The Finders

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History

Formation and early years

1987 investigation

[1]

Congressional inquiry

Richard Hamlin allegations

Main article: Wackenhut-Cabazon joint venture § Finders connection

Members

  • Marion Pettie: Founder and leader (the "game caller")
  • Douglas Ammerman
  • Michael Holwell
  • Robert Gardner "Tobe" Terrell
  • Stuart Silverstone
  • Kristin Knauth
  • Theodore G. Reiss
  • ...
  • Patch Adams
  • ...
  • Sid Siemer?
  • ...

Front organizations

The Finders appear to run several front organizations, including:

  • Gung-Ho Traders
  • ...

Political connections

Intelligence agencies

  • CIA - family connections of Pettie; USCS report says CIA shut down Finders investigation; MPD report quoted in the Washington Times and validated in the FBI report says a CIA agent confirmed sending personnel to "a Finders Corp., Future Enterprises" for computer training
  • Timothy Leary?

Trafficking networks

Corporate connections

  • Future Enterprises - did computer training for CIA employees; some Finders members worked there; unclear whether or not this is actually a Finders front

See also

References

  1. ↑ United States Customs Service, "REPORT OF INVESTIGATION" by Ramon J. Martinez, 1987/02/05,1987/02/07,1987/04/13

External links

News reports

Law enforcement documents

  • United States Customs Service (USCS) documents
    • Copy of the US Customs report on the Finders investigation hosted by Ted Gunderson's website
    • J. Orlin Grabbe, "End of Ordinary Money, Part I" - says Wendell Minnick was the one who posted the Customs documents online; quotes a non-public part of the USCS documents saying "The CIA made one contact and admitted to owning the Finders organization as a front for a domestic computer training operation, but that it had 'gone bad.' CIA defers all further contacts to FCIA (Foreign Counter Intelligence Agency). FCIA is distinct and autonomous organization within FBI. . . . FCIA contacts MPD Intelligence and advised that all reports regarding Finders are to be classified at the Secret level. FCIA also advised that no information was to be turned over to the FBI WFO for investigation, and that the WFO would not be advised of the CIA or FCIA involvement/contact."
  • Tallahassee Police Department (TPD) documents
  • Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) documents posted by Emma Best
  • Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) documents posted by Allie Conti (parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
    • part 1, p.41: a MPD source said that his superior Sgt. John Stycher was told by someone to back off the Finders investigation
    • part 1, p.51-52: Finders/Chronology document from the US Customs investigation which is not public but mentioned in the Orlin Grabbe article: says that the Finders warehouse was part of a previous inquiry into the system of underground tunnels beneath DC; claims that Satanic/cult ritual evidence was found in a Virginia State Police search of a farm owned by the Finders; redacted portion saying "The CIA made one contact and admitted to owning the Finders organization as a front for a domestic computer training operation, but that it had 'gone bad.' CIA defers all further contacts to FCIA (Foreign Counter Intelligence Agency). FCIA is distinct and autonomous organization within FBI"; portion with FCIA and CIA redacted saying "FCIA contacts MPD Intelligence and advised that all reports regarding Finders are to be classified at the Secret level. FCIA also advised that no information was to be turned over to the FBI WFO for investigation, and that the WFO would not be advised of the CIA or FCIA involvement/contact."
    • part 1, p.57: a Finders member interviewed on 1987/02/07 told the FBI outright that the Finders was founded to respond to emergencies and gather information (akin to an intelligence front), contradicting whatever spin people like Pettie and Terrell used to call it a self-improvement group
    • part 1, p.85: according to the WMFO case agent in the 1987 Finders investigation (probably Athena Varounis), a TV talk show host (probably Geraldo Rivera) was thought to be planning a 1989 special that would expose the Finders as a Satanic cult
    • part 1, p.97: the WMFO reviewed the MPD case file on 1993/11/04, copies of significant MPD documents were faxed to FBIHQ on 1993/11/05, a photocopy of the whole MPD file was hand-delivered to FBIHQ on 1993/11/09
    • part 1, p.114: an associate producer from the show CBS 48 Hours sent the TPD chief a letter on 1993/09/16 asking him to make available all materials from the Finders investigation
    • part 1, p.116: Rep. Charlie Rose, chairman of the House Administration Committee, sent the TPD chief a letter on 1993/09/15 asking him to provide the Committee with all available TPD reports on the Finders
    • part 1, p.118-119: significant redactions when talking about who else contacted TPD chief Melvin Tucker
    • part 1, p.136: there was a 1983 case concerning a death of Finders member Barbara Mateja which MPD never investigated as a homicide
    • part 2, p.6-9: details a 1994/01/26 interview with current USCS RAC of West Palm Beach and former (1985 to 1988) head of the USCS child pornography unit in Washington DC: says that during the 1987 investigation, someone asked him if they had any paperwork on the Finders and when he said no, they told him to keep it that way; denied any knowledge of organized child abuse in the Stuart FL area
    • part 2, p.12: a MPD officer in the Property Division told an investigating FBI agent that they couldn't locate any records relating to evidence that the MPD obtained during the Finders investigation
    • part 2, p.24: mention on 1994/12/20 of the WMFO being sent a copy of a 1987/02/19 MPD report (probably the same one mentioned in the Washington Times article about a CIA agent admitting to owning "a Finders Corp., Future Enterprises") which was marked "Confidential" and "Do Not Disseminate"
    • part 2, p.32: memo on 1995/05/09 about the WMFO closing the case due to no further leads
    • part 3, p.7: suggests that the Finders/Chronology document held by USCS was actually provided to Customs by an unnamed Tallahassee police officer
