THE FINDERS: 100,000 Missing Children & A Very Bizarre Story In The Media

THE 100,000 MISSING CHILDREN

It’s as if it came out of nowhere. Suddenly, in 1980, record numbers of children were getting snatched off sidewalks while walking to the bus in the morning. Come the following year, the media reported that 1.8 million children disappear from their homes annually, and out of that, 50,000 were abductions. By 1982, the number of abductions had doubled to 100,000.

Until someone could figure out where all of these children were going, the papers urged parents to make sure their children only traveled in groups.

Despite the “buddy system,” the abductions didn’t slow down. Come the late 1980s, police were begging citizens to report all suspicious activity, and reporting suspicious activity is exactly what a good Samaritan did in early February 1987.

THE ARREST

The call the police received stated there were two men dressed in expensive suits who were overseeing six dirty children - such an odd sight in Tallahassee, Florida. Police were immediately dispatched and hurried to the scene.

When law enforcement arrived, they discovered the situation to be stranger than what the caller described. The children, ages two to six, were dressed in filthy, tattered clothing; none of them were wearing underwear. It was clear they had not bathed in many days. Their hair was matted, their skin covered in insect bites and bruises. They were starving. To add to the peculiarities, when questioned, the kids didn’t know their own names, let alone what a telephone, television, or toilet was. Because of this, while being interviewed, some of the kids urinated in their pants or asked permission to go outside to defecate. The youngsters explained to police they were not allowed to live indoors and were only given food when they earned it; eating was a reward, they said. Tallahassee Police described the children as very confused but noted that all of them believed they were on their way to Mexico. Stranger yet, the children stated they were from Washington, DC.

Upon further questioning, two of the children, now going by the names “Mary” and “Max,” described some of the games they would play with the adults. One game involved taking off men’s clothing, then going through their pockets in search of money. The children also described naked women. The police were able to determine that both of these children had been sexually abused. Max had been sodomized so many times that a doctor at the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services reported he had no anal sphincter control. The same doctor discovered signs of vaginal penetration on young Mary. Another child, who was too young for questioning, had bite marks all over his arms.

The men wearing expensive suits refused to cooperate with police. One of the two men, instead of providing his name, handed the officer what the police report described as a business card. On one side it had a name; on the opposite side it had a statement. The statement indicated that the man in the suit had the constitutional right to remain silent. It was clear that whoever this mystery man was, he had planned for this day. The two men were taken into custody for child abuse but they still refused to speak. The duo eventually gave police their names, Houlihan and Ammerman, which the cops suspected were aliases.

Police then discovered a passengerless 1979 or 1980 Dodge van with Virginia license plates in close proximity to the arrest site. When they opened the doors to look inside, they were immediately taken aback by the horrific stench. In the van were maps, books, a few radios, a Chinese-English dictionary, bulk condoms, a brown canvas bag containing photos of children (some fully nude), and papers that made references to addresses in San Diego, China, Hawaii, as well as references to a warehouse. In the back of the vehicle, they discovered a mattress.

Upon further investigation, they came across computer discs and some passports. The police phoned Virginia law enforcement to see if they could shed some light on this van, the men, or the six children. No sooner than that call was made, the lead detective in Tallahassee received a call from a Washington, DC, detective, Jim (James) Bradley. He stated that the detained men sound like they could be connected to a huge case he had been working on for many years. He explained the DC case was at a standstill because he needed more evidence to get a search warrant for the suspect’s property, a huge warehouse located at 1307 4th Street.

DC PD felt the Tallahassee evidence could be exactly what was required to get the judge to sign off on the warrant. DC requested the Florida detective promptly send over what he had on the case, specifically the two men and children. Time was of the essence.

Meanwhile, Tallahassee police questioned the suspects, who now both stated they were the children’s teachers. They claimed they were all headed to Mexico to establish a school for brilliant children.

Florida police suspected the children could be being trafficked, so they contacted the US Customs Child Pornography Unit. They hoped a search of their database would reveal clues. At Customs, Special Agent Ramone Martinez was assigned to the case. He ran the information through the database, but, unfortunately, there were no results.

The same day, the Tallahassee police received another strange phone call. This time from Florida State University. Here, a student had located a small computer inside a phone booth located on campus. (Remember, this is 1987, so a microcomputer in a phone booth would indeed be a shocking thing to see.) The student, amazed by what he saw, took the tiny electronic home with him and managed to start it up. To his complete and total shock, on the PC was information about the Tallahassee Police Department. The student became scared and wanted to turn the device in to the Tallahassee police.

