0:00 [SPEAKER_00]: This new year, why not let Audible expand your life by listening, explore over one million audiobooks, podcasts, and exclusive Audible originals that'll inspire and motivate you, tap into your well-being with advice and insight from leading professionals and experts on better health, relationships, career, finance, investing, and more. 0:21 [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you want to kick a bad habit, or start a good one. 0:25 [SPEAKER_00]: If you're interested in learning how to master your emotions and hearing scientifically backed advice for using your emotions as a tool, may I suggest shift by psychologists and bestseller author, Dr. Ethan Gross, trust me. 0:38 [SPEAKER_00]: Listening on audible can help you reach the goals you set for yourself. 0:41 [SPEAKER_00]: Start listening today when you sign up for a free 30-day trial at audible.com slash 0:50 [SPEAKER_01]: This is a mini-meditation guided by Bombus. 0:54 [SPEAKER_01]: Repeat after me. 0:55 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm comfy, comfy. 0:57 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm cozy, cozy. 0:58 [SPEAKER_01]: I have zero blisters on my toes, blisters. 1:01 [SPEAKER_01]: And that's because I wear Bombus. 1:03 [SPEAKER_01]: The softest socks underwear and t-shirts that give back. 1:06 [SPEAKER_01]: One purchase equals one donated. 1:08 [SPEAKER_01]: Now go to Bombus.com slash wondering and use code wondering for 20% off your first purchase. 1:14 [SPEAKER_01]: That's b-o-m-b-a-s.com slash wondering 1:29 [SPEAKER_03]: What is it about islands and creepy behavior? 1:32 [SPEAKER_03]: The most obvious explanation is simply that remote locations are conducive to anarchy. 1:40 [SPEAKER_03]: It's not as though the police can be at your door in 15 minutes when you're on an island in the middle of Lake Michigan. 1:46 [SPEAKER_03]: And it's not as if you have streets full of nosy neighbors keeping you accountable. 1:53 [SPEAKER_03]: Many islanders move to islands specifically to get away from it all, to be alone and live life is independently and freely modern as life will allow. 2:03 [SPEAKER_03]: And when you're out there, especially on islands that don't have ferry service, it can be easy for the rest of the world and even the rest of your own state to forget that you exist. 2:18 [SPEAKER_03]: They forget that you're out there. 2:21 [SPEAKER_03]: If all of that is true, it would follow that the more remote an island was, the more at risk it would be for forms of lawlessness that just wouldn't cut it on the mainland. 2:31 [SPEAKER_03]: Following that line of thought through to its conclusion, we might expect north and south fox islands, the most isolated islands in Lake Michigan, to be the most corrupt and sinister of all, and in this case, we would unfortunately be right. 2:52 [SPEAKER_03]: The freedom of island life is great if you're the typical citizen who just needs a breather from the rush and push of modern living. 2:59 [SPEAKER_03]: But this freedom it can be destructive and enabling, especially if you are something else, like a pedophile from the Detroit suburbs looking for a place to torture and molest school-aged children. 3:17 [SPEAKER_03]: Francis D. Sheldon, a geologist and multi-millionaire heir to a lumber fortune purchased North Fox Island, the entire island, in 1960. 3:27 [SPEAKER_03]: The competing buyer at the time was the state of Michigan, but Sheldon had deep pockets and he was willing to pay more. 3:36 [SPEAKER_03]: He made improvements to the island such as building a runway on the north side of the island where he opened a camp for young boys. 3:44 [SPEAKER_03]: A camp he called, Brother Paul's Children's Mission, or Brother Paul's Nature Camp, depending on the day. 3:51 [SPEAKER_03]: When stories began to break about wealthy financier and socialite Jeffrey Epstein's so called Lolita Island in the Caribbean, connections to North Fox were made almost immediately 4:07 [SPEAKER_03]: In public, Sheldon played the part of the rich and charming philanthropist to perfection. 4:14 [SPEAKER_03]: Both Sheldon and Epstein used their political power and public trust to abuse children on an industrial scale. 4:22 [SPEAKER_03]: And madningly and frustratingly, the Fox Island parallels with the current scandal, they extend the fact that neither man was convicted or even received a proper trial for their crimes. 4:36 [SPEAKER_03]: Rumor has it that Francis Sheldon died somewhere in the Netherlands, probably in Amsterdam, on or around September of 1996. 4:45 [SPEAKER_03]: And at the time he died, he was a free man living the life of the millionaire that he was. 4:51 [SPEAKER_03]: You see, he fled the United States in 1976 after he was tipped off that the FBI was going to arrest him. 5:05 [SPEAKER_03]: and he headed west to Colorado before he crossed the Atlantic for good. 5:09 [SPEAKER_03]: He settled in Europe where he could live in anonymity and avoid prosecution for his many, many crimes. 5:24 [SPEAKER_03]: But, in the 1960s and 70s, he was still flying around in that plane, between his home and South Michigan and his Fox Island campus. 5:33 [SPEAKER_03]: He used that plane to transport children to the island. 5:37 [SPEAKER_03]: Unsuspecting children, they believed they were headed to summer camp. 5:41 [SPEAKER_03]: A camp that their families were too poor to afford. 5:44 [SPEAKER_03]: In addition to transporting children to the island, he brought with him a cadre of wealthy 5:53 [SPEAKER_03]: The long and short of it is that Sheldon ran a pornography mill on North Fox Island. 5:59 [SPEAKER_03]: A place his many supporters were able to visit for themselves, and the details? 