    • part 3, p.8-10: interviews the SA (probably Ramon Martinez) currently assigned to Internal Affairs who participated with the MPD in the Finders warehouse searches: TPD contacted Customs in DC to help them follow up on leads and Customs arranged contact between the TPD and MPD; the SA got involved because of suspicions that children were being sexually exploited and taken to Mexico; after the warehouse search, he tried repeatedly to get MPD to let him review the seized documents, and was unsuccessful until 1987/03/31 when he met with Sgt. John Stitcher of the MPD (now deceased)
    • part 3, p.12: the WMFO case agent who handled child pornography (probably Athena Varounis) is interviewed: says the Finders were a "bizarre" communal group whose name came from their ability to find any information; suggests that there was a moral panic due to the Meese Report and the Child Protection Act; seems to believe that Ramon Martinez and the MPD were trying to force nonexistent child abuse elements into the case
    • part 3, p.12-13: entirely redacted mention of a 1987/03/09 memorandum
    • part 4, p.3-5: proves that the US State Department did have 21 documents (totaling 70 pages) on the Finders
    • part 5, p.5-8: details someone (probably Skip Clements) alleging to Florida authorities the existence of a nationwide network behind child abuse cases in Martin County FL: on 1993/09/14 the man provided an investigator with information about the Finders; earlier on 1993/07/21 someone had sent the man a letter which was later also provided to authorities; talks about alleged child abuse at the Jensen Beach Pre-School and Jensen Beach Elementary School, with someone at the elementary school confirming that several parents withdrew their children following rumors of cult abuse; someone at the school was contacted on 1993/10/22 and confirmed the existence of Satan worshipers in the Stuart FL and Port St. Lucie FL areas but said there was no evidence of criminality
    • part 5, p.9-10: letter from the DOJ on 1993/09/20 thanks the sender for their correspondence about child sex abuse allegations, and says that medical evidence confirms abuse but a joint investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Macon Police Department could not determine who was responsible
    • part 5, p.20-23: a 1993/12/09 summary of the FBI's preliminary Finders inquiry: the MPD provided the FBI with a copy of their case file on 1993/11/09 but it did not list the items seized or the personnel involved in the searches; a WMFO SA (probably Athena Varounis) and a MPD officer were interviewed on 1993/11/08 and 1993/11/10, with both denying any evidence of child exploitation or outside interference in their investigation; the SA claims she was present during the warehouse search and observed computer equipment and records but no evidence of child abuse; on 1983/03/09 the SA filed a memo addressing discrepancies between her findings and what Martinez put in his report; someone who allegedly reviewed the Customs files on the Finders claims it only had one report from 1987 and contained no evidence of Finders involvement in child exploitation (ed. note: makes no sense given what Ramon Martinez put in his report, which Varounis admitted she saw); the same person claims that Customs files didn't mention the CIA but two MPD documents, one by Sergeant Stitcher and another by a redacted author, did
    • part 5, p.44: on 1987/02/19 Martinez was confronted by Varounis about the items he claimed to have seen, and she contacted the lead MPD detective who claimed he didn't see those items despite being right alongside Martinez during the search
    • part 5, p.54: at a BSU conference on child sex abuse in February 1987, Martinez talked about his involvement in the Finders investigation
    • part 5, p.56-57: from the FBI legal attache office in Brussels, a 1994/01/04 message indicating that the agent there remembered an investigation into the Finders but could not recall specific details
    • part 5, p.61: notes that FBI Division 5 is FCI (presumably Foreign Counter Intelligence / Foreign Counterintelligence / FCIA)
    • part 5, p.73-74: cites the MPD report dated 1987/02/19 and has most details redacted but does include the ending lines "Future Enterprises operates out of the warehouse at 1307 4th Street N.E..."
    • part 5, p.74: according to the MPD investigation, the Finders tried to infiltrate General Scientific Corporation in Rockville MD
    • part 6, p.2: document from 1994/04/28 mentions the existence of a FD-302 report that is classified "Secret" or "TOP SERIAL"
  • Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) documents posted in the Vault (part 1)
    • p.64-67: MPD Intelligence report from 1987/04/13 that has been marked "SECRET", which notes that: there were a large number of documents at the DC warehouse concerning "child rearing and shaping" as well as "manuals for master plans and "dirty tricks" for enemies of the Finders group" (p.65); quotes a Virginia State Police officer as saying that the Finders had made "attempts to take over the city government in Culpepper Virginia" (p.66); the Virginia State Police search of the Finders property in Nethers VA found cages that were, according to witnesses, used to hold children of the group (p.66); points out that the FBI investigated a Finders member in 1971 for "passing information overseas concerning activities of the Central Intelligence Agency" (p.66); the writer believes that the Finders were a CIA "disinformation service" operating in the US and overseas (p.67)
    • p.68-69: MPD Intelligence report from 1987/02/19 titled "Finders involvement with the Central Intelligence Agency" that has been marked "SECRET"
    • p.300: mention of "POLLARD, JONATHAN JAY - ASSOCIATES" in an unknown context
      • Jonathan Pollard background (TODO: move to own page)
        • Crime Library, "All about Jonathan Pollard" by Denise Noe (pages ..., 7, ...)
        • The Hunting Horse: The Truth Behind the Jonathan Pollard Spy Case by Elliot Goldenberg with Alan Dershowitz (2000)
        • Capturing Jonathan Pollard: How One of the Most Notorious Spies in American History Was Brought to Justice by Ronald J. Olive (2006)
        • Naval intelligence supervisor Tom Filkins background
          • From p.101 of The Hunting Horse:

