In February 1977—after three pre-teens, Mark Stebbins, Jill Robinson and Kristine Mihelich, had been abducted in Oakland County, MI, and murdered, and just weeks before my brother Tim met the same fate, The Traverse City Record-Eagle began running a series of news articles by reporter Marilyn Wright about the child porn and pedophilia ring being run on North Fox Island as well as child porn rings linked throughout the country and internationally. North Fox Island, in Grand Traverse Bay, MI, was owned by the very wealthy Francis D. (Frank) Shelden, a member of a prominent family in Bloomfield Hills, Oakland County, MI. [Clarification: Shelden had ties to Ann Arbor and Bloomfield Hills, MI. His family was from Grosse Pointe, MI.] Shelden used his position in a fake social program, “Brother Paul’s Children’s Mission,” to fly boys in his private plane to a “boy’s nature camp” on the island.
Wright’s articles ran until December 1977. There was an update in August 23, 1978. The headline read: “Porno figure [Shelden] running out of places to hide.” Some 20 years later, on August 5, 1996, the paper reported Shelden died in the Netherlands at age 68 of natural causes and explained he had been charged with criminal sexual conduct with a 14-year-old boy and a 10-year-old boy in Port Huron two decades earlier, but fled the country and was never extradited.
Wright did a fantastic job of investigative reporting about Shelden and his partners, Dyer Grossman, Adam Starchild and Gerald Richards, and the sick web of “charitable” organizations they incorporated to facilitate their crimes. This was sound reporting at every level and given who Shelden was and how much dough he had, and how close-mouthed the FBI has always been (even today—flouting FOIA laws as a matter of course), it cannot have been easy to track down the information she reported.
Wright’s reporting in The Record-Eagle was extensive. The Detroit area news barely touched this mess—including the criminal sexual conduct charges filed on behalf of two boys in Port Huron, MI, against Shelden and his buddy Richards. In the months leading up to Wright’s reporting, The Ann Arbor News published a glowing article in their weekend magazine about the great philanthropist, Frank Shelden (“Hey, can I take your son camping and then pay for his college education?!”; Director at Cranbrook Institute (boys school, of course); and an active participant in the Big Brother Program!!). The Ann Arbor News then published a second story when his crimes were exposed. Oops. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Fox_Island
It sounds like another Northern Michigan newspaper is set to take a look back at Shelden and the child porn and pedophilia rings that encompassed his island “retreat” in the next few days. I have no doubt the reporters will do a great job uncovering information that has for far too long been submerged far below the surface so that wealthy pedophiles and their families could walk with their heads held high for many decades.
I’ve written a little about Shelden in my blog and have received some very interesting comments about this man and his associates. On May 1, 2013, “Larry” commented on one of my blog entries with some very interesting observations and information. http://catherinebroad.blog/2013/04/24/search-terms-used-to-access-this-blog-yesterday-4-23-13/
He said: “I think n. fox is at the heart of this case and what happened to your brother.” At that point, Larry had been researching Fox Island for about three years and had been researching the child sex and porno rings that ran wild in the U.S. in the 1970’s and 1980’s. He offered to help in any way he could.
Frankly, I wasn’t sure what to do with the information. Law enforcement is not interested in this angle: It didn’t get touched back then and it isn’t going to get touched now. And, while I agree that Fox Island has some relation to the OCCK, I have never been able to adequately articulate what the various connections could be. Others have done a better job of this, and I will cite to one such source (a book available on Amazon.com) below.
Larry told me investigative reporter and longtime child advocate Ken Wooden had done extensive research on Shelden and Grossman and that he and/or his daughters probably still had the files. http://www.childluresprevention.com/about/kwooden.asp; and http://www.childluresprevention.com/about/Pulitzer_Prize_Nomination.pdf. Larry also cited two very interesting links. One was a link to a YouTube video of a documentary that first aired in the early 1980’s, “Boys for Sale.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMzucrZKmwY While it is highly disturbing, it is mandatory viewing for anyone wanting to understand how child porn and pedophile rings flourished during the time of the OCCK murders.
The second link is to the transcript of the U.S. Senate hearings in May and June of 1977, “Protection of Children Against Sexual Exploitation.” http://archive.org/stream/protectionofchil00unit#page/n1/mode/2up. Use the search function to read up on what Shelden’s lackey, Gerald Richards, had to say in his testimony on child porn/pedophilia. If you try to search for “Francis D. Shelden,” “Frank Shelden,” “Shelden,” or “Sheldon,” you won’t get any hits, even though all of those terms appear in the transcript. Oh trust me, Richards and the Senators go way-easy on Golden Boy Frank. Gerald Richards was a very evil man, despite his contrite b.s. testimony to the contrary. More on that in the next post, which will include documents from the Michigan State Police file on the CSC charges against him and Shelden from 1976 and 1977. While Richards had some amnesia attacks during his softball session with the Senators, he was very specific when he was interviewed by the MSP. And the file includes transcripts of some statements given by adults who remember what he did to them as children in his “clinic” in Port Huron. He was, in addition to being a phys ed teacher at a boy’s school (go figure), a naturopath. Apparently the filming of child rape and porn did not only take place on Fox Island—Richard’s “doctor’s” office was also used as a film set.