6:05 [SPEAKER_03]: They are darker than you can imagine, and we're going to leave it at that. 6:10 [SPEAKER_03]: These are the kind of descriptions you want to avoid if you can, and we can. 6:14 [SPEAKER_03]: If you want to know more, you can read the book The Kills Jar by J. Ruben Abelman, or watch The Netflix documentary, Children of the Snow. 6:23 [SPEAKER_03]: What you need to know is that, Brother Paul's camp ran for more than a decade, and they've victimized, uncounted children. 6:33 [SPEAKER_03]: a steady stream of wealthy Detroiters frequented the island and made North Fox, one of the millionaire-era's best business decisions. 6:42 [SPEAKER_03]: And if you thought the story could not get any Saturn, in 1976 and 1977, four children between the ages of 10 and 12 were found dead in snow banks and ditches in the Detroit suburbs. 6:55 [SPEAKER_03]: In addition to the four children that were murdered and left in the ditches and snow banks, there were five other children murdered in the Detroit area that may not have been related to that case. 7:07 [SPEAKER_03]: The investigation that followed these murders was at the time the largest murder investigation in American history. 7:14 [SPEAKER_03]: And if you'd like to know more, there is a long-form podcast called Don't Talk to Strangers and it's hosted by me, Nina and Stad. 7:23 [SPEAKER_03]: of those nine murders in 76 and 77, six of them are unsolved. 7:29 [SPEAKER_03]: And what investigators are almost sure of, is a connection to North Fox Island. 7:34 [SPEAKER_03]: The perpetrator or perpetrators? 7:37 [SPEAKER_03]: They likely had a connection to Sheldon's sex ring, although he himself had alabies. 7:42 [SPEAKER_03]: He had fled the state at the time of the murders. 7:45 [SPEAKER_03]: Some speculate that Sheldon's victims from the early 60s grew up and committed these murders after entering the devastating cycle of sexual abuse. 7:54 [SPEAKER_03]: Others suggested it was an original predator from North Fox. 7:57 [SPEAKER_03]: Someone who lost an outlet for their disturbing predilections and found new increasingly violent ways to satisfy themselves, but closer to home. 8:07 [SPEAKER_03]: And while the strength of the Detroit connection became clear at the time, the nature of this connection is as murky as ever. 8:14 [SPEAKER_03]: Whatever answers North Fox once had, have disappeared with the summer camp. 8:19 [SPEAKER_03]: Although the cabins, the scene of so many horrors, 8:26 [SPEAKER_02]: Indiana Wesleyan University provides accessible education for every chapter of life. 8:31 [SPEAKER_02]: Traditional students learn live and lead the way through rich community on IWU's beautiful 350-acre campus in Marion, Indiana. 8:40 [SPEAKER_02]: Adult learners choose the flexibility of 100% online classes in over 150 programs with support from professors who are experts in their field of study and deeply care for student success in academics and spiritual formation. 8:52 [SPEAKER_02]: Discover the way ahead at IWU. 8:54 [SPEAKER_02]: Visit DiscoverTheway.com to learn how. 9:00 [SPEAKER_03]: But today, in 2020, both North and South Fox Island are officially uninhabited. 9:07 [SPEAKER_03]: North Fox now belongs to the state of Michigan. 9:09 [SPEAKER_03]: They purchased the island for $2.2 million in 2000. 9:13 [SPEAKER_03]: After they allowed Sheldon to buy it for only $20,000 in 1960. 9:19 [SPEAKER_03]: Back in 1960, the state's money to buy the island had topped out at $3,500. 9:26 [SPEAKER_03]: While North Fox has horror stories, South Fox, and God is scandal-free. 9:31 [SPEAKER_03]: Four times larger than North Fox Island, it has never belonged to a single owner or been quite as secluded as North Fox. 9:40 [SPEAKER_03]: The South Island is famous for its natural beauty and has a decommissioned light station containing two towers. 9:52 [SPEAKER_03]: The overarching story of this island, as with so many others, is that of hardworking and industrious people, people willing to live out their lives in isolated communities. 10:03 [SPEAKER_03]: The story of South Fox is ultimately defined, like the rest of the Beaver Islands archipelago, by lumbering and fishing and rugged frontier life decades behind the mainland. 10:15 [SPEAKER_03]: If you'd like to know more about the details of daily life on the Fox Islands, you might try the book, by Kathleen Firestone, or Robert Ruchoff's book on the Manitus or the memoir photo essay by Ramon Nelson. 10:28 [SPEAKER_03]: He grew up on High Island, a child of the House of David. 10:32 [SPEAKER_03]: Before we close this episode, we should know that each of the Fox Islands contains as does every island landed in history. 10:40 [SPEAKER_03]: The obligatory buried treasure. 10:44 [SPEAKER_03]: The North Fox island treasure is said to have been left by King Strang, from our first episode, as a kind of safety deposit box far from his home on Beaver Island. 10:54 [SPEAKER_03]: As the story goes, his sudden assassination prevented this treasurer's recovery. 10:59 [SPEAKER_03]: There is also, rumor has it, somewhere on North Fox, $150,000 in Spanish gold, sealed and buried in fruit jars. 11:09 [SPEAKER_03]: The South Fox island treasurer is said to be buried between two dish pans by two people who marked the locations of their gold with the inexplicably vague marker of a single nail in the side of a tree. 11:21 [SPEAKER_03]: As soon as the next lumberjacking season arrived, these Houdini's got what they probably deserved, and spent the rest of their sad days digging holes around every treestomp on the island. 11:32 [SPEAKER_03]: Of course, they never did find it, so it's still there, waiting for you. 11:37 [SPEAKER_03]: Godspeed and good hunting. 11:39 [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, and may the souls of Francis Sheldon and his friends, people like Adam Star Child, 11:50 [SPEAKER_03]: May they rot in hell.
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