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James Michael Holwell

James Michael Holwell, age 23, was one of two Finders members arrested in Tallahassee, Florida on February 4, 1987 while transporting six malnourished children in a van. He also faced a charge of resisting arrest without violence. All charges were dropped in March 1987.

Location Washington, D.C. Mentions 5 Tags PersonThe_FindersWashington_DC1980s

James Michael Holwell, age 23 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. Early news reports used the name "Michael Houlihan" interchangeably; his legal name is confirmed as James Michael Holwell in court documents and FBI records. He appears under "Michael Houlihan" in Finders supplemental membership documents.12

The Tallahassee Arrest

Holwell and Douglas Ammerman were found with six children ranging in age from approximately two to seven years. Both men were described by officers as well-dressed. They claimed the children were being transported to a school for gifted students in Mexico. Holwell was charged with misdemeanor child abuse and, additionally, with one count of resisting arrest without violence, a charge that did not apply to Ammerman.1

The van used to transport the children was registered to The Finders' warehouse at 1307 Fourth Street NE in Washington D.C., triggering the February 5-6 searches of the group's properties. A TRS-80 message recovered during the investigation, attributed to Marion Pettie, directed both men that if questioned by police they should state they were heading to Mexico to start a school.2

Holwell's father was identified in at least one source as a New York high school mathematics teacher. No other background information about Holwell's pre-Finders life has been established in accessible public records.2

Bond was set at $100,000 and reduced to $20,000 on February 19, 1987. All charges were dropped for lack of evidence. Holwell and Ammerman were released 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. Holwell does not appear in the 2019 FBI Vault document release as a subject of any continued investigation beyond the initial 1987 incident. No known public interviews or subsequent public appearances have been documented.2

Sources

  1. Dovey, S. (2023). Eye of the Chickenhawk. United States: Thehotstar. ↩
  2. FBI Vault, "The Finders," FOIA case number 1372462-0, vault.fbi.gov/the-finders (released November 2019). Also: Washington Post, "Two Finders Released," March 18, 1987. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1987/03/18/two-finders-released/35b2bc13-e56d-4c72-a587-97fe83f9b7da/. ↩

Connected to

Organization
The Finders
The Finders was a Washington D.C.-based communal group led by former Air Force Master Sergeant Marion Pettie that came to public attention in February 1987 when two members were arrested in Tallahassee, Florida while transporting six malnourished children. Subsequent raids on group properties uncovered computer networks, satellite equipment, and documents describing international operations involving children, triggering a federal investigation that was abruptly halted after CIA involvement was acknowledged.
5 shared pages
viaDouglas Ammerman · Walter Kreitlow · Marion Pettie · John David Norman

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