Every time I post the words Frank Shelden (deceased), Dyer Grossman, Gerald Richards (I believe deceased), or Adam Starchild (has many aliases; he is apparently deceased as well, but who knows with all those aliases?), I get immediate emails/messages from people begging me not to talk about them because people are investigating this angle on the side (not law enforcement, of course), or warning me to “be careful.” Yet in the year I have been blogging (one year on 1/31/14), not one person has published anything about or come to any conclusions regarding these men.
However, it’s not like any of this stuff—and much more, hasn’t been said before. Check out Portraits in the Snow: The Oakland County Child Killings . . . Scandals and Small Conspiracies, by M.F. Cribari (available on Amazon.com), which contains a lot of background and research on these animals. And, in response to Larry’s question of May 1: Yes, I do think information about these men in the book is accurate, and that the assumptions/conclusions are justifiable and supportable. That author had the guts to say it. Nobody else has.
If you don’t think this kind of stuff happens, or that wealthy people like Frank Shelden would be involved in child porn or trafficking, try on two other books for size, both documenting child sexual abuse of monsterous proportions in the 1980’s by “upstanding citizens.” One is The Franklin Cover-Up: Child Abuse, Satanism, and Murder in Nebraska, by John W. DeCamp. The other is The Franklin Scandal: A Story of Powerbrokers, Child Abuse & Betrayal, by Nick Bryant.
I will add a screen shot of my stats page in the next few days because any time I use the words Frank Shelden, Dyer Grossman, Adam Starchild, North Fox Island, or anything relating to The Franklin Scandal, it sets off all kinds of Google and other alerts. I predict a visit or two from The Netherlands and the UK. Can you imagine who must have been on the client list for N. Fox Island—the list that was destroyed, along with all kinds of other evidence, when word got out that CSC charges were going to be filed against Richards and Shelden?
I applaud the reporters involved in revisiting this story. Like so many stories about voiceless victims, it demands to be told.
And, a mere 23 minutes after my post, visits from Ireland, Korea, Sweden and France. Save your comments saying my stats get tampered with; the point is, I never get hits from these countries unless my posts relate to the above subjects in some way.
It’s the new world order, Cathy. That should be your focus instead of what you’re blogging about. Lol! Don’t just focus on your brother……….take on the entire world!
Just like back then…..instead of finding the killer, look for the impossible-a serial killer that visits funerals, a painter that drips evidence, someone with a mental disorder that only kills on holidays (or near holidays), someone who may imitate a homosexual serial killer……like say,-The Doodler.
“the sick web of “charitable” organizations they incorporated”??? Is there a list?
I have forwarded your post on to the Leelanau Enterprise.
This post makes alot clearer and makes alot of sense.
Follow this idea.
For a porn ring to work they must be sure that the one variable is controlable. That variable is the children victoms and the only way you can control children is by fear.
To make a pediphle ring work the kids need to be scared of death or of harm to their families. The ring would also have to be able to hush up any incidents which means police and media.
I think a kid was killed and shown in the media early on in their ring to show the kids that they better behave and be quiet about it. I also believe the OCCK was done to shut up any possible kids thinking of talking about this pediphle ring. It was a message to those kids who were victoms of this ring.
I am not saying any of these kids killed were involved in this ring. They were not victoms of the ring. They would not want to kill a kid who they make money off unless that kid was about to talk. What i think they did was tell all thier kids to watch the news because they were going to show thier power and what happens when people think about talking.
That it was boys and girls killed was just by convenience or to show they could kill both. Maybe that was a message that their siblings were not safe either.
I think the reason they did it when they did it was because info was coming out about fox island. The timing you mention in you blog post points that out. That info was coming out was a break in thier media power and thry would need to keep everyone in check.
Busch’s suicide/ murder was also a message to the finders of the kids to keep their mouths shut too.
Busch must have been a kid finder. They needed kid finders to make the whole thing work. How else would thry have product (kids). They needed people to find these kids and pick the kids up and drop them off. Greg greene was another one. The ability to show up in the kids neighborhood or be able to watch the kids by living in those kids neighborhoods would be a way to keep the kids from talking. I bet the keepers ( busch) showed up in these kids dailey lives to keep a eye on them and intimidate them to be silent.
Well said, Mike.
I don’t think it takes much to “hush up” the police and/or the media. They simply aren’t interested. Period.
I talked to a counselor whose job was supposed to be helping victims of human trafficking. However, she has other tasks to do and little time to offer counseling as her degree demanded. No one is willing to help though it’s a hot topic in my area. That’s all it is-hot topic.
I decided to take a back road the other day. Got on the road from Gog to Magog and when I came back off the Interstate my rearview mirror looked the same as it had about 10 miles earler. They think there’s a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Mike, you have made some shrewd observations. You have pointed out the only sensible answer I’ve come across explaining why OCCK killed kids of both sexes. Also, if we think like porn traffickers do, i.e., that kids are “product”, as you say, we can figure out with better logic what moves the traffickers would have made. Thanks.