Although there were currently no leads regarding who the mystery men were, inside the Florida van was the vehicle’s registration. On it were the addresses 3918 and 3920 Northwest Street, which were condominiums.

As if the case couldn’t get any more perplexing, an informant reported the Northwest Street residences, which were listed on the vehicle's registration, were housing children. But that’s not all the informant said. At these addresses, blood rituals and sexual orgies involving children were occurring.

Special Customs Agent Martinez was able to get the judge to expedite the search warrant for the properties. The plan was for Martinez to accompany DC officer Bradley to search the condos. This is the same police officer who contacted Tallahassee police about sending over their evidence. He was elated to finally have what he needed to make a move on the case. While Martinez and Bradley searched the residences, other DC police officers would raid the warehouse.

THE CONDOS

When Martinez and Bradley arrived at the West Street addresses, they saw large quantities of children’s diapers, clothing, and toys for infants through preschool age, but no children were on the premises.

Upon searching, Martinez discovered terrifying documents. They were instructions which emphasized the importance of impregnating female members of the “community” to produce children, as well as purchasing, trading and kidnapping children.

There were secretive telex teleprinter messages (text sent through landlines to a special machine that prints it out). One message ordered the purchase of two children in Hong Kong to be arranged through a contact - but not just any contact - the man was a member of the Chinese Embassy itself. Another telex message reminded participants of the need for “bank secrecy.”

Other documents were related to high-tech money transfers, which were coming into the United Kingdom. As he continued to read the paperwork and messages, he discovered what his later report referred to as “a keen interest in terrorism, explosives, and the evasion of law enforcement.” In the computer room, Martinez found a telex printout that outlined the arrest of two adults and six children in Tallahassee, Florida. This was followed by an emergency message that was broadcast through a computer network. It advised all participants to move the children immediately and to keep them moving through different jurisdictions. The instructions explained how to avoid being detected by law enforcement.

It didn’t take Martinez long to determine that one of the individuals who stayed in the home was a Chinese national with connections to the embassy in Hong Kong. He was in the US as a grad student in the Anatomy Department of Georgetown University (Virginia). Oddly, his visa was issued a few years prior in London, England.

The special agent would come to realize that whatever this bizarre entity was, it called itself “The Finders.”

Martinez, now fairly certain these children were being trafficked, phoned the Child Protective Unit in China and gave the officer he spoke with, Sullivan, an overview of the situation as well as names of suspects and asked him to run the information through his databases. He explained to Sullivan this case is sensitive and cannot be leaked. It was not even to be disseminated at headquarters. Agent Sullivan assured him the information would not go anywhere. After running the names, Sullivan claimed there was nothing in the database related to any of the individuals.

THE WAREHOUSE

To the detectives dismay, someone within law enforcement had tipped off the press. In fact, they were waiting on the scene when officers arrived to perform the raid. The press's interference always complicates and delays the job.

When police arrived at the warehouse, they found it was boarded shut. The building itself was padlocked with a heart-shaped lock.

Although Martinez did not attend the February 5th warehouse raid, he was given full access to the property the following day.

On the morning of February 6th, Martinez discovered that there was contact made between DC Agent Bradley and the media; however, Bradley insisted he was not the source of the leak. He blamed Tallahassee PD.

The warehouse itself, just like the condo, was equipped with a high-tech satellite dish antenna for communications. Once inside, Martinez found “numerous documents that described explicit sexual contact between the members…” He also uncovered large collections of photographs, some nude, including nude children. At least one of these images showed a child’s genitals “on display.” Other reports state there were mattresses scattered across various rooms. On one wall was a massive map of the entire world.

The police who were on the scene the prior day had gathered a photo album, which they presented to Agent Martinez. This album contained a series of photographs of adults and children dressed in white robes participating in a blood ritual. The ritual centered around the execution, disembowelment, skinning, and dismemberment of the goats at the hands of the children. This included the removal of the testes of a male goat. The series of photographs went on to depict slicing open a female goat’s womb to remove the baby goats, followed by the removal and presentation of a goat’s head to one of the children.

Further inspection of the premises disclosed numerous files relating to the organization’s activities in different parts of the world. Locations included London, Germany, the Bahamas, Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Africa, Costa Rica, and assorted locations across Europe. There was also a folder labeled “Palestinian.” Additionally, there were files bearing assorted project names, one of which was called “Pentagon Break-In.” There were folders titled with the names of families not related to the organization. These contained overwhelming amounts of information on them, including their addresses, habits, identities, occupations, and more. Disturbingly, there was also a plethora of information on assorted child care organizations.

