vault backup: 2026-05-15 13:55:43

10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/James Michael Holwell.md

@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+---
+category: "Other"
+tags:
+  - Person
+  - The_Finders
+  - Washington_DC
+  - 1980s
+summary: "James Michael Holwell, age 23, was one of two Finders members arrested in Tallahassee, Florida on February 4, 1987 while transporting six malnourished children in a van. He also faced a charge of resisting arrest without violence. All charges were dropped in March 1987."
+location: "Washington, D.C."
+---
+
+James Michael Holwell, age 23 at the time of his arrest, was one of two members of [[The Finders]] detained by Tallahassee, Florida police on February 4, 1987, at Myers Park, while transporting six malnourished children in a van. Early news reports used the name "Michael Houlihan" interchangeably; his legal name is confirmed as James Michael Holwell in court documents and FBI records. He appears under "Michael Houlihan" in Finders supplemental membership documents.[^1][^2]
+
+### The Tallahassee Arrest
+
+Holwell and [[Douglas Ammerman]] were found with six children ranging in age from approximately two to seven years. Both men were described by officers as well-dressed. They claimed the children were being transported to a school for gifted students in Mexico. Holwell was charged with misdemeanor child abuse and, additionally, with one count of resisting arrest without violence, a charge that did not apply to Ammerman.[^1]
+
+The van used to transport the children was registered to [[The Finders]]' warehouse at 1307 Fourth Street NE in Washington D.C., triggering the February 5-6 searches of the group's properties. A TRS-80 message recovered during the investigation, attributed to [[Marion Pettie]], directed both men that if questioned by police they should state they were heading to Mexico to start a school.[^2]
+
+Holwell's father was identified in at least one source as a New York high school mathematics teacher. No other background information about Holwell's pre-Finders life has been established in accessible public records.[^2]
+
+### Legal Outcome
+
+Bond was set at $100,000 and reduced to $20,000 on February 19, 1987. All charges were dropped for lack of evidence. Holwell and Ammerman were released March 17-18, 1987. The Washington Post confirmed the dismissal in its article "Two Finders Released," March 18, 1987.[^1][^2]
+
+No federal charges were filed. Holwell does not appear in the 2019 FBI Vault document release as a subject of any continued investigation beyond the initial 1987 incident. No known public interviews or subsequent public appearances have been documented.[^2]
+
+### Footnotes
+
+[^1]: Dovey, S. (2023). *Eye of the Chickenhawk*. United States: Thehotstar.
+[^2]: FBI Vault, "The Finders," FOIA case number 1372462-0, vault.fbi.gov/the-finders (released November 2019). Also: Washington Post, "Two Finders Released," March 18, 1987. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1987/03/18/two-finders-released/35b2bc13-e56d-4c72-a587-97fe83f9b7da/.

10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Ramon J. Martinez.md

@@ -6,15 +6,15 @@ tags:
   - The_Finders
   - Washington_DC
   - 1980s
-summary: "Ramon J. Martinez was a U.S. Customs Special Agent based in Washington D.C. who conducted the primary federal investigation of The Finders' properties in February 1987 and authored the reports documenting the warehouse contents, the CIA interference claim, and the subsequent suppression of the investigation."
+summary: "Ramon J. Martinez was a U.S. Customs Special Agent based in Washington D.C. who conducted the primary federal investigation of The Finders' properties in February 1987 and authored the reports documenting the warehouse contents, the CIA interference claim, and the subsequent suppression of the investigation. He was later disciplined for disclosing case information."
 location: "Washington, D.C."
 ---
 
-Ramon J. Martinez was a U.S. Customs Special Agent based in Washington D.C. who conducted the primary federal investigation of [[The Finders]]' properties in February 1987. His reports -- filed February 7, 1987 and April 13, 1987 -- constitute the principal primary documentary record of what investigators found at the group's warehouse and Glover Park properties, including the telex communications describing international operations involving children and the subsequent CIA interference in the investigation.[^1][^2]
+Ramon J. Martinez was a U.S. Customs Special Agent based in Washington D.C. who conducted the primary federal investigation of [[The Finders]]' properties in February 1987. His reports, filed February 7, 1987 and April 13, 1987, constitute the principal primary documentary record of what investigators found at the group's warehouse and Glover Park properties, including the telex communications describing international operations involving children and the subsequent CIA interference in the investigation. Both reports were included in the FBI Vault's November 2019 release of Finders documents under FOIA case number 1372462-0.[^1][^2]
 
 ### The 1987 Finders Investigation
 
-Martinez was called in by Metropolitan Police to assist with the investigation after the van used to transport six malnourished children in Tallahassee, Florida on February 4, 1987 was traced to The Finders' warehouse at 1307 Fourth Street NE in Washington D.C. He executed search warrants on the warehouse and the Glover Park duplex alongside MPD Detective Bradley on February 5-6, 1987.[^1]
+Martinez was called in by Metropolitan Police to assist with the investigation after the van used to transport six malnourished children in Tallahassee, Florida on February 4, 1987 was traced to [[The Finders]]' warehouse at 1307 Fourth Street NE in Washington D.C. He executed search warrants on the warehouse and the Glover Park duplex alongside MPD Detective Bradley on February 5-6, 1987.[^1]
 