Hello Mike, I agree you have to be a certain sort of person to get a child to go with you even half willingly. We can all think back to being kids and some adults who try to get us to like them we just knew even as small people were off and not to be trusted. I had an uncle like this he tried real hard for my brothers and I to like him but he hugged to tight and teased us mercilessly when we were young. he always just gave me what I would now call a bad vibe. Psychologically to get a child to like you and allow you to approach even when it is all over the place that there are dangerous strangers takes talent and mad skills. Pedophiles pick neighborhoods and places where kids are out in the open ready to be influenced and just plucked. There is a sense of reciprocity we even teach our kids that put them in danger. We teach them to be kind and polite and more importantly to be receptive when someone is nice to us even from a very early age. These people are very cunning and clever they know how to get in and get close and also how to get out and get out fast if it goes wrong or bad. I still often think back to those days and how different my life was before the killings and then after, things were never the same for any of us ever again. What happened taught me that the boogeyman was real and could take us too at any time. I even taught that to my now grown kids, it changed all of us. I always counted myself lucky that he did not get my family like he got yours Catherine, but in the end he got all of in one way or another.
Catherine:
Please do not post.
This puts shivers down my spine and made my heart stop. Mission and boys clubs and philanthropy? Here’s another angle – how about using churches to launder the money from the sales of these videos and other money for sex trade? I truly suspect this at the church we left that Teddy is funneling his pension money through illegally. I am now going to read every link to every article and book to see if something pops out at me. This makes me so sick.
Jessie
>
Agree with your words.
This/These international circuit(s) that traffic children might even be linked to Bohemian Grove. Just my way of thinking outside the box. Powerful careers and lives would be made a shambles should exposure occur – hence, the cloak-and-dagger behavior and cryptic circumstances that every investigator is blocked by should they venture too close to uncovering something. As you know full well Cathy, power and corruption are bedfellows.
Very well said, Mike. Cathy keep in mind: Russia and any names with a “v” in it, like Ivan or Evan.
Another relevant and potentially helpful comment, left in response to a much earlier post–
John commented:
Francis D Shelden (Frank Torey)
Born into a very wealthy Anne Arbor, Michegan family on 4th September 1928.
BA (Botany) Yale, Msc Geology Wayne State Uni, Ph.d Michegan Uni (not completed). Father Alger Shelden. Grandfathers Henry D Shelden and Russell A Alger. In the 1970’s had over $2 million in cash/investments. Also homes In Michegan, Aspen, Antigua, a private jet and owned North Fox Island. 1976 prior to trial for child sex charges (with Dyer Grossman and others) he absconded.
This description of Francis Shelden is strikingly similar to the description of the current Island Manager of Fox Island, as per this website:http://www.bptransportation.com/index_mich1.html
No, I know David Johnson. I wrote the only book on these islands, The Fox Islands North and South. I have interviewed David Johnson and have been to South Fox several times. Don’t put him in the same category as pervert Shelden. You wouldn’t want to spread this on the Internet and do damage to an innocent person. He is a property developer and investor
Miss Firestone,
I will have to agree that Dave Johnson does not fit into the pedophile association. I hunted on the South Fox Island several times and found Dave to be a likeable fellow.
I have read your book. If it is the one that is titled ” They Came To South Fox Island by Kathy Nickerson Craker “. I have a copy signed by Mr. Johnson.
Chapter 9, ” THE DRUG DEALERS “, (one page) does tell about North Fox Island. This is from your book; “Late in 1976, North Fox Island also gained notoriety when its owners were charged with operating a pornography operation involving young boys who were taken to North Fox under the pretext of being taken to a camp for boys. The most prominent figure in this ALLEGED crime is now a fugitive, believed to be living in the Netherlands.”
That’s what is mentioned in your book.
Now you will have to step back and take a look at what people and the families are angered about.
Deception!
If anyone out there has information about the owners of North Fox Island wether it be individuals or corporations it would be nice to know what they have. They may have the key to the puzzle of the kidnapping, terrorization, molestation, rape, bondage and several other unspeakable crimes against a multitude of children NOT to mention the deaths of 4 children from Oakland County.
Owning a island doesn’t make one a criminal or a pervert.
Knowing someone and visiting a island doen’t make them not guilty.
Money and power corrupt. There is a lot of money in Oakland County and the actions of the PA Cooper makes me more and more suspicious that there is some money changing hands or favors being called to keep a lid on what the King Family has discovered.
I have emailed you and asked you to get in contact with me so I could find out more about North Fox Island. Never heard a peep.
I had the news approach Dave Johnson about what he knew about North Fox Island, dead end there also.
Dave Johnson did own North Fox Island. His lawyers can probably tell you what person took the last step on it !
This is a deep bucket of do-do you stuck your toe in and I’m afraid the stink will last a long time.
As always,
Thomas Ascroft
Earlier blog post on N. Fox and Shelden–
http://catherinebroad.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/north-fox-island-circa-1975-76/
I don’t recall getting an email from you, and I always try to answer my emails. If you get a chance to read The Leelanau Enterprise front page, which is supposed to come out tomorrow, I think you will see that I am supportive of the King family. What happened to these kids makes me sick. The first book I wrote was They Came To South Fox Island, which was later updated to include North Fox Island, so I changed the name to The Fox Islands North and South. The piece I wrote for the Enterprise was originally intended for the history section of the paper. History writers like me are limited to about 800 words so there was so much more I could have written if I’d been allowed more words. When the editor saw what I wrote, he decided to put it on the front page, and a reporter has written more about the subject and has interviewed more people. I haven’t seen any of the reporters words yet. If some leads come out of this, I will be happy.
