| Formation | Late 1960s |
|---|---|
| Founder | Marion Pettie |
| Dissolved | By 2003 |
| Type | Intentional community |
| Location |
|
The Finders were an intentional community and new religious movement founded in Washington, D.C. in the late 1960s by former United States Air Force Master Sergeant Marion Pettie. They believed in New Age and eastern religious ideas, particular Taoism. They came to wider public attention with the arrest of several members as part of a child abuse case, which led to accusations that The Finders were a satanic cult or an international pedophile ring. This was never proven and all charges against them were dropped. They were still in existence as of 1999, and Pettie died in 2003.
The group was founded in the late 1960s [1] by United States Air Force Master Sergeant Marion Pettie (born 1920). [1] [2] Pettie had retired from the Air Force in 1956. [3] The wife of Pettie worked for the CIA, and his son worked for the CIA front organization Air America. [4] Pettie called himself the "Stroller", [3] and gathered followers throughout the 1960s, before gathering them at a house in 1971. [3] The group's beliefs were eclectic and sourced from a variety of traditions; they combined eastern religion, especially Taoism, with New Age and Human Potential Movement concepts. [1] [2] The group was partially religiously focused, mostly made up of young adults, and were based in Washington, D.C.; [2] the belief systems of the group were kept secret from outsiders. [5] [6] Pettie described his own ideology as one of skepticism, saying that he did not "believe or disbelief things, I just hear them". [5]
Members of The Finders worked temporary outside jobs, but proscribed against permanent employment as this would lessen "spontaneity". [3] [6] A key aspect of their practice was the use of "interactive games" where one's true personality was supposed to be revealed through removal of inhibitions and delusions; to this end they made prolific use of fantasy role playing games. [1] [2] Pettie regularly sent off members to other cities on "adventures" or "games" to have them learn more about themselves. [3] Members lived communally in a residential area of D.C. [1] Neighbors sometimes complained about them being noisy. [3] According to Pettie, members of the group pooled their money. [5]
In 1980, they decided that they needed to raise a generation of toughened children, and so raised their children in a way that was supposed to replicate what they believed was the original method of living of Native Americans. The children were raised communally instead of by their parents, [1] [2] and members were expected to babysit regularly. [3] A complaint was filed in 1982 which led to an investigation that concluded there was no criminal activity. [3]
The Finders came to wider public attention when two members of the movement were arrested in Tallahassee, Florida, in 1987 and charged with misdemeanor child abuse of the six children accompanying them –the two men having remained silent when, in a public park, the police inquired as to their identity and relationship to the children. [1] [7] The men were Douglas Ammerman and James Michael Holwell, both described as "well-dressed men in suits." They used a van to transport "six scruffy, hungry children" of varying ages between 2 and 11. [8] They were described in reports as being covered in insect bites and unwashed. [1]
Many newspaper accounts of the time accused The Finders of being members of a satanic cult or an international pedophile ring; another theory held they were a front for a kidnapping ring organized by the CIA. [1] According to U.S. District Court records in Washington, a confidential police source had previously told authorities that the Finders were "a cult" that conducted "brainwashing" techniques at a warehouse and a Glover Park duplex raided by law enforcement. [9] This source told of being recruited by the Finders with promises of "financial reward and sexual gratification" and of being invited by one member to "explore" satanism with them, according to the documents. Police sources said some of the items seized showed pictures of children engaged in what appeared to be "cult rituals." Officials of the U.S. Customs Service said that the material seized included photos showing children involved in bloodletting ceremonies of animals and one photograph of a child in chains. [9]
Robert Gardner Terrell, who owned one of the raided properties, claimed "We are rational people ... not devil worshipers or child molesters" and "anything we've done is based on the desire for the children to have the richest life they could have." According to Terrell, the recovered photos of naked children were of Holwell's own children, and the dead goats shown in the photos mentioned by the Customs Service were already butchered with the children being taught how to prepare them. [10] The men were released six weeks later, with the state of Florida dropping all charges against them. [5] Federal authorities concluded that there was no evidence of criminal activity. The authorities contacted the mothers of the children, who came to Tallahassee and retrieved them. [8]
Despite this resolution, the issue was brought to wider attention in 1993 when Henry T. "Skip" Clements, an officer in private-sector consulting and a resident of Stuart, Florida, obtained a copy of the 1987 report which stated that the DC Police Department investigation into the Finders had been dropped as a "CIA internal matter." Clements alleged that the Central Intelligence Agency had compelled the U.S. Customs Service to cease the investigation, supposedly because the commune was used as a front to train agents. Clements' allegations drew the interest of two United States Congress members Tom Lewis and Charlie Rose, leading to an investigation by the Department of Justice into the Finders and the 1987 investigation. [8] [4] CIA spokesman David Christian asserted that the charges were a misunderstanding stemming from a company by the name of Future Enterprises Inc. being used to train agents, with one member of the Finders working as a part-time accountant there. [11] The CIA denied any involvement. [5]
After the allegations were dropped the group took a lower profile. [1] [2] In 1996, Pettie appeared in court to declare that he did not know where a briefcase containing about $2 million worth of the Finders' land deeds-of-gift was. He said it was kept by other members of the group. [5] Former members of the group claimed that the group had been dissolved and that the assets were held by Pettie; he denied this. [5]
The group was still in existence as of 1999. [6] Academic Timothy Miller, as part of his investigation into 1960s counterculture communes, investigated former and current members, and noted that "another long-lived commune, The Finders [...] seems to delight in not giving out information (or at least accurate information) about itself and is similarly veiled in mystery". [6] According to Miller, a former member said the group had "absolutely crazy people living there, and also these wonderfully brilliant people, this wonderful mix of souls". [6] Pettie died on October 24, 2003. [12]
In 2019, the FBI released hundreds of documents related to The Finders, noting on the FBI Vault website that it was their most requested topic. [8]
The Finders have been ascribed as an early example of Satanic panic in the U.S. Some authors have gone as far as describing the Finders conspiratorial beliefs as the 'Patient Zero' to other conspiratorial beliefs regarding the U.S. intelligence services allegedly covering up or taking part in sexual abuse. [7] [4]