            Agee, apparently becoming increasingly uncomfortable with Pollard (if not starting to get downright suspicious of his activities), asked Tom Fiikens, another civilian analyst and Pollard's immediate supervisor, to warn Pollard that if the domestic organizations report (dealing with groups opposed to U.S. involvement in Central America) was not soon completed, Pollard would receive an official notice that he was shirking his duties.
                The report in question was the one dealing with the surveillance of nonviolent domestic support groups. To Pollard, the report was tailor-made for someone like Filkens. Pollard alleged that Filkens had been forced to resign from an Army counterintelligence unit during the height of the antiwar effort, back in the late 1960s, due to his having conducted several illegal break—ins around Chicago. Charged Pollard, Filkens was quite proud of his previous activities and kept a copy of his discharge papers prominently displayed on his desk as a reminder, he said, of the power of "local subversives." Pollard said Filkens also had a large ashtray on his desk with the word “Auschwitz" written across it in Germanic letters.
             
          • Fort Lauderdale News, "Spy Chief Says Army Ordered Files On 800 Civilians Burned", 1971/01/05: "The civilian chief of the Army's 113th Military Intelligence Group has testified that files on 800 civilian targets of Army spying were burned last June at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center. Thomas Filkins, chief of special operations for the Evanston-based group, took the stand yesterday in U.S. District Court where the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is seeking an injunction to halt Army surveillance of civilians. Filkins said the files were destroyed following an Army order to do so because the 800 persons were judged to pose no danger of subversion. One set of files not destroyed was a two-foot cardboard box of data on Students for a Democratic Society, which Filkins said he turned over to Chicago police. He said he did not check with superiors before handing over the files. The only other files not destroyed were those on three or four individuals, Filkins said. Those were sent to Ft. Holabird, Md., to determine whether the order to burn the files applied to the individuals involved. [...] Former Army Staff Sgt. John M. O'Brien told the court Filkins used to manage intelligence operations for American and South Korean intelligence agents. ACLU attorney Alexander Polikoff theorized that this was an indication the Army felt surveillance of civilians was important enough to warrant direction by a "trained espionage agent." The ACLU case was brought after O'Brien disclosed that the Army was conducting surveillance of top Illinois political figures."
          • Church Committee Book III: "Improper Surveillance of Private Citizens by the Military" - on p.803 (page 19 of the PDF): "The Select Committee also investigated the relationship of military intelligence with a right-wing terrorist group in Chicago known as the Legion of Justice. Former members of the terrorist group told the Committee that from 1968 until 1970 “military intelligence” had directed and helped finance their activities against left-wing groups in Chicago.112 They also alleged that the Army had supplied tear gas, grenades, and bugging devices to be used against left-wing groups.113 Finally, they suggested that Army intelligence had received a film and various documents stolen by the Legion from left-wing organizations.114