Kathleen, Can you supply dates when the Leelanau Enterprise published articles about the porn activity on the island? I am trying to locate it on line, my only option as I’m in Georgia. Thanks so much
Wow! I read the Senate testimony… All I can say is truth is stranger than fiction! Hopefully, that on bit of information that blows the case wide open will one day get revealed… Soon! In the meantime, good luck Catherine!
There is a photo of Frank Shelden in my book, and this photo may also appear in the Enterprise tomorrow.
Kathleen, I’m guessing your book is not in print anymore? How would one obtain a copy?
You can get a never used copy from me, including an update sheet, for $18.00 plus $2.00 shipping. Or you can find various priced ones on ebay, probably without the update. When I wrote this second version, property swaps were happening; that’s mainly what the update sheet is about. If you are interested, send me an email, and I will give you my address.
Thanks… wejell@yahoo.com.
Cathy, your blog has been linked to on a thread on the David Icke forum. We are actively researching international child abuse networks. This may account for some of the hits from outside the US you have been getting.
Catherine, what an incredible post! And I see it has turned over a furrow of responses. Good! Good! Somebody (Mardi Link?) needs to do a comprehensive book on Fox Island.
To bitamoney and others. The Leelanau Enterprise article hadn’t been printed yet, maybe this week. The last I knew, the editor was still interviewing.
I found this post when I was searching for scandals connected with Cranbook Institute. When I toured the institute, I had a strange psychic experience and a very strong feeling of darkness and heaviness which continued to increase as I toured the grounds and crossed over to Christ Church across the road. I continued to feel this heaviness as I later drove up the road and past the Manresa retreat and the Masonic temple up on Woodward. Since that time, I have avoided driving down that road because of the feeling that I get, which is so disturbing. I have suspected that these buildings and properties are connected by underground tunnels and that something really bad happened there. So, when I was searching this, I found your story. I am genuinely sorry for your loss. I don’t know how to explain my experience and I have often hoped that it was just a figment of my imagination, but my fear is that there is much more to this story than anyone knows. I am sorry to say that I do not believe that these things ended in the 1980s.
I think you are right Katie very right and things that happened at Cranbrook were also covered up as well, very completely and carefully. I grew up in Royal Oak and well recall the events Catherine speaks of in this blog. I graduated from Dondero in 86′ and since have rarely been home to Michigan. I have over my travels met people from back home and one who became a friend shared a story with me about his years at Cranbrook School. He came to live in West Bloomfield in the 80’s as a teenager when he dad worked for Stroh’s Brewery downtown. After a night of too much BBQ and Micro-brew he told me the story of what happened to him as a kid. He attended Cranbrook in the early 80’s starting at age 12 and almost immediately he gained the attention of two teachers who treated him extremely well and helped him catch up with these elite students.Not long after he was molested by both of these teachers at different times and this abuse went on for over two years. he was told if he said anything he would get kicked out of school and his dad would lose his job so he went along. When this finally came out after all that time he was asked to leave the school and his dad was let go from his job. so everything that was said came true in spades. his family moved back to be close to their extended family out of state and my friend was sent to a boarding school for troubled teens in New England for the rest of his schooling. He found out later that his parents took a settlement to keep things out of the paper and that money paid for him to go to the very pricey school back east. to this day my friends parents will not discuss the terms of the settlement only saying that they can and will be sued if they even talk to him about it. My friend has had some serious issues with depression, suicide attempts and drug use, he recalls distinctly the time before this happened and what he became after what happened. Turns out the teachers never lost their jobs or had any issues that came out publicly in the press. He found out later they both retired from the school, so heaven knows how many boys they got at over the years and Cranbrook covered up for them and their own high reputation.
If what you say is true, screw the threats at lawsuits. One of those people could be a murderer! I’m sure who ever paid the money out will have a hard time in the courts if their busy proving they weren’t involved in any killings.
“All that is necessary for the forces of evil to succeed/triumph is for enough good men to do nothing.”
Kathleen, I just finished reading your book. Very interesting information/correspondence and pictures! I was very surprised that you had correspondence (“fax”) from a former North Fox owner as late as 1995! A year before his alleged death. I assume he somehow contacted you, and not the opposite?
Has your article in the Enterprise been published yet?
Thanks for reading my book and for your kind comments. I wrote to Frank Sheldon as I was writing the book. I had never met him. But I knew of the allegations against him. I was able to contact him through a friend who knew Franks lawyer. I promised I would not ask about the crimes, but only about other things having to do with the island. He did answer my letter, and the information was used in the book. He said he would like a copy of the book when I finished it. About the time it came off the press, Frank was reported to have died so I didn’t pursue getting a book to him. The FBI called me after I got the letter from Frank, and told them why I had communicated with Frank. I believe I sent them a copy of my letter to Frank and his letter to me.