 His February 7, 1987 report documented the following at the warehouse:
 
@@ -23,9 +23,10 @@ His February 7, 1987 report documented the following at the warehouse:
 - A video screening room with production capability
 - Sauna and hot tub facilities
 - Files referencing international contacts in London, Germany, the Bahamas, Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Africa, and Costa Rica
-- A file labeled "Pentagon Break-In"
+- A file labeled "Pentagon Break-In" (contents unexamined and unknown; the report records only the title)
 - Documents with what Martinez described as "detailed instructions for obtaining children for unspecified purposes" including impregnation, purchasing, trading, and kidnapping
-- Telex messages transmitted via MCI accounts to terminals across the United States and in foreign locations, including what Martinez identified as a purchase order for two children in Hong Kong through a contact at the Chinese Embassy[^1][^2]
+- Telex messages transmitted via MCI accounts to terminals across the United States and in foreign locations, including what Martinez identified as a purchase order for two children in Hong Kong through a contact at the Chinese Embassy
+- "Intelligence files on private families," compiled through placement of babysitter and tutor advertisements in local newspapers[^1][^2]
 
 At the Glover Park duplex, Martinez found [[Stuart Miles Silverstone]] inside a room equipped with multiple computers, printers, and satellite communications equipment, and bags of color slides and photographic contact sheets containing images of children.[^1]
 
@@ -33,24 +34,24 @@ Martinez's overall documented assessment: the files indicated "international tra
 
 ### CIA Interference and the April 1987 Report
 
-On February 6, 1987, the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] took over the investigation and took possession of the computers and floppy disks seized from Finders properties. The FBI's Foreign Counterintelligence Division directed the Metropolitan Police Department to classify all MPD reports as Secret and directed MPD not to brief the FBI's own Washington Field Office -- a division that puzzled Martinez and others at the time.[^1][^2]
+On February 6, 1987, the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] took over the investigation and took possession of the computers and floppy disks seized from Finders properties. The FBI's Foreign Counterintelligence Division directed the Metropolitan Police Department to classify all MPD reports as Secret and directed MPD not to brief the FBI's own Washington Field Office.[^1][^2]
 
-In late March or early April 1987, Martinez met with MPD Sgt. John H. Stitcher Jr., who informed him that the investigation "had become a CIA internal matter." An MPD report filed by Stitcher on February 19, 1987 had previously documented a CIA official's acknowledgment that the investigation was "treading on their toes" and that the CIA had a "vested interest" in the group.[^1]
+In late March or early April 1987, Martinez met with MPD Sgt. [[John H. Stitcher Jr.]], who informed him that the investigation "had become a CIA internal matter" and that "the Finders was a CIA front gone bad." An MPD report filed by Stitcher on February 19, 1987 had previously documented a CIA official's acknowledgment that the investigation was "treading on their toes," that the CIA had "had someone working on the case since it first broke," and that the agency had a "vested interest" in the group.[^1]
 
 Martinez's April 13, 1987 report concluded: "The MPD report has been classified SECRET... FBI had withdrawn from the investigation... FBI Foreign Counter Intelligence Division had directed MPD not to advise the FBI Washington Field Office... No further information will be available. No further action will be taken."[^1]
 
 ### Professional Consequences
 
-Martinez's reports were not released through official channels. Copies were obtained by retired FBI official [[Ted Gunderson]], who made them publicly available. The existence of the reports became widely known among researchers during the 1993 reopening of the investigation, when congressional representatives obtained copies from a private consultant named Henry T. "Skip" Clements.[^2]
+Martinez's reports were not released through official channels. Copies were obtained by retired FBI official [[Ted Gunderson]], who made them publicly available. The existence of the reports became widely known during the 1993 reopening of the investigation, when congressional representatives obtained copies from private consultant [[Henry Skip Clements]].[^2]
 
-In 1994, the U.S. Customs Service proposed to remove Martinez from his position. The stated reason was improper disclosure of case information to a close co-worker of an individual under investigation. By letter dated December 7, 1994, the penalty was subsequently mitigated to a five-day suspension without pay and reassignment from Special Agent to Physical Security Specialist, GS-080-13, Security Programs Division. Martinez declined public comment on the matter.[^2]
+In 1994, the U.S. Customs Service proposed to remove Martinez from his position. The stated reason was improper disclosure of case information to a close co-worker of an individual under investigation. By letter dated December 7, 1994, the penalty was subsequently mitigated to a five-day suspension without pay and reassignment from Special Agent to Physical Security Specialist, GS-080-13, Security Programs Division. Martinez declined public comment.[^2]
 
-### Significance
+### Significance as a Primary Source
 
-Martinez's reports, later confirmed and released through the FBI Vault's November 2019 document disclosure, remain the most detailed primary-source description of what federal investigators found at The Finders' properties. No second investigator present at the same raids independently confirmed all elements of his reports -- particularly the specific telex describing the Hong Kong children purchase -- in records accessible to the public.[^3] His April 1987 report provides the primary documentary basis for the claim that the CIA intervened to end the investigation.
+Martinez's reports, confirmed authentic by the FBI Vault's 2019 release, remain the most detailed primary-source description of what federal investigators found at [[The Finders]]' properties. The key evidentiary limitation is that no second investigator present at the same raids independently confirmed all elements of his reports in records accessible to the public, particularly the specific telex describing the Hong Kong children purchase order.[^3] His April 1987 report provides the primary documentary basis for the claim that the CIA intervened to end the investigation.
 