            The Committee’s investigation did not substantiate any of these allegations.115 It did, however, show that Army intelligence agents had been in contact with the leader of the Legion on several occasions in regard to obtaining information on left-wing groups.116 Army agents insisted, however, that they did not realize that their source was a leader of the terrorist group, nor that the information he was offering the Army had been stolen.117" with footnote 116 being "Richard Norusis, 6/23/75 ; Thomas Filkins testimony, 10/21/75 ; and Robert Liesik, 6/27/75, former members of the 113th Military Intelligence Group." and 117 being "Norusis, 6/23/75, and Filkins, 10/21/75."
        • Alleged scapegoating by US intelligence
        • Mujahideen connection
          • From p.7 of the Crime Library article: "While the Sellas were decamping in Britain, a pale and nauseous Jay Pollard was submitting to more questioning from NIS and FBI agents. This time he admitted that he had been taking secret documents – hundreds of secret documents – out of the building. He confessed that he had even been selling them but not to a foreign power or anyone he knew to be a representative of another country. Pollard was doing his damndest to follow the guidance of his handlers that he must never, ever mention Israel. He sold the papers to a friend of his, Pollard claimed. What did the friend need them for? Pollard said he was not sure. “Maybe he was using them to help the freedom fighters in Afghanistan,” he suggested."
          • From p.??? of Capturing Jonathan Pollard: "At the time, Pollard was working in the ATAC. We still hadn’t formally met, though I recall passing him in the hallway because the ATAC was located just down the corridor from the Code 22B offices. This was about three or four weeks before my August transfer to the field office. One day, out of the blue, Pollard showed up in the Code 22B spaces, introduced himself, and congratulated me on my pending promotion. No sooner had I thanked him than he launched into a story about—what else?—a good friend of his who was the naval attaché at the South African embassy in Washington. It was a drawn-out account of how this attaché might be able to get me information on arms sales to the mujahideen in Afghanistan."
        • Chinese espionage connection
          • Times of Israel, "Pollard, The Chinese Spy", 2008/04/30: "Just because Pollard started off spying for Israel, and most Jews think Pollard was spying only for Israel, a new report from the Department of Defense, "Changes in Espionage by Americans: 1947-2007,” lists China, on Page 108, as a beneficiary, alongside Israel, of Pollard’s espionage.