The Leelanau Enterprise has not printed my piece yet because they wanted to add other articles to accompany it. I think March 8 is the new date for publishing. I know the family of another victim has been interviewed. I will see that a copy gets to Catherine Broad.
Kathleen Firestone
The Leelanau Enterprise printed a front page story in this weeks issue, concerning the crimes and North Fox Island.
Cathy, if you didn’t get to see the whole Enterprise article, let me know and I will mail you a copy. Maybe the editor has already done so.
Kathleen Firestone
I remember the story and have a separate seemingly unrelated story yet it touched on local officials past and current and interestingly enough I can’t find any stories on how a decorated war hero and then manager of the Bellaire Airport is convicted of letting a DC8 fly in powerless “1” time with ties to Carlos Lehder and he only serves time in county jail with work release. I’m thinking you’re touching on the exodus, dilution and sterilization of organized crime by moving to rural areas. Why did the Bellaire Airport get a highly modern and sophisticated landing system? How did his still living son end up with a sizeable trust fund? What happened to the distribution side of that fly in? Why are there no stories to be found on the internet? Did flights to NFI originate from Bellaire? Ever hear of the Italian Hall Massacre? The story is different but the underlying components of power, greed, corruption and cover-up are alive and well throughout all walks and all societies of humanity and as usual a few bad people can negatively impact good people on large scale. The “1” time lie is an unspoken joke.
I’m still very intrigued by the North Fox Island aspect of this story. From time to time I hit google, just seeing if anything new has been digitized and indexed for public view.
I found a photo of Frances Shelden’s private lodge on North Fox Island at the below link. The interesting thing is that this is a scan of an actual historical document. The back of the photo is included, and it indicates it comes from the archives of the Detroit News.
Interestingly, in blue handwriting you’ll notice “Frances Shelden Sex Change”
I don’t know what to make of this- but it adds an interesting theory to Shelden’s disappearance.
http://store.historicimages.com/products/rry01609
I agree, Jmk1981.
There was a 1975(?) Detroit News/Free Press interview done on the island. In it, there is a pic of the main house from the beach side. If you go to google earth, you can see the triangular foundation and landing strip are still there.
Also, K. Craker Firestone wrote a book; “The Fox Islands, North and South”. She interviewed Shelden via fax in the mid-90’s! The book has a few pics of him and one of the structures on the island.
I found this blog post some time ago as well- a group of college kids camped out on North Fox Island and blogged about their experience nosing around with photos. They didn’t seem to have any pre- knowledge of the camp, and didn’t seem to know what they were looking at.
They refer to it as a creepy abandoned Boy Scout camp.
I’ve checked on Google earth too, I actually think the triangular structure you’re referring to is one of the camper’s cabins (check out the link below). These kids also stumbled into a nicer cabin buried deep in the forest- which I think is Shelden’s. The fire engine red shag carpeting and a custom made black leather sectional sofa/bed thing are visible.
One of the photo captions really haunts me- the blogger talks about one of the abandoned cabins having a ‘creepy basement’.
I’m kind of stunned that so many structures are still standing on North Fox Island, it seems like it would be a good idea for modern law enforcement to make another trip to see if new evidence comes up related to the OCCK case or other cold cases.
http://littlemisssun.blogspot.com/2011/06/fox-island-2011.html
I’ll try to post a grainy, low quality copy of a pic of his house, taken during the 1975 interview.
It says “sex charge” not “sex change.”
Ah, that would make much more sense. Sorry, my mind automatically interpreted the handwriting in the most salacious way possible.
Oh, I don’t know about a sex change, I recall reading that he had changed his name (known to the FBI)…
North Fox Island is owned by the State of Michigan ,managed by the Mi. DNR.
Sold a couple of times from a couple of private owners it now belongs to the State.
I read reference to the house and cabin, the house was burned down the cabin is all that remains.
The Recreational Aviation Foundation (RAF)as you will read on the internet is leasing the airstrip only and has made it a public use airport for anyone to use. The RAF has worked with the the DNR and the MDOT-Aeronautics Departments to provide a safe place for recreation.
Although the island has a terrible a troubled past the RAF is seeking to change that.
It is a beautiful place to visit now, luckily the most dangerous creatures on the island now are one lonely coyote and billions of mosquitoes
In Charlevoix and have questions after reading blog. I believe I have stumbled across a person serving in public office who could be associated with what happened on N. Fox Island
Have you ever seen this document? http://m.openjurist.org/730/f2d/421/national-bank-of-detroit-v-d-shelden-trust-company-of-virgin-islands-ltd-j
It says Shelden had a home in Antigua in the British West Islands – And lists his will and trustees, is there a way to research if these places or people ever received any $$$ around the time he supposedly died? It’s also so weird that some other big wigs of Detroit like DeVos (from holland) and his partner Jay Van Andel were from graduates from Yale as well and both knew how to fly. And what happened to Sheldens brother Alger Shelden Jr. ? Or the Detroit lawyer last appointed as Sheldens trustee L. Bennett Young? It really makes you wonder just how far this stretches, I wonder who the two boys he has listed to receive education funds in that link were, and why… And it says Michgan Judgees knew Sheldens whereabouts in March 1982 thanks to correspondences and notarized documents so why not go arrest him? At one point a man in the Netherlands was appointed as the trustee but then removed so a lawyer in Detroit could take over, it really makes me wonder if more big wigs in the Detroit area were involved as well.
