Chapter 4 of The Finders

The Finders Network Is Made Public - The Tallahassee Florida 1987 Incident and Investigation - Part 12 / Feb. 28, 1987

In an article from February 28, 1987, Tallahassee Democrat reporter Jan Pudlow wrote that during a one-hour closed hearing in the Leon County Juvenile Court on February 27, 1987, Leon County Juvenile Court Judge Victor Cawthon ordered that five of the six Finders parents be reunited with their children, with supervision from the Florida Health and Rehabilitative Services until their trial on March 6. Assistant Florida State Attorney C. L. Fordham stated that the criminal case of Finders members Douglas Ammerman and Michael Holwell should be resolved on March 2, 1987 (it was not resolved, the plea deal fell through), with an unstated plea deal.  with an unstated plea deal. Florida Health and Rehabilitative Services Attorney John Pierce argued for the need for a closed hearing to Judge Cawthorn, which was granted because “sexual abuse allegations could be discussed.” However, Assistant Florida State Attorney Fordham told Pudlow in an interview that during the hearing, sexual abuse allegations were never discussed. Fordham wanted Florida to transfer custody of the six Finders children to the Washington D.C. Department of Human Resources so that a “fresher first-hand look could be made” into determining the truth of the “communal lifestyle of The Finders.”[1]