            Are Pollard’s defenders now going to say that spying for China is spying “for a friend,” a harmless Zionist prank? Israel has interests, and apparently those interests included sharing U.S. defense secrets, stolen by Pollard, with China."
    • TODO: it has been claimed by some observers, but uncorroborated by this author so far, that these documents confirm "an investigation that child sex trafficking with Satanic overtones was happening within the intelligence community, then names, starting with Special Activities Division" - which parallels what George Paul Bishop claimed
    • TODO: find the purported mention of one Finders member being in the Fair Play for Cuba Committee (FPCC), the organization to which Lee Harvey Oswald also belonged
  • Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) documents posted in the Vault (part 2)
    • p.125-126: a copy of the Ballad of Ballads
    • p.133-134: MPD report stamped "SECRET", which mentions: background of the Finders starting with Ragged Mountain Ranch; a claim that members who leave the Finders face "physical pressure as well as psychological pressure" from "enforcers" in the group; how Finders member Barbara Sylvester Mateja was physically restrained at the Finders residence in January 1983, became ill, was refused medical attention, and died; the creation of a "consultant service available to the community" also known as the Finders; cult member Diane Sherwood traveling to Panama in 1981 to "contact representatives of the off-shore banking community"
    • p.136: an airtel mentioning a subject (presumably Pettie) associated with the Ragged Mountain Ranch in Nethers VA, a location which "initially drew the interest of local police authorities and military intelligence agencies due to the subject's alleged narcotics activities and his self proclaimed connection with [REDACTED]"
    • p.139-141: MPD Intelligence report from 1987/02/12, which interviews a female member of the Finders who states: that the kids in Tallahassee had been driven to Kentucky to set up the New Hope retirement village, "were going to be placed in a Montessori school", and then were taken on an "adventure" in Florida
    • p.147-148: MPD Intelligence report from 1991/10/22 about an apparent pedophile ring at the Finders warehouse providing children to diplomats, which mentions: "numerous well-dressed males, who operate rental cars and expensive luxury type models" entering the building in the late night and early morning; "adult males with a young male child" entering the building; a van which was stopped as it was leaving the building and was driven by a man who claimed to have "baby sat children for diplomats" even though the neighborhood was "not fit for baby sitting activity"
    • p.154-156: MPD Intelligence report from 1987/02/12, which interviews a female former member of the Finders and various other people who state: a property in Virginia was burned down by the cult (ed. note: apparently John Cox) to collect arson insurance money; that Barbara Sylvester was stopped from receiving medical care for a ruptured appendix; a cult member (ed. note: Holwell) worked for the US Department of Agriculture employee as a "free lance computer processor"; someone in San Francisco knew of a local cult calling themselves the Rainbow Nation which "uses children in thier practices" and was, per his belief, "loosely associated" with the Finders; someone in the Finders case had a criminal history with the Los Angeles Police Department
    • p.160: MPD Intelligence report interviewing a former Finders member who mentioned a "homosexual and a former abused child" (ed. note: Pettie or the subsequently mentioned enforcer?) and a "former enforcer" of the group (ed. note: Ron Alleman?) who would be the most likely candidate to have sexually abused the children
    • p.162-164: MPD Intelligence report mentioning how the vans camped out at the Ocala National Forest for 3 days and how some members visited Irving Fiske who lived in Ocala FL
  • Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) documents posted in the Vault (part 3)
    • p.4-6: 1994/01/31 FD-302 debriefing of John Sullivan, describing how Sullivan was told by a superior not to write any on-record reports about the Finders: "When [REDACTED] told him that nothing had been written as of yet on the group, [REDACTED] told him to keep it that way."
    • p.7-8: 1994/02/10 FD-302 debriefing of a former MPD officer (probably Jim Bradley) involved in executing the search warrant at the Finders warehouse and currently employed at a business with phone number 1-800-841-1003 (Geico?)
    • p.20-22: FBI airtel from WMFO (Washington DC field office) to the FBI director describing the CIA Office of General Counsel's review of Finders records in 1994; talks about Future Enterprises training CIA employees in the Office of Logistics from April 1986 to October 1993; on p.21 they mention a 1987/02/18 memo written by an unnamed member of Special Activities Division documenting his conversation that day with an MPD detective (probably Jim Bradley), which is said to differ from the MPD report on 1987/02/19 documenting the same conversation