I have seen that document, Sarah–thanks for posting it. Sheldon went to the Netherlands because there was no extradition treaty with the U.S., therefore he could never be extradited for trial in Michigan. The prosecutors for Port Huron and the Ann Arbor areas let this guy go. They were “too busy” to issue arrest warrants. Shelden was long-gone and Gerald Richards had already cleaned out file cabinets and ditched “client lists” before the cops showed up to search for evidence. Based on the skimpy MSP file I saw on this case, the client list probably included men from all over the country who flew up to N. Fox Island for the “nature camp.” There have been rumors for a long time of the involvement of a state senator (not sure if it was Michigan or another state), which would also explain why this thing was covered up the way it was. All of them–Shelden, and other participants in raping boys and purveyors and watchers of child pornography, as well as law enforcement (local prosecutors to FBI agents) who looked the other way or caved, should rot in Hell. Shelden could not be extradited, but he could use the U.S. courts to move and protect assets. L. Bennett Young–bleacher seat in Hell.
Sorry–U.S. Senator.
Cathy, In the 1960s and 1970sI was blessed to spend my summer months on South Manitou Island, located about 30 miles south of North Fox Island. As young boys and adolescents my brother and I knew Frank Sheldon as he was an occasional visitor to South Manitou Island. We spent time going on day outings, at community camp fires etc. He was one of the few pilot’s that I met as a young man and his love for flying and the freedom he seemed to have as a pilot was part of the inspiration that lead me to learn to fly. I was probably about 14-15 years old when the story broke about Frank. My mother was very concerned about what Frank may have done to here sons. Fortunately, Frank must have been smart enough the not exploit relationships with friends children, or, my younger brother and I were very lucky that he never abused our relationship. Frank had paid for a female friend of ours education at Interlochen as a kind gesture to a struggling family that had a gifted child. After the sex scandal was published she was also asked if Frank had abused his relationship with here. She said no. Frank was creepy. I think that his creepiness did not let me want to spend any time alone with him. What surprised me the most about the post indictment months and years were the Frank Shelden sightings reported by “his friends and acquaintances” around the campfires. Is was not unusual for someone to say “Frank came to his condo in Ann Arbor a few weeks ago. I had lunch with him. He took care of some business and then got back out of the country before the Feds knew he was here.” or “We were thinking about going to the Bahamas this winter and staying with Frank at his place.” Imagine you are a 16 year old boy that not too long ago these same “grown ups” were concerned that Frank had raped you and now they are aiding and abetting a know pedophile. Now, as an adult, I am only too aware of how money and the power that comes with money corrupts people. The house that Frank kept on North Fox has been virtually abandoned since the early 1970s. There were no more trips to North Fox Island by Frank post investigation. By the time of the OCCK murders Frank was spending most of his time on the run. I am not saying that he had nothing to do with the abductions and murders. All I am saying is that Noth Fox Island was being watched by the Island Communities that surround it. Beaver Island, which is located just to the North of North Fox Island is full of residents that would have provided Island Justice to Frank if he had ever tried to come back to “his island”. Unfortunately, I, too, know what it is like to lose a brother to a yet unsolved murder. By brother was murdered in Florida in 1984 as part of a gang initiation. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time and it cost him his life.
Thank you for your observations, JS. Whether or not Frank Shelden had any knowledge of who may have been involved with the OCCK murders, Fox Island is probably a big reason why the OCCK investigation ultimately derailed. There were some heavy-hitter clients who visited Shelden’s “nature camp” for boys. Big money, big titles, “nice” guys you would never suspect. Somebody somewhere made sure no roads would lead to, nor questions asked of, these fine, upstanding citizens. Possible suspects in Oakland County wound up dead; no kids are known to have been murdered by the OCCK(s) after March 1977, therefore no need to look at anyone affiliated with Fox Island. Ever. Oh yeah, and luckily the FBI’s storage facility where relevant documentation was stored, suffered a catastrophic flood, so we can’t look back. Pretty convenient.
I am sorry for the loss of your brother.
JS1973
So, the same grownups who reverted to casual campfire conversation about keeping company with Sheldon after the accusations came to light were also bound to exact “island justice” on him if he came back to his preying grounds?
How does that work?
It doesn’t.
I’m “new” to this crazy rabbithole of a case, but there must have been tons of boys who were abused on North Fox Island–many of whom are still living. It would be so interesting (and sad) to hear their stories of what went on there in the ’70s.
If any of you are reading this, please consider sharing your firsthand info on the depravity of Shelden & North Fox Island. The world needs to know how these things work so more children don’t fall victim to these kinds of predators. And you deserve a platform to get this off your chest & expose these animals for what they are! It’s so unfair that the press & law enforcement of Detroit went to such lengths to cover this up. The drawings found in Christopher Busch’s home–as well as the bloody ropes–are jaw-droppingly incriminating.
It’s very creepy that the blog owner is getting “please drop this subject” emails.
Are you still offering copies of your book ? If so, please contact me as I would like to purchase a copy.
