to the 1987 Salem witch trial aided and abetted by newspapers and TV.[^1] ### Continued Operations Despite the 1987 raids, The Finders appeared to continue operations. In October 1991, MPD officers observed suspicious activity of well-dressed men accompanied by children at late hours of the night coming and going from a building that had been raided during the 1987 investigation. Officers observed numerous well-dressed males operating rental cars and expensive luxury vehicles entering the building at late and early morning hours. On one occasion, they observed adult males with a young male child entering the building after midnight. When stopped, a van operator told police he did research stuff and babysat children for diplomats, though officers found this story highly suspicious given the neighborhood's nature.[^1] ### Footnotes [^1]: Dovey, S. (2023). Eye of the Chickenhawk. United States: Thehotstar.