The Finders Cult - FBI FOIA files available

[jamesmsv]

I recently found out about this cult called The Finders. World-wide network of child abduction, abuse, and satanic worship/rituals, with evidence of links to the CIA. It would sound far too far-fetched to be credible... until you read the FBI files that became available in 2019.

https://vault.fbi.gov/the-finders

The documents cover an investigation carried out around 30 years ago... but nothing substantial was ever done. One wonders whether this kind of thing is still going on today, and which other crimes on this forum they could be responsible for.

[jamesmsv]

This could be far bigger than I originally thought. As I made my first pass through the 1st report I noticed this section:

Possible McMartin connection.png

As soon as I saw the word 'school' I thought of the McMartin pre-school scandal in the 1980s. The long redacted names section also suggested the many alleged perpetrators were listed here. Although the trial did start in 1987 it certainly did not finish then, and my understanding is that there was never a solid conviction. For these reasons I brushed off the thought as a coincidence.

But then, further through the file, there is a forensic report detailing the very tunnels at the McMartin pre-school that were eventually decided to have been a hoax. This report, although entitled 'preliminary', seems extremely detailed and contains phrasing that suggests it is describing actual discoveries rather than children's descriptions. For example, it describes evidence found in tunnels, very specific tunnel dimensions and mapping, and phrases such as 'a 9 foot chamber was found under Classroom 4'. Most disturbingly: "Children described entrance and exiting tunnel in triplex yard exactly where tunnel and exit were found".

Here is a sample, unfortunately the pages aren't numbered so I can't reference it exactly:

McMartin Tunnels.png

I can't decide what to make of this. I am familiar with the McMartin case and many others that could be labelled under the 'Satanic Panic' era, and I had dismissed many as exaggerations if not outright hoaxes. But this has really shaken that belief.

[jamesmsv]

Some further digging has left me quite confused - it turns out that the McMartin Tunnel Report in my prior post was not an official FBI document (although you would think that its inclusion in an FBI report would make it so...) . The page was lifted from Ted Gunderson's extensive report on the whole McMartin excavation in 1990. It is available here: http://tedgunderson.info/index_htm_files/McMartin%20Scientific%20Report.pdf
Therefore I suppose there are two questions to answer:
- did the FBI include the report extract because they believed it?
- was Ted Gunderson's investigation and report correct?

Ted Gunderson was a very divisive character. His involvement with a few very high-profile cases led many to think he was seeing conspiracy where there was none, or doing it for personal gain. I highly doubt the second point but, as for the first point, who knows...