Bruce, I think you are referring to the DVD, Decades of Deceit. If you want a copy, please send your address and a check for $20 payable to The Tim King Fund to: Tim King Fund, 1509 Yorkshire Road, Birmingham, MI, 48009. If you can’t afford the fee, please message me at catherine.broad@yahoo.com. Sorry it took me so long to respond.
No correspondence since last year. Interesting. How about the book. Kill Jar
Stephen, did you not receive the DVD?
I cant imagine the helplessness that these children must have felt.This is crazy and it seems like this issue was only scratched at the surface level .I am sick and tired of hearing how children have been abused and these pieces of shit that hurt our children and they all are our children , these perverts get a slap on the fucking wrist .untill this shit stops we are growing hate and hurt .when stuff like this can shut even the FBI up ! We have a problem i want to apologize to the children and the familys that lived this nightmare and had no one to have your back .this is terrible we should all be ashamed that these kids lived this nightmare and no one that they have been told to go to if u need help .and no one helped them! Thats Scary
A cover-up of this magnitude is appalling thanks for caring about the victims and their families it shows your compassion on this horrific story
I grew up in Madison Heights Michigan
In the 70s. I remember all this all too well and in the summer of 1978 or 79 a guy approached me asking if I wanted to do some work at his house, well I told him no and left fast. I can describe him and his car to this day. I often think of Timothy King, we were the same age. I pray they solve this case
God bless all the victims in this case I was only 9 years old and living in Walled Lake and suburb of Oakland County when these monsters were kidnapping our friends and peers then dumping them like they were nothing . We lived in total fear of who would be next .
Has anyone considered that the two girls who were abducted, held for days, well-fed, and bathed were intended to be sold to other pedophile rings with a girl preference? Unlike the boys, who were sexually assaulted, the girls were not “interfered with”, as the Brits say. Wouldn’t want to damage valuable goods. It occurs to me that with Shelden et al. absconding, the opportunity to contact potential buyers may have disappeared, and the perpetrator of the abductions (my money’s on Chris Busch) decided to eliminate the witnesses. And I believe C.B. was murdered to tidy up loose ends.
I think anyone that does this stuff to a child should get put to death there is no help for these sick shits I was a teen in the 70s and I lived in Lincoln park mi I remember hearing about this we had to stay in groups and didn’t go anywhere by ourselves this is my opinion and there organs should be harvested for people that need them no child animal elder or any person should have to go through something like that just sickening I’d go to prison if my child had somebody that did that to him again my opinion
Fox islands aren’t in Grand Traverse Bay they’re in Lake Michigan
I’ve been following the OCCK case for about 10 years now. I just read “The Kill Jar” and watched both the documentary on channel 4 last week, and now the first episode of the ID special. In the past two months, I’ve learned a lot. MORE people who were there (in one capacity or another) seem to be going public. It sure seems like this is about to blow wide open. 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 for the families that this will happen soon.
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Cathy–
I grew up in GR. I didn’t hear about this until now, but I feel your pain. I wish it was possible to solve things with a wish, but…..keep going, dear lady. You make a difference with every word you write.
What about Epstein’s Island and the Virgin Air Island next door? Anybody check the flight records on file for familiar names? These are all high profile perverts.
I found repulsive rabbit holes digging following the money from the family court abuse that destroyed my life’s achievements. All I can say is, they NEVER ended. The children are trafficked through each state courts CPS, Adoption, Foster care, Family courts. They have metastasized with the internet.
The Vatican and Saudi both involved with crimes against children.
I did end up researching Franklin Cover Up.
A lot of federally funded grants in the BILLIONS or more funneled to fake advocates and charities and saturates the systems. It is as if they were set up laughing all the way that the taxpayers fund their crimes against children.
Shame on any adult who turns away because it’s “too awful” to face. Try being a survivor of the abuse you weaklings.
Cathy, I just watched Children of the Snow on ID and it brought me here. I am so sorry for your family suffering such grueling years with fake false “help”……..May you and yours find peace whatever it takes! (((<3 )))
Do you still monitor this message board?
What do you mean?
I appreciate anyone not resting on this case. I am convinced I was approached at age 13 on Kenmore, a side street in Berkley, near 12mile and Coolidge. Now after seeing photos, I’m sure it was Greg Greene. I was alone, late afternoon, walking 5 doors down from parents on way to a neighbors house He had his passenger window down and pulled up slowly and was speaking to me in a low voice very difficult to hear. What I noted at the time was he seemed very relaxed, hair to shoulder and looked mid to late 20s and was not driving a Gremlin, as media has all over as the car to be concerned. I thought he was sincerely looking for directions at first, he was so relaxed. He than told me he wanted me to come closer to hear him better and he had something for me if I gave him directions and asked me to approach the car to get my gift if I help him. I than ran, he floored his LeMans and I missed a terrible fate. My father was City Attornery of Berkley at the time and had assisted in closing some Porn establishments and always have wondered if I was targeted for that reason. I wish that answers are found to confirm the true identity, although I believe based on what I’ve read the identities are known. God Bless those poor families and children
A lemans was suggested as the car used to dump bodies with a damaged back bumper based on snow indents.