    • p.24-42: FBI synopsis on 1994/04/29 of "investigation conducted to date" on the Finders matter; describes how Acting Assistant Attorney General John C. Keeney of the DOJ's Criminal Division asked FBI Assistant Director Larry A. Potts (ed. note: Larry Potts was involved in the VANPAC investigation, Ruby Ridge, and Waco siege) to investigate allegations that the Finders case was covered up; p.26-27 cites a CIA memo sent to the FBI director on 1987/02/27 describing their contact with the MPD on 1987/02/18, indicating that they first became interested in a possible CIA connection after realizing that one Finders member "frequently traveled overseas and had several passports", and mentioned Future Enterprises because it was one of many businesses mentioned in materials that surfaced in the Finders raid; p.38-39 outlines "REFERENCES TO THE CIA CONTAINED IN THE MPD FILE", such as an MPD report from 1986/09/15 describing a meeting with a source who somehow mentioned General Scientific Corporation in Rockville MD, the MPD report from 1987/02/19 by Sergeant J. H. Stitcher titled "Finders involvement with the Central Intelligence Agency" in which it mentioned the MPD detective (probably Jim Bradley) asking the SA at the CIA "if our investigation was treading on anyone's toes out there" and the SA at the CIA replying "Sort of" because "they have had someone working on the case since it first broke on the news media", and an "overview report" on 1987/04/13 by some detective; p.39 calls the Finders/Chronology a Customs document that was in the possession of the MPD
    • p.44-49: FBI facsimile in 1994/05 from the FBI director to WMFO outlining leads to pursue, such as (p.47) interviewing an unnamed source "to obtain details and all documents concerning his allegation that he had in his possession a document (origin unknown) which alleged that unnamed individuals went into the two Finders properties and "cleared out evidence" prior to the searches conducted by Washington MPD officers on 2/5/87 and 2/6/87 (ed. note: corroborates the claim of Bob Harrold a.k.a. Robert Harrold to John Brisson that the Finders were tipped off) and (p.48-49) interviewing the CIA staff employee at the Office of Security who was the "point of contact for authorities during the 1987 investigation of the Finders group" and mentioned how someone at the CIA was working the case since it broke in the media
    • p.60-63: FBI teletype on 1994/05/24 from WMFO to the FBI director describing their work to follow up leads such as the CIA staff employee (possibly a woman given the "she" pronoun?)
    • p.64-68: FD-302 debriefing on 1994/05/27 of the agent who interviewed the CIA employee in charge of the Finders investigation; notes on p.65 that they were in the Special Activities Division, a section within the Office of Security dealing with counterintelligence investigations into CIA employees, media leaks, and impersonations of CIA personnel; the agent got involved in the Finders case in 1987 due to the media coverage purportedly indicating that the Finders had a connection to the CIA (ed. note: this is almost certainly not true); p.66-68, which would have summarized their description of the two Finders connections to the CIA that they did find, are entirely redacted
    • p.69-71: Law enforcement report from an unknown agency on 1965/04/01 about someone in Virginia, currently employed by "Office of Logistics, PSD", who reportedly claimed to work for the CIA (this report almost certainly refers to Marion Pettie)
    • p.72-74: Background check of Isabelle Mason Pettie on 1969/09/22 by the Personnel Security Division; on p.72-73 mentions FBI interest dating to May 1959 about some redacted male (Marion Pettie or Joseph Chiang?) who was interested in and toured local military installations (such as Andrews Air Force Base, Bolling Air Force Base, Fort Myer in Virginia, and a Nike Missile Site in Fairfax County VA), "always seemed to carry about $1500-$2000 cash when visiting in the States", and "boasted" about something; on p.73 it describes some redacted male being interviewed by OSI representatives in 1959 and supplying "satisfactory answers" to their questioning; on p.73-74 it mentions some redacted male (Marion Pettie?) stating that "the Agency was planting seeds of doubt about" a redacted male (Joseph Chiang?), that he was "one of the more unusual types that he had met", and that he "acts as if he is in a trance"; on p.74 it mentions that Isabelle and a redacted male (Marion Pettie?) were found by Virginia State Police to have a number of cars visiting their house, some belonged to CIA staff employees, the man was interviewed by the Director of Security regarding "his personal appearance" and "the appearance of his house" after which he "admitted having smoked pot on two occasions", and he "was given an oral reprimand and certain other restrictions" sometime before resigning from the Agency
    • p.75: a 1963/09/30 announcement by M. D. Pettie advertising his communal Ragged Mountain Farm in Sperryville VA
    • p.90-92: Passport application on 1984/08/22 (likely just a renewal of her original 1979 one) for Diane Elizabeth Sherwood a.k.a. Diane E. Sherwood: born in Chicago IL on 1936/12/02; mailing address is 3918 W ST. N.W. Washington DC 20007; occupation is Finder; attached on p.91 is a prior Hong Kong passport issued 1979/06/15 that expires 1984/06/16
    • p.93-94: Passport application for Hong Kong on 1979/05/01 (expires 1984/04/30) for Barbara Faye Sylvester a.k.a. Barbara Sylvester Mateja: born in Chicago IL on 1936/12/09; permanent residence is 3918 W St NW Washington D.C. 20007; emergency contact is Judy Beltz at the same 3918 address
    • p.104-107: handwriten notes which on p.106 confirm that Bradley is the MPD detective who spoke to the CIA agent

