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The Finders (movement)
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The Finders (movement)
The Finders were an intentional community and new religious movement founded in Washington, D.C. and Virginia in the late 1960s by former United States Air Force master sergeant Marion Pettie. They believed in New Age and eastern religious ideas, particular Taoism.
The Finders came to wider public attention in 1987 with the arrest of two members for misdemeanor child abuse, leading to accusations that the group was a satanic cult, an international pedophile ring, or a kidnapping ring run by the Central Intelligence Agency.
Marion David Pettie was born in 1920. He was an officer in the United States Air Force, attaining the rank of master sergeant and retiring in 1956, after which he did little formal work. According to a 1993 interview of Pettie by U.S. News & World Report, his wife once worked for the Central Intelligence Agency, and his son, George Pettie, worked for Air America, a covert CIA front. Pettie referred to himself as "the Stroller."
According to a 1987 Washington Post interview with George Pettie, his father became a "student of the world" during the 1960s and would spend his time in the library near their family farm. He described Marion Pettie as having "a keen sense of what people need that they don't even know themselves." Around 1971, Pettie gathered his followers for a meeting at his house in the Glover Park neighborhood of Washington, D.C., which George Pettie described as "the beginning of a new life" for his father and his followers. "They found in their communal lifestyle a more adventurous life."
As of 1987, George Pettie owned a home inspection business in Northern Virginia and broke contact with his father in 1985.
The Petties had a 90-acre farm in Nethers, Virginia near Shenandoah National Park on the road to Old Rag Mountain, known as the Pettie Farm or simply The Farm. As early as 1968, members of the American counterculture came to The Farm. In 1987, at least four visitors to The Farm between 1968 and 1973 recalled it as a place where "anyone could get an organic meal without charge, without questions." According to a 2021 letter by Virginia author Terry Alford, Pettie was "very welcoming" and surrounded by devoted friends "attracted by his intelligent and questing nature," including anarcho-capitalist Karl Hess. Pettie was also described by visitors as a "charismatic and wealthy man" in his forties.
Pettie and his followers also had a house at 3920 W Street NW in the Glover Park neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The house consisted of two attached red brick buildings, each with four apartments. They lived there until 1987 and occasionally distributed flyers advertising shared rooms for as little as $5 per night, according to a temporary resident.
In addition to the farm and house, the group owned a warehouse at 1307 Fourth Street NE, Washington.
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The Finders (movement)
The Finders were an intentional community and new religious movement founded in Washington, D.C. and Virginia in the late 1960s by former United States Air Force master sergeant Marion Pettie. They believed in New Age and eastern religious ideas, particular Taoism.
The Finders came to wider public attention in 1987 with the arrest of two members for misdemeanor child abuse, leading to accusations that the group was a satanic cult, an international pedophile ring, or a kidnapping ring run by the Central Intelligence Agency.
Marion David Pettie was born in 1920. He was an officer in the United States Air Force, attaining the rank of master sergeant and retiring in 1956, after which he did little formal work. According to a 1993 interview of Pettie by U.S. News & World Report, his wife once worked for the Central Intelligence Agency, and his son, George Pettie, worked for Air America, a covert CIA front. Pettie referred to himself as "the Stroller."
According to a 1987 Washington Post interview with George Pettie, his father became a "student of the world" during the 1960s and would spend his time in the library near their family farm. He described Marion Pettie as having "a keen sense of what people need that they don't even know themselves." Around 1971, Pettie gathered his followers for a meeting at his house in the Glover Park neighborhood of Washington, D.C., which George Pettie described as "the beginning of a new life" for his father and his followers. "They found in their communal lifestyle a more adventurous life."
As of 1987, George Pettie owned a home inspection business in Northern Virginia and broke contact with his father in 1985.
The Petties had a 90-acre farm in Nethers, Virginia near Shenandoah National Park on the road to Old Rag Mountain, known as the Pettie Farm or simply The Farm. As early as 1968, members of the American counterculture came to The Farm. In 1987, at least four visitors to The Farm between 1968 and 1973 recalled it as a place where "anyone could get an organic meal without charge, without questions." According to a 2021 letter by Virginia author Terry Alford, Pettie was "very welcoming" and surrounded by devoted friends "attracted by his intelligent and questing nature," including anarcho-capitalist Karl Hess. Pettie was also described by visitors as a "charismatic and wealthy man" in his forties.
Pettie and his followers also had a house at 3920 W Street NW in the Glover Park neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The house consisted of two attached red brick buildings, each with four apartments. They lived there until 1987 and occasionally distributed flyers advertising shared rooms for as little as $5 per night, according to a temporary resident.
In addition to the farm and house, the group owned a warehouse at 1307 Fourth Street NE, Washington.