This makes me sick. Damn shame they were all pedapholies. Because he was wealthy, it was swept under the rug. Please bring this back to see what happened to the children, who suffered. I would like to see his family destroyed. These kids are grown men, now. Bring this story out in the open view, to the public. I’m angry beyond words.
Everybody should see a pattern here dont they ? Did you not follow the jeffrey epstein story? go find out mint news.. there is a girl that has made lots of research as to how far and how high jeffrey epstein circle went.. the whole pedo ring.. . And lets put this black on white.. that ghistlaine maxwell.. who was part of jeffrey epstein ring.. was never arrested, nor were the other pedo ring organizers. fbi, cia , police, never even went to all of his properties. they all shut it down. why? when you have present president involved and accused by victims implicated with jeffrey epstein.. and ex president clinton.. flying 27 time to lollita island.. and governore of new mexico accused by a child victim of abusing her .. that is why its all shut down.. better believe it main news will not talk about it. nor will there be investigation. Usa is really a sad place. Its disgusting what is going on. Its not what majority of citizens want to see happening , yet .. this is how it is.
YES. The podcast Real Crime Profile recently forensically deconstructs the Wondery six-part podcast “The Mysterious Mr. Epstein.” In RCP Episode 206, the hosts discuss how in the Epstein case, somebody who would be brought down was another person in power who made sure the investigation did not go out/up to other people. Epstein winds up dead. Maxwell is never arrested. The investigation dies with Epstein, who was allowed to continue to offend after getting special rich-person and “I know what you did” person treatment before finally winding up where he belonged–real, big boy prison. This, as the hosts stress, is not justice or even what passes as justice in our weak society. It is a complete aberration of justice. In the OCCK case, I have to ask–who put the pressure on L. Brooks Patterson? Why did the Michigan State Police completely mishandle and then bury this case? Don’t forget. It can happen again.
I just watched the Channel 4 docuseries and “Children of the Snow”. I truly wonder if L. Brooks Patterson was part of the ring.
IMO, Patterson could be the key to this whole thing. He took a LOT of secrets to the grave. He reminds me of Tr*mp in one way: He liked to make big, controversial statements in the media to stoke controversy and create misdirection, possibly distracting from potentially more damaging scandals.
Yep.
Just watching this on hulu. Its disgusting to realize that usa.. has been for years.. and still now with jeffrey epstein , that usa has been always protecting rich pedos.. and not ever wanting to actually bring any of them to justice. I used to have more faith in what this country represents. After all this its just a bigger banana republic.
this is the proof.. that nothing but money matters in this country, or Rules. rich elites have pedo rings.. in the past decades ago and today in 2019. All the 3 letter agencies that i thought deserve respect, now i know.. are sorry excuse .. for the respect they were given. They will not help your families.. but protect rich pedos that rape children. Look at this case you are posting about .and i ma watching on Hulu and compare it to jeffrey epstein.. and his lollita islant with ex president and present president.. flying there and intermingled wiht his operations in abusing children.. in nyc , island, and other locations. Corporate news dont talk about it. because their owners are also intermingled with these rich pedos themselves. police does not have either commitment.. or are then shut down.. to let go of these rich or influental pedos.. and their rich customers that raped children. Amazing is it.. how much is spent on .. miliary in this country , ? on fbi ? on cia? they are not going after the pedo rings.. why? because children are used in their operations to .. blackmail whomever they want to blackmail. this is how taxpayers money is spent. Certainly not protecting children.
Hi Cathy, I grew up in Detroit in the 70s. I was very young but have so many memories of things that happened to me and my brother. My father was in some sort of pedo ring I believe. He kidnapped my brother and I when I was 3 and took us to Texas for over a year. I remember so much that my mother swears did not happen to me, when though she wasnt even there. Needless to say we do not have a Relationship anymore. I just started reading these blogs and researching after I watched the ID show so the things mentioned are alot of what I remember. We moved away down south when I was 9 and my life has always been affected by anxiety and fear and several suicide attempts. I know I was molested by several men. I know I was filmed and pics were taken. I’ve always had these memories since as far back as I can remember. Thank you for exposing these atrocities. Its helping me come to terms with what I lived thru.
I am so sorry. It is such a heavy burden. Thank you for sharing what happened.
It is almost 6 yeas passed away there. Now, its the time to know about the final wording. Final output is…………..
Can you please tell me what years you suspect the abuse went in on Fox island? What years did Sheldon own the island?
Can you please tell me what years you suspect the abuse went in on Fox island? What years did Sheldon own the island?
Shelden bought North Fox Island for $20,000 in 1960. He had an airstrip installed. The tax fronts behind this child trafficking operation were put together in 1974. Child pornographer and rapist Gerald (Jerry Richards) met Frank Shelden around 1974. Because Shelden, Ann Arbor millionaire, philanthropist and staff writer for BLM (an international magazine seeking “liberation for boys and boy-lovers”) and Shelden had “common interests” they “naturally thought about organizing the camp. Long way of saying probably between 1974-76 but Shelden could have been taking victims to the island before the “camp” was opened.
is it possible from an investigator POV that the people who don’t want you to publish these things were actual victims and wish not to be exposed due to their prominent position within their respective communities? yes