Other articles

Questions about USCS claims

Finders' own account

Related allegations

  • Front organizations
  • Properties owned by the group
    • Charlottesville Daily Progress (from the Culpeper Star Exponent), "Notice something missing in Downtown Culpeper" by Allison Brophy Champion, 2007/11/10: "When it first opened in 1938, the Culpeper movie house was called the Pitts Theatre, one of 30 like it built by State Senator Benjamin Pitts. The Pitts family leased the theatre to Regal Cinemas in 1973 and that's when it became the State. It closed for good to the public 20 years later when a secret society known as the Finders purchased it. Except for cryptic messages that would occasionally appear on the marquee, little can be verified about the Finders' use of the theater. And then one day in 2004, "The Phoenix Riseth," appeared on the sign, evidently signaling a change in ownership. Culpeper builder and developer Greg Yates purchased the rundown structure from the Finders soon after for $300,000 following the death of Finders founder Marion Pettie. Last year, Yates turned the theater over to the nonprofit foundation and along with a volunteer board and his sister Raven Yates a course was set for restoring it."
  • Carl Shapley
    • "Alert! New Age Conman Carl Shapley on the Net", 2000/05/22: "Carl Shapley is a slight, sixty-something, American male, with a grey/straw-colored goatee beard and side parted limp hair. He is fond of wearing a beret and a bow-tie. He affects an educated accent, claiming to be the son of a famous astronomer, who we have been told, led a scientific witch-hunt against Immanuel Velikovsky, a colleague Albert Einstein. Shapley, is occasionally joined by his wife Gemma.

