Thread by @ElizabethleaVos

By initially sensationalizing the Finders story, the media profited from immediate shock value while permitting this very sensationalism to become the premise for dismissing the issue, and Finders ties to the CIA to remain unexplored.

mintpressnews.com/the-finders-ci…

The Finders trail would ultimately lead to allegations of a cult involved in ritual abuse, an international child-trafficking ring, evidence of child abuse confirmed and later denied, and ties with the CIA, which was alleged to have interfered in the case.

In contrast with other historical human trafficking rings I have previously discussed, (like Dutroux) the Finders scandal presents as something of a phantom. This is due to the lack of adult victims who have come forward, an absence of hard evidence, and zero convictions.

News reports across the country headlined allegations of ritual abuse for approximately six days after the initial arrests, before a tidal shift by both the media and authorities beginning Feb 10 - as recorded by the New York Times:

archive.is/ALKZ0#selectio…

The official and media consensus became one which argued that the entire issue was a miscommunication blown out of proportion, and that the Finders were simply a 1960’s-esque “alternative lifestyle community” with unusual education methods.

However, a key set of Customs Reports, including those authored by Customs Agent Martinez, indicates that there was far more to this story and that there was evidence of criminal activity. The entire 11-page set of reports is key reading.

web.archive.org/web/2019030209…

I also described aspects of the Martinez memo and the Finders case as part of a report on alleged intelligence-tied child abuse scandals in August 2019, in the wake of Jeffrey Epstein’s death and renewed public interest in the overall subject matter.
consortiumnews.com/2019/08/23/lon…

And speaking of #Epstein, the FBI began publishing Finders investigation documents to their Vault in Oct '19, within months of Epstein's death. Other than a dismissive Vice piece, this got near zero press. web.archive.org/web/2021041418…

On their face, the contents of the FBI Vault documents appear to contradict the allegations made by former Special Agent Martinez: however if one looks carefully they also corroborate key aspects of his observations and substantiate questions re: Finders links with intelligence.

There is the admission that Isabelle Pettie, wife of Finders leader Marion Pettie, worked for the CIA during the Cold-War era and that it was her visas to North Korea, North Vietnam, Russia and elsewhere that had been approved by the State Department.

Key documents from the MPD investigation are labeled secret, just as Martinez had claimed, which is bizarre on its face if we are to believe that the Finders were simply an odd “alternative living” commune.

These and other corroborating details add credibility to Martinez’s claims regarding having witnessed other documents that indicated international child trafficking, as well as his assertion that he was told that the case had been deemed a “CIA internal matter.”

Losing #Finders: The Buried Documents that Linked the Infamous Cult to the CIA

Why label intelligence reports “Secret” then lie about it if no evidence of criminal activity or an intelligence-led cover-up existed?

My second entry in this series.

mintpressnews.com/losing-finders…

This piece provides a rundown of allegations made by Agent Martinez in the explosive Customs Documents publicly available: they were almost never quoted from in corporate press, and the one 1993 article that did cover them has been scrubbed from the internet.

Martinez alleges that he witnessed evidence of Finders intent to kidnap, traffic, trade, and produce children, at times via contacts in foreign governments.

mintpressnews.com/losing-finders…

Martinez writes that he witnessed Finders communications regarding the incident in Tallahassee, and instructions to move an unknown number of children as well as instructions on avoiding police detection.

mintpressnews.com/losing-finders…

Given just these aspects of Martinez’s account, one can conclude that the activities of the Finders warranted criminal investigation.

Debunking or confirming Martinez's claims would be a simple matter if proper records of evidence had been kept: however, FBI Vault documents admit that not only was the evidence itself unavailable, but that no detailed descriptions or photographs of the evidence were provided.

Losing #Finders: How the US Government Worked to the Keep #CIA Connection Secret

This third entry in the series evaluates & substantiates factual ties between the #Finderscult & the CIA on multiple fronts: the group itself, and the investigations of it.

mintpressnews.com/finders-cult-u…

Connections between the #CIA & the #Finders is one of the most explosive & significant aspects of the scandal because it would constitute an outlandish & perhaps criminal group purported to be abusing and trafficking children sanctioned by the most powerful government on earth.

That the CIA pops up in the cult's history and in the investigation of the cult is doubly damning.

The founder of the Finders, Marion Pettie, was an Air Force Master Sergeant who admitted that his son worked for CIA-front Air America. His wife Isabelle worked for the CIA for 20+ years, and was issued passports to restricted countries at the height of the Cold War.

Marion Pettie was also known to have had access to international “military” transportation, despite being allegedly retired from military service long before 1987.

Pictured: excerpt of unredacted TPD report provided to me by journalist Nick Bryant.

mintpressnews.com/finders-cult-u…

Lt. Lee Hart of Culpeper Virginia is recorded as having stated that he had had contact with the #Finders, and that “Pettie himself would probably go to Andrews Air Force Base and get a military plane flight to China.”

That law enforcement would assess Pettie as being able to show up at an Air Force base and obtain transportation out of the country while the Finders were under a multi-agency investigation speaks to Pettie’s direct, active involvement with military and intelligence interests.

An interview with Finders member & spokesperson Tobe Terrell, conducted by @DBrozeLiveFree of @TheConsciousRN provides corroboration of Pettie’s military connections.

theconsciousresistance.com/full-unrelease…

We know Pettie had a long career in the Air Force, but was he still working for the military or intelligence while heading the Finders group, and is this why he could so easily obtain “military” transportation?

Pettie himself admitted in court that he began his stint in hippiedom extremely early in his career while simultaneously working for the military - prior even to WWII or the creation of the CIA.

The description of his “open” apartments closely parallels the activities of recognized figures associated with the infamous MK-ULTRA project, including Dr. Louis Joylon West. In an excerpt from his book, journalist Tom O’Neill writes:
archive.is/ZOeI7#selectio…

We see a similar situation continuing decades after Pettie's initial D.C. open house, at the rural Finders property "Ragged Mountain Ranch," where the Washington Post reported that “anyone could get an organic meal without charge, without questions."

archive.is/0mx4M#selectio…

Pettie claimed that his son worked for Air America, an airline recognized as a CIA front that was involved in the Iran-Contra scandal.

@_whitneywebb extensively covered the company's links to #Epstein after it was renamed Southern Air Transport.

mintpressnews.com/genesis-jeffre…

As Webb has pointed out, Epstein would also claim to have worked for the CIA, and he would reportedly receive a sweetheart prosecution deal because he “belonged to intelligence.”
mintpressnews.com/mega-group-max…

It's also worth mentioning that former Nebraska State Senator John DeCamp, author of “The Franklin Coverup,” claimed that the Finders were associated with the CIA and that they were abusing children by means of indoctrination.

mintpressnews.com/finders-cult-u…

In addition to the connections with the military and intelligence documented in the history of the Finders and the group's founder, the CIA then interferes with the 1987 investigation, and other agencies worked to deny this fact in the 1993 DOJ inquiry.

mintpressnews.com/finders-cult-u…