 ### Footnotes
 
-[^1]: Martinez, Ramon J. U.S. Customs Service Reports, February 7, 1987 and April 13, 1987. Reproduced via FBI Vault and Ted Gunderson archive. Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/ted-gunderson-fbi-the-finders.
-[^2]: MintPress News. "Losing Finders: How the US Government Worked to Keep the CIA Connection Secret." 2019. https://www.mintpressnews.com/finders-cult-us-government-worked-keep-cia-connection-secret/277948/.
-[^3]: Sword, Autumn. "Were 'The Finders' a CIA-Fronted Satanic Cult?" *Skeptical Inquirer*, February 28, 2023. https://skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/were-the-finders-a-cia-fronted-satanic-cult/.
+[^1]: Martinez, Ramon J. U.S. Customs Service Reports, February 7, 1987 and April 13, 1987. Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/ted-gunderson-fbi-the-finders.
+[^2]: MintPress News. "Losing Finders: How the US Government Worked to Keep the CIA Connection Secret." 2019. https://www.mintpressnews.com/finders-cult-us-government-worked-keep-cia-connection-secret/277948/. Also: FBI Vault, "The Finders," FOIA case number 1372462-0, vault.fbi.gov/the-finders.
+[^3]: Sword, Autumn. "Were 'The Finders' a CIA-Fronted Satanic Cult?" Skeptical Inquirer, February 28, 2023. https://skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/were-the-finders-a-cia-fronted-satanic-cult/.

10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Tom Lewis.md

@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+---
+category: "Law Enforcement & Legal"
+tags:
+  - Person
+  - Congress
+  - The_Finders
+  - Florida
+  - Republican
+summary: "Thomas F. Lewis (1924-1998) was a Republican congressman from Florida who, along with Rep. Charlie Rose, received documents from private consultant Henry 'Skip' Clements in October 1993 and applied pressure to the DOJ that helped trigger the reinvestigation of The Finders case."
+born: 1924
+died: 1998
+location: "North Palm Beach, Florida"
+---
+
+Thomas F. Lewis (1924-1998) was a Republican congressman who represented Florida's 12th congressional district from 1983 to 1993 and the 16th district from 1993 to 1995. He served six terms before retiring after the 1994 election cycle. Along with Rep. [[Charlie Rose]] (D-NC), Lewis received documents from private consultant [[Henry "Skip" Clements]] in October 1993 and applied congressional pressure that contributed to the Department of Justice reopening its inquiry into [[The Finders]] case.[^1][^2]
+
+### Background
+
+Lewis was born in 1924. His prior career included seventeen years as an executive at Pratt & Whitney aircraft, service as a B-25 gunner in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II, and service in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War where he attained the rank of master sergeant and was honorably discharged in 1954. He served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1972 to 1980, the Florida State Senate from 1980 to 1982, and as mayor of North Palm Beach from 1964 to 1971.[^1]
+
+He represented the Stuart, Florida area, where Clements was based, which accounts for how Clements made contact with his office.
+
+### Role in the Finders Reinvestigation
+
+After receiving Clements's materials in October 1993, Lewis made public statements questioning whether the government had protected The Finders at the expense of the children: "Could our own government have something to do with this Finders organization and turned their backs on these children? That's what all the evidence points to." This quote appeared in U.S. News & World Report's December 27, 1993 coverage of the case.[^2]
+
+Lewis introduced a resolution requiring the U.S. Customs Service to reinstate its Child Pornography and Protection Unit, citing data that child abuse arrests and convictions had fallen by half since the unit was dismantled and that staff time devoted to such cases had fallen to one-quarter of previous levels. This resolution was a direct legislative response to the Finders case and to what Lewis characterized as systematic deprioritization of child exploitation investigations. The resolution's outcome in the 103rd Congress has not been established in accessible records.[^2]
+
+No formal congressional hearing transcripts, letters to the DOJ, or floor statements on the Finders specifically have been located in accessible online records beyond Lewis's public statements to journalists. He retired in 1994 and there is no indication he continued pursuing the matter after the DOJ inquiry closed.[^1]
+
+### Footnotes
+
+[^1]: Wikipedia, "Tom Lewis (American politician)." GovTrack.us, Thomas F. Lewis profile, https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/thomas_lewis/406790.
+[^2]: Witkin, Gordon, Peter Cary, and Angel Martinez. "Through a glass, very darkly: Cops, spies and a very odd investigation." U.S. News & World Report, December 27, 1993 / January 3, 1994.