Douglas Ammerman

Douglas Edward Ammerman, age 27 at the time of his arrest, was one of two members of The Finders detained by Tallahassee, Florida police on February 4, 1987, at Myers Park, while transporting six malnourished children in a van. He was charged with misdemeanor child abuse. All charges were dropped for lack of evidence on March 17-18, 1987.¹²

The Tallahassee Arrest

Ammerman and James Michael Holwell were found with six children ranging in age from approximately two to seven years. The children were described by police and medical personnel as dirty, malnourished, unfamiliar with basic technology, and on a raw food diet dispensed only as behavioral reward. Both men were described by officers as well-dressed and declined to explain their relationship to the children in detail. They claimed they were transporting the children to a school for gifted students in Mexico.¹

Investigators found in the van a TRS-80 computer, twenty floppy disks, a telephone connection device, and a Chinese-English dictionary. The van was registered to The Finders' warehouse at 1307 Fourth Street NE in Washington D.C., which led to the February 5-6 raids on the group's properties.¹

Ammerman's brother David, who was not a Finders member, visited him in Leon County Jail and told TPD and FBI investigators that Douglas had visited their parents in Gainesville in January 1987, at which time he was accompanied by a boy he claimed was his own child.²

A TRS-80 message recovered during the investigation, attributed to Marion Pettie, directed both Ammerman and Holwell that if questioned by police they should state they were heading to Mexico to start a school. This indicates Pettie was aware of the trip and had prepared specific cover instructions.²

Legal Outcome

Ammerman was charged with misdemeanor child abuse. Bond was set at $100,000 and reduced to $20,000 on February 19, 1987. All charges were dropped for lack of evidence. He and Holwell were released on March 17-18, 1987. The Washington Post confirmed the dismissal in its article "Two Finders Released," March 18, 1987.¹²

No federal charges were filed. Ammerman does not appear in the 2019 FBI Vault document release as a subject of any continued investigation beyond the initial 1987 incident. He appears in supplemental Finders membership documents under the aliases "Kenny Rogers" and "Earnest Angel." No known public interviews or subsequent public appearances have been documented.²