      For over a decade, Shapley has been claiming that he has founded a a complex international educational organisation in twelve major cities called the 'New World Academy'. He claimed to be on the verge of signing contracts for two adjacent properties in London's predigious Berkley Sq. One building was to be a school with a fancy French name, and the other a dormitory for stduents and VIPs like the elusive musician and suspected pedophile Michael Jackson, in return for being the NWA's in-house music teacher. However, Shapley, who enjoys declares he must enjoy the fine things in life, like attending the opera, has pleaded poverty to his creditors. An educational charity which he proudly boasts being involved in, has been defunct for years. He did claim to have a NWA centre in Delhi but in effect simply had a correspondence address near the central bus depot. In London, Shapley has used the English Speaking Union to hold meetings and pick up mail. He moves through New Age communities looking for victims and moves upon getting discovered. Shapley has been sighted at Alternatives in Picadilly, the Mind Body Spirit Festival, The Flowing Gold Club (run by ex-friend, small time prosperity guru Brenda Brett) and recently, at the dance venue 'Expressions'."
    • the defining moment, "The Interface of Science & Consciousness" - calls Shapley the "Founding Secretary General of the New World Educational Foundation"
    • Universal Peace Federation, "Dr. Carl Shapley in Memoriam", 201?/??/??
  • Rev. Jim Wyker
  • David Hoffman, "George Bush: World Class Monster" points out that at the time of the Finders investigation, the FBI Counter Intelligence Division (which played a role in the cover-up) was headed by Buck Revell
    • Revell Group International bio for Buck Revell: "In July 1985, Mr. Revell was promoted to Executive Assistant Director‑Investigations (SES-6) the highest rank in career Government service. He served as the Director's deputy in charge of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative, Counter-Terrorism and Counter‑Intelligence programs. He was also responsible for international investigative and liaison activities of the Bureau, including its Legal Attaché and INTERPOL operations."
    • Los Angeles Times, "Pan Am Tip Was Hoax, FBI Asserts : Call in Helsinki Citing Bomb Threat Fully Discredited", 1988/12/26: "The FBI’s counterintelligence chief said Sunday that U.S. investigators are now convinced that a telephoned tip that a bomb would be planted on a Pan American jetliner was a hoax. Oliver B. Revell III, executive assistant FBI director, said there is no connection between the threat, received earlier this month by the American Embassy in Finland, and the crash of Pan Am Flight 103 last Wednesday at Lockerbie, Scotland."
  • Skip Clements background
  • John J. Cox background
    • From the Investigative Leads memo: "Pettie's activities took a different turn in 1979 when he recruited John J. Cox. founder of general Scientific (a computer firm specializing in classified defense, contracts). Cox trained several of Pettie's Finders in computer programming and communications technologies and took two or more Of them to Costa Rica and Panama in 1980-81. Cox worked through Miguel Barzuna, a prominent Costa Rican money launderer, the Vienna, Virginia-based Institute for International Development and Cuban exile Emilio Rivera in Costa Rica and Panama. Through Cox, Pettie and the Finders linked up with several Washington area computer-oriented groups, including Community Computers, a front organziation[sic] for The Community, a cult run by Michael Rios (aka Michael Versacc). (Pettie's son, David Pettie, is a member of the Community, Pettie's other son, George, may be the one who was in Air America) Cox also recruited Theordore[sic] G. reiss (wife; Ann), 4 reston-based computer programmer and highly active member of Werner Erhard Seminars (EST). Cox also recruited Susan Gabriel and Judith Beltz as couriers. Pettie and Cox have simulated a failing out and pretend to be enemies..."
    • Langley Researcher Vol. 10 No. 1, 1971/01/08 - mentions "John J. Cox, Langley's EEO Coordinator"
    • United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, U.S. v. Perholtz, appeal decision, 1988/03/08: "Perholtz contacted John Cox of General Scientific Corporation, a manufacturer's representative for Essex Engineering, to propose a consulting agreement with Essex, in which Essex would provide the hardware and Perholtz the software for a bid on ATAP. [...] The second subcontract involved cathode ray tube terminals ("CRTs") and printers joined to the terminals. To obtain these items, Perholtz again turned to John Cox of General Scientific Corporation. Perholtz told Cox that he and Conley Dillon, a longtime acquaintance, were forming a marketing corporation, and that General Scientific should pay Dillon any commissions from printer sales to IBS. Thereafter, Perholtz asked Dillon, a full-time employee of the Department of Labor, to sign a marketing agreement and receive commission payments from General Scientific, in return for which Dillon would retain six percent of the commissions and Perholtz would receive the rest. (Perholtz said that a conflict of interest prevented him from taking the commissions directly.) Dillon then signed a marketing agreement with General Scientific, backdated before General Scientific's first contact with the SBA; Cox signed this agreement without ever meeting Dillon."
    • Daily Press (Newport News VA), "IN BRIEF", 1990/09/24: "Also at NASA Langley Research Center: John J. Cox has been named associate chief of the new human resources management division at NASA-Langley. He will be responsible for policy matters, procedures and regu lations. He was formerly head of the employee development and services branch. Cox joined NASA in 1962."
  • Charlie Nelson, "Fiders Cult in Taiwan", 2004/04/25: "The Finders cult group has moved to Taiwan, the Taipei group is run an American Journalist who had researched them in the 1990's and became a convert.The group is expanding in Taipei now.They have affiliated themselves with orphanages.The American journalist tried to set up a branch of the Finders in Korea but was expelled in 1997 by Korean police under a cloud of accusations that he had undressed pre schoolers in his care and photographed them naked.There was no evidence found in his apartment or on his laptop but he was promtly deported and moved to Taipei. He is involved in efforts to smear various anti pedophilia groups using his status as a journalist. He claims that a friend of his,ex New Zealand Police Officer, Graham Cleghorn, was set up by anti pedophila groups in Cambodia.Cleghorn was jailed in Cambodia earlier this year."
  • Alleged connection to the Cabazon reservation involving Dr. Sid Siemer
  • Whitley Strieber, "The Boy in the Box", 2003/03/14 - claims that he was taken to a school in Mexico akin to the one mentioned by the Finders
  • Connection to the murderous, drug trafficking Satanic cult in Matamoros, Mexico
    • The Finders men arrested in Tallahassee were told to say they were bringing the children to a "school for brilliant children" in Mexico
    • Missing 411 Remote Viewing Project, "A deadly cereal of deadly serial killers. CIA and Palo Mayombe. The Hand of Death Cult", 2015/09/30 - alleges that a map seized from the Finders van in Tallahassee had Matamoros, Mexico marked on it: "Matamoros, Mexico was marked on a map found in the van, along with a few other places in Mexico, but which I do not know"
    • Skip Clements discussed child trafficking to Mexico, including Matamoros, as part of the Glendale-Montessori ritual abuse case, and law enforcement records back up the Mexico connection being mentioned as far back as 1987
  • Elsagate connection
  • Washington Post, "CIA Official Sidney Gottlieb, 80, Dies", 1999/03/11: "Sidney Gottlieb, 80, the former chief of the Central Intelligence Agency's technical services division who in the 1950s and '60s directed CIA mind control experiments, including the administration of drugs and LSD to unwitting human subjects, died March 7 at his home in Washington, Va. He had a history of heart ailments. [...] On retiring from the CIA, Dr. Gottlieb and his wife worked in a leprosy hospital in India for 18 months, then moved to a farm in Rappahannock County, Va., where they raised goats and did folk dancing."
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