Finders (Part 2)

[wmin...@delphi.com]

PART II

Unclassified, No. 35, Winter 1995

"The Finders: The CIA and the Cult of Marion David Pettie."

Wendell Minnick

"Bonnie" died in January 1982 when she refused to be taken
to the hospital for appendicitis. When she died Pettie and the
Finders went into a funk. Long self criticism sessions became
the norm for the Finders. Pettie decided to impregnate the
female members of the group to continue the Finders tradition to
another generation.
The next time the Finders made the news was in Florida when
two members were arrested with a van full of children propagated
on Pettie's orders. Going where is not clear.
The cult, according to the Cult Awareness Network, has a
pyramid authoritarian leadership structure. Pettie demands
unquestioned loyalty, rewarding his followers with his wisdom.
Members are required to give a substantial financial amount to
the group. Pettie encourages his followers to send cruel, often
vulgar, letters to their parents and friends. This is meant to
dissolve outside relationships, and develop an "us versus them"
mentality. Finders indulge in self criticism discussions which
result in feelings of guilt and worthlessness that are subdued by
Pettie's wisdom. This is often referred to as "transference," a
counseling term in which a cult members burden is lifted onto the
shoulders of the cult leader. The member feels both relief and
loyalty. Members are kept busy working on both productive and
frivolous projects. This keeps members too busy to question
their involvement, and results in both physical and mental
exhaustion. Once a Finder leaves the group, members make threats
by phone.
The Finders are dysfunctional adults who need a benevolent
father figure long into adulthood. Despite this simple truth,
another perspective might be worthy of consideration. Daniel
Brandt, founder of Namebase, had some curious encounters with the
Finders during the early 1980s. Though a critic of the Finders,
Brandt argues, "If I had a choice between flipping burgers or
being a Finder, I'd be a Finder." Simply put, without the
Finders, these people are losers.
Finder philosophy is based on game playing. In fact, the
Finders refer to Pettie as the Game Caller, the Student, and the
Stroller. Using the globe as their game board, Finders travel
the world playing out Pettie's games. Finders express their
philosophy with little mottos. "The name of the game is Do what
thou wilt," and "Maximum Freedom Minimum Guilt." According to
one active member, Ted Reiss, "The essence of the games is to
have an interesting, adventurous life. Goatgate was an exciting
adventure, although it was a costly one for the group, in money
and in lost members."
Charges of Satanism stem from the Finders playing out the
role of witches and warlocks for fun. Many of the games involve
word games that are nothing more than lies told to gain the
confidence of the unsuspecting. These games can be likened to
playing musical chairs on the Titanic.
Today the Finders are as active as ever, but number only
eleven members, including Pettie. Members include Ronald L.
Alleman, Stanley Berns, Mary Grogan, Christian (Kris) Herbst,
Kristin Knauth, Theodore G. Reiss, Allen Schoen, Stuart Miles
Silverstone, Randolph Winn, and Steve Usdin.
Knauth and Grogan are the only female members in the group.
Knauth, age 35, was once married to Usdin, and has been a member
since 1982. Grogan, age 46, dating Winn, is the newest member of
the group. Winn is described as a "computer whiz." Reiss works
in the Academic Computer Center at Georgetown University where he
helped develop an Internet World Wide Web page. Kris Herbst
works in the Global Press office in the National Press Building.
Alleman ("Lucky") is a former Navy serviceman who claims he
served in a SEAL team in Vietnam. Many consider Alleman the
bully of the group whom Pettie uses to intimidate members and
potential troublemakers. However, a former member described
Alleman as a "drunk who can't even get out of bed in the morning,
much less a threat."
Usdin is second in command after Pettie. Described as the
"crown prince" of the Finders who would take over upon Pettie's
death. Usdin travels between Russia and Japan on Finders
business. His control over most of the Finder front
organizations appears total.
Finders "word games" or "word play" can be seen in their
business practices. Many of the front companies are in the
National Press Building. They include AAA-1 Information Finders,
Bio World, Emergency Services, Global Press, Graphics News
Services, and Information Bank. The most active fronts are
Global Press and Information Bank. The Finders have managed to
establish Global Press and Centre for Information Research in
Moscow with Valery Bardin and Kirill Tchashchin.
Some of the Finders are members of the National Press Club.
Several years ago a few of the Finders were able to convince
someone working for CMP Publications to allow Finders to list
themselves as representatives of CMP, a respected publisher of
computer and high technology magazines. Later, the Finders
established their membership under Global Press. CMP
Publications discovered only later that Global Press members Kris
Herbst and Steve Usdin were Finders. CMP issued a stern denial
of any knowledge of a Finders-CMP connection, "none of these
individuals were ever authorized to register as CMP
representatives with the National Press Club."
This was not the first time the Finders were able to
humiliate a major corporation for their own gain. During the
1987 scandal it was discovered that Future Enterprises, a
computer training company with contracts with the CIA, had a
Finder working for them. According to representative Joseph S.
Marinich, the company was unaware Robert Gardner Terrell was a
Finder and once the discovery was made his employment was
terminated.