Yale graduate (1950). Grosse Pointe native. Descendant of Russell A. Alger, 20th Governor of Michigan and Secretary of War under McKinley. Served in the Michigan Air National Guard. Graduate work in geology at Wayne State. Worked in real estate and oil. The family firm, **Shelden Land Co.**, developed **Rosedale Park and Grosse Pointe Farm** — two of Detroit’s most prestigious subdivisions — documenting the Shelden family’s direct role in building the Grosse Pointe corridor’s residential infrastructure. Active as a Big Brother through Ann Arbor’s YMCA. Prior to his disappearance, served on the boards of directors of Cranbrook Institute of Science and Boys Republic, Inc., both in the Detroit area, per contemporaneous press reporting confirmed by FBI FOIA.

Purchased North Fox Island for $20,000 in 1960. Installed a private airstrip. Incorporated Brother Paul’s Children’s Mission in 1975. MSP documents confirm Shelden came in to the St. Clair County Airport on July 12, 1976, and made a return flight logged at 1600 on July 14, 1976 — days before Richards’ July 23 arrest. When Richards was arrested, Shelden fled after being tipped off by Richards’ wife. FBI FOIA documents confirm Shelden held a position as trustee at Cranbrook Institute of Science, Bloomfield Hills — an Oakland County cultural institution in the Woodward Corridor — resigning by letter dated December 6, 1976, postmarked Kearney, New Jersey. FBI documents further confirm Shelden served as a director at Boys Republic, a residential school in Farmington Hills, Oakland County, for emotionally disturbed boys, also sending a resignation letter from that same address. A documented operator of a child exploitation network was a sitting trustee and director at two Oakland County youth-connected institutions during the period of the OCCK murders. Shelden’s airplane, the 1975 Piper Seneca #N33670, was sold to an unidentified party in Utah in December 1976 and later located in Arizona in February 1977 being flown by someone claiming to have purchased it from Shelden. He fled to France, obtained French citizenship by marriage, relocated to Amsterdam, and died there July 9, 1996. His FBI file contains more than 1,047 records still unreleased as of 2026.

Died Amsterdam, July 9, 1996, age 68. MSP case notation: “Exceptional clearance, suspect is dead and cannot be prosecuted, but was obviously involved.” FBI file: 1,047+ records still unreleased as of 2026.

While a fugitive, Shelden engaged in documented asset transfers: on October 9, 1976 — weeks after fleeing Michigan — he signed a warranty deed transferring Aspen, Colorado property worth $150,000 to Windigo Ranch, Incorporated, a corporation incorporated October 5, 1976 in Pitkin County for the purpose of buying, acquiring, building, and disposing of property. The initial registered office of Windigo Ranch was 1700 Broadway, Denver. The initial Board of Directors was listed at 1956 Buhl Building, Detroit, Michigan — Shelden’s own office address. Shelden continued to collect rental income through Windigo Ranch after his flight, with rental checks sent to a Detroit address. A Federal Grand Jury was convened in Detroit on May 10, 1977 to issue subpoenas in the Shelden/Grossman investigation; the AUSA requested Department of Justice permission because the organizational violations were described as “usually a non-prosecutable one.” No prosecution of the network’s organizational structure resulted.

Vehicles registered in Shelden’s name per Michigan Secretary of State, February 18, 1977: 1973 Mercury four door (plate LXC-437) and 1961 Oldsmobile four door (plate LXC-438), both registered to 1956 Buhl Building, Detroit; and a 1968 Honda Motorcycle (plate MF276) registered to 300 Provencal Road, Grosse Pointe Farms — a documented residential address in Grosse Pointe Farms, separate from his Ann Arbor home, placing him with a documented address in the Grosse Pointe corridor. Detroit Free Press furnished photographs of Shelden taken in December 1925 on North Fox Island — documenting that the Shelden family connection to the island predates his 1960 purchase by decades. His Piper Seneca aircraft purchased March 22, 1975 from Gordon Aviation, 749 Airport Drive, Ann Arbor, Michigan, was serviced through Atlas Aviation, Denver on September 21, 1976, sold through Combs Gates, Stapleton Field Airport, Denver, to Alpine Aviation, Provo, Utah in October 1976.

Physical education teacher from Port Huron, St. Clair County. Found Shelden through a coded classified ad in a specialty publication. Became the network’s primary recruiter, logistics operator, and subscriber list manager. Catalogued approximately 600 correspondents and customers across the national network. Secretary of Brother Paul’s Children’s Mission Inc., listed at 1115 Lyon Street, Port Huron, with Shelden as Director at 750 Greenhills Drive, Ann Arbor. The Mission’s checking account at Michigan National Bank, Port Huron never had a deposit over $150 — the real money ran through other mechanisms.

Arrested July 23, 1976, after a mother reported her son’s sexual assault. The only principal convicted. Pleaded guilty to first-degree criminal sexual conduct. Sentenced to two to twenty years at Jackson State Prison. Testified before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency on May 27, 1977 — from prison, voluntarily and under oath — drawing a diagram of the national network’s structure that named nodes in California, Tennessee, New Jersey, Chicago, North Carolina, and Europe. His hand-drawn “Dorian Philosophy” network diagram, produced in connection with his cooperation, is the most comprehensive primary source map of the network’s organizational structure ever produced. Richards told senators: “Although I had contact with about 600 correspondents and customers, I gave away a lot of materials in an effort to latch on to a very few wealthy men as supporters. In many respects, my life was ruined by the mail.”

On Shelden, under direct questioning from Senator Culver: “He was a friend of mine. He paid for my office. I believe he was going to help me pay for my boy’s college education someday.” Arrested again on child pornography charges in 1988. Died 1998. The only one of the network’s four known principals to face conviction and serve time. His son was left without a father; his father’s public career — Richards was described by the Chicago Tribune as “the son of a policeman turned elected official” — was ruined by the scandal.

Carmel, New York, millionaire. Documented biography per FBI case file and Ottaway News Service press investigation: B.A. from Cornell University, 1963. M.