While searching the large property, Martinez discovered what he called an “indoctrination center.” It was a video room that allowed the Finders to create their own content and then use it for brainwashing purposes. Outside the video room was what appeared to be a sacrificial training area for children. This room had an altar. Many jars of urine and feces were found here.

The raids also turned up a new address, this time a 90-acre farm in Virginia. Virginia State Police were tasked with figuring out who owned the property and searching it. 

The overwhelming amount of evidence gathered from the warehouse now needed to be processed.

Special Agent Martinez was assured by Bradley that all seized documents would be made available for US Customs to view after processing.

Bradley stated it would take approximately three to five days for all the information to be logged by DC police, then the official review could begin. The men parted ways.

THE CULT

The Washington Post was said to have been the first to break the story. They reported that a confidential police source told authorities that the Finders were a cult. The source also stated he personally was recruited by the group with “promises of financial reward and sexual gratification,” and, as a member, he would get to explore Satanism. Taking the anonymous source at his word, the Finders officially became a cult.

THE FARM

When Virginia police arrived at the farm, they began interviewing neighbors who had a surplus of oddities to report. Some told law enforcement that they saw vans containing children arrive frequently. Others confirmed the abundance of children and further stated that the kids often screamed and cried. Another told law enforcement the children ranged in age from 18 months to early teens. They said when the vans would arrive, the driver would park on Virginia 646, then walk the load of children, in groups of four or five, about a quarter of a mile to get to the on-premises cabins. Another neighbor said the owner of the farm was a boy scout leader.

When police searched the cabins, they discovered that, internally, the members of the organization referred to the farm and its cabins as “the Nethers.” Here, they located evidence of satanic rituals as well as a plot to take over the Culpeper, Virginia, government. Additionally, they found cages for housing children.

Although it is unclear how the information became known, the VA Police report states they became aware that bodies were buried on the farm, so they ordered an excavation. The excavators dug up approximately 30 total feet of the 90-acre farm. No bodies were discovered on that specific dig site, so they ceased digging.

Meanwhile, back in Florida, Officer Scott Hunt made a statement to the media. He said he believed the children were not kidnapped. He claimed the parents gifted their kids to the Satanic cult because surrendering your children to them was a rite of passage. It is unknown where this information came from.

FEBRUARY 9TH

The Tampa Tribune published a statement from a man named Robert Terrell. Terrell’s purpose was to explain the entire situation, starting with his claim that the police were blowing it all out of proportion and the media had it all wrong. There is no cult, and there actually isn’t anything going on, he said. Yes, the two men were indeed with children, but they were all on their way to Kentucky to establish a retirement community for old folks. Here the children would be placed in school. However, the trip was delayed, so the group decided to go vacationing in Florida instead.

Carl Shapely, a man who claimed to be the financial developer behind the retirement home, backed up Terrell’s statement. Shapely went on to explain why the neighbors at the farm heard children screaming. He said, “Anyone who knows children knows that when they are delighted, they scream.” See, it was actually just screams of joy all along. Regarding the photographs of naked kids, these were just typical loving parent photos, no different from the pictures you have of your kids in the bath tub. The photos of the goats were also nothing more than a misunderstanding. Those animals were already slaughtered. The children were present so that they could be “taught the experience.” And those white robes, those were just to protect clothing.

The same day, the Washington, DC, police department made a public statement. They said they had not uncovered any evidence of a cult, let alone satanic rituals. The FBI parroted the same and added there was no evidence of any federal violations. It’s surprising that, in four days, they were able to go through all that evidence - the evidence that would take up to five days just to index - and not only go through it but reach a conclusion of innocence. The media then stopped reporting on it entirely, and, in a matter of weeks, the Tallahassee police closed the case.

ALMOST TWO MONTHS LATER

After a lengthy silence, Martinez reached out to Bradley on March 31st. They set up a meeting for April 2, 1987. At this time Martinez would finally get to review everything that was obtained during the raids.

Martinez arrived in DC at 9 am to meet with Bradley but was informed that he was not available, so he spoke with a third party off the record. This individual told him all the passport data had been turned over to the State Department for them to investigate. The State Department then stated there was no crime committed and no action would be taken.

The third party further said that the investigation as a whole had been taken over by a different agency and the FBI had entirely withdrawn. Martinez was told his services were no longer needed in Washington, DC. No further action was to be taken on this case by any unit within Customs. Requests for records of any form, including “detailed analysis,” which could be used to prosecute under the Mann Act, Neutrality Act, or child pornography laws, would be “unsuccessful.” Martinez was ultimately forced to close the case on his end.

Within the DC police, Sergeant John Stycher advised his detective to, quote, “step away from the Finders case.” All reports regarding the Finders were to be classified at the top-secret level. The sergeant ordered that no information was to be turned over to the FBI Washington Field Office. Further, the FBI was not to be advised of the situation. The children discovered in Tallahassee were ordered to be turned over to individuals who claimed to be their parents or guardians.

Now the next question is, “Who was the agency that took over the case and forced everyone to a screeching halt?”…

THE FINDERS

It turns out that the leader of the Finders was a man named Marion David Pettie. Marion, born in 1920, was a high-ranking officer in the United States Air Force. He retired in 1956, only a few years before founding the Finders. Marion’s wife worked for the CIA, as did his son. In fact, his son, George Pettie, worked for one of the CIA’s front airlines, Air America (Read my ebook Evergreen and the Black Budget Operation.)

The police, through their investigations, uncovered that Mr. Pettie was knowledgeable in hiding money and had access to a variety of bank accounts as well as front companies. One of the fronts operated as a food distribution company for those in need. Another front company, which was literally called The Finders, offered to match clients to services they needed in any matter. According to police reports, back in 1981, Marion had sent a member of the organization to Panama to establish offshore bank accounts as well as a newsletter / communication service.

The morning of the raids, Marion was tipped off by someone within the police force, so he absconded. A lieutenant of the Virginia Police Department was concerned that he had gone to Andrews Air Force Base and was given a military plane flight to China. History now reports the Finders as nothing more than another cult, just “a new religious movement founded in Washington, D.C. and Virginia,” but is that really what they were?

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

• The men in expensive suits…
• Refusing to talk to authorities, preprinted business cards…
• The DC police quickly jumping in, requesting to see all information Tallahassee had…
• Multiple properties…
• The tiny computer in the phone booth…
• The press tipoff to slow down the raid…
• High-tech computer and transmission equipment, which was used to help the Finders move the children right before law enforcement arrived…
• Connections to the Embassy, London, Germany, the Bahamas, Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Africa, Costa Rica, and more…
• The student from Georgetown University…
• The need for bank secrecy…
• Brainwashing…
• The conflicting story of going to Kentucky to build a retirement community versus going to Mexico to open a school for the gifted…
• The FBI suddenly dropping the case…
• Media silence…
• Most disturbingly…
• The video room…
• Blood sacrifice…
• Pedophilia…
• Directions to kidnap children…
• 100,000 children a year suddenly abducted…
• The name of the organization was the “FINDERS”…

…

…

…

…they were finding children for the organization…

THE ENCORE

A few years later, in 1991, a member of the Washington, DC, Police Department’s Organized Crime Unit filed a rather interesting internal report titled “Possible Child Pornography.” This report said that on October 22nd, he received a call from one of the midnight street patrol officers. The officer, who worked the dangerous part of town, was gravely concerned at what he had just witnessed, which was two men, both on foot. Both had exited high-end rental cars after midnight and walked into a building. What made the officer concerned was that this was not the first time he had seen these men at this location so late at night that it was now early morning. He remembered the men from prior occasions on which they were accompanying minor children into the establishment. It was such an odd scene. Why were these children awake at this hour? What were these men doing in this building so frequently? And what’s with the rental cars? The police officer recalled that they also drive a van.

The men were so suspicious that the officer had previously pulled them over in their van to question the driver. When asked what he did for a living, the driver’s response was “research stuff.” He then went on to say that he also babysits children for diplomats. The cop informed the driver that this section of town was very dangerous, especially at this hour, and that it is not a good place for babysitting children. Because he had committed no crime, there was nothing further police could do, so the men, children, and van were free to go about their business.

But the reason for the urgent call this time around was that these men, who had just exited the flashy rental cars, despite being in the bad part of town after midnight, were walking into the warehouse that used to be owned by the Finders, and both were wearing expensive suits…

Let’s now look at a handwritten note authored by FBI special agent Ted Gunderson:

The Finders - CIA front established in the 1960s. It has TOP CLEARANCE and PROTECTION… Assignees are tasked with kidnapping and torture programming… Members are specially trained government kidnappers…

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