Editing The Finders (movement) (section)

=== 1987 child abuse investigation ===
The group came to national public attention in February 1987, when two male members, Douglas Ammerman and James Michael Holwell, were arrested in [[Tallahassee, Florida]] for misdemeanor [[child abuse]]. The two men were accompanied by six children and, when questioned by police as to their identities and relationships with the children, remained silent.<ref name="Melton2009" /><ref name="Theisen2019">{{Cite magazine |last=Theisen |first=Lauren |date=2019-11-11 |title=This cult from the 80s was Patient Zero for Epstein and Pizzagate conspiracies |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-finders-cult-from-the-80s-was-patient-zero-for-epstein-and-pizzagate-conspiracies/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707184916/https://www.vice.com/en/article/7x53vg/the-finders-cult-from-the-80s-was-patient-zero-for-epstein |archive-date=2022-07-07 |magazine=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]] |language=en-US}}</ref> Police reports descried Ammerman and Holwell as "well-dressed men in suits" and the children as "scruffy" and "hungry," varying in age between 2 and 11.<ref name="Schweers2019">{{Cite web |last=Schweers |first=Jeffrey |date=2019-10-29 |title=FBI releases 'Finders' files after 3 decades; Declassified investigation linked to Tallahassee child abuse case |url=https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/local/state/2019/10/29/fbi-vault-the-finders-florida-tallahassee-child-abuse-case-files/2487934001/ |website=[[Tallahassee Democrat]] |language=en-US}}</ref> The children were also described as being covered in insect bites and unwashed.<ref name="Melton2009" />

After the arrests, law enforcement issued a nationwide search for the children's parents, with a focus on Kentucky and San Francisco.<ref name="Saperstein1987" />

Contemporary newspaper accounts accused The Finders of being a satanic cult, an international pedophile ring, or a kidnapping ring organized by the CIA.<ref name="Melton2009" /> According to U.S. district court records, a [[Informant|confidential police source]] had previously told authorities that the Finders were "a cult" that conducted "[[brainwashing]]" techniques. The warehouse and [[Glover Park]] house were both raided by law enforcement.<ref name="Saperstein1987" /> The source claimed to have been recruited by the group with promises of "financial reward and sexual gratification" and of being invited by one member to "explore" satanism with them. Police sources and [[United States Customs Service|U.S. Customs Service]] officials said that the material seized in the raids included photos of children engaged in "cult rituals," including ceremonial bloodletting of animals, and one photograph of a child in chains.<ref name="Saperstein1987">{{cite news |last1=Saperstein |first1=Saundra |last2=Churchville |first2=Victoria |date=1987-02-07 |title=Officials describe 'cult rituals' in child abuse case |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1987/02/07/officials-describe-cult-rituals-in-child-abuse-case/11f05df1-48e0-41f7-b46d-249c0bd2bc39/ |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=March 18, 2022 |access-date=March 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220318042448/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1987/02/07/officials-describe-cult-rituals-in-child-abuse-case/11f05df1-48e0-41f7-b46d-249c0bd2bc39/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Robert Gardner Terrell, who came forward as the owner of 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, recovered photos of naked children were of Holwell's own children, and the "bloodletting" photographs were of already-butchered goats, with the children being taught how to prepare them.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1987-02-09 |title=Finders member says group doesn't perform Satanic Rituals, abuse children |url=https://apnews.com/article/7af63fb1427d686863373dd43651571e |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220322173732/https://apnews.com/article/7af63fb1427d686863373dd43651571e |archive-date=2022-03-22 |work=[[Associated Press]] |language=en-US}}</ref> 

The men were released six weeks later, with the state of Florida dropping all charges against them.<ref name="Culp960209" /> 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.<ref name="Schweers2019" />

The 1987 investigation received 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 a report which stated that the Washington, D.C. police investigation into the Finders had been dropped as a "CIA internal matter." Clements alleged that the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] had compelled the [[United States Customs Service|Customs Service]] to cease their 1987 investigation because the commune was used as a front to train agents. Clements' allegations drew the interest of two U.S. representatives, [[Tom Lewis (American politician)|Tom Lewis]] and [[Charlie Rose (politician)|Charlie Rose]], leading to a [[Department of Justice (United States)|Department of Justice]] investigation.<ref name="Schweers2019" /><ref name="Sword2023">{{cite news |last1=Sword |first1=JD |date=28 February 2023 |title=Were 'The Finders' a CIA-fronted satanic cult? |url=https://skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/were-the-finders-a-cia-fronted-satanic-cult/#jd-sword |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314062751/https://skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/were-the-finders-a-cia-fronted-satanic-cult |archive-date=14 March 2023 |access-date=2 April 2023 |work=Skeptical Inquirer}}</ref> The CIA denied any involvement,<ref name="Culp960209" /> and CIA spokesman David Christian asserted that the 1993 accusations were a misunderstanding stemming from a CIA training contractor, Future Enterprises Inc. where one Finders member worked as a part-time accountant.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Skorneck |first1=Carolyn |date=17 December 1993 |title=Justice Department looking at alleged CIA ties to commune |url=https://apnews.com/article/4c5cd8141e930159ea3e4f0492a41ade |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101115456/https://apnews.com/article/4c5cd8141e930159ea3e4f0492a41ade |archive-date=1 November 2020 |access-date=29 August 2022 |work=[[Associated Press]] |language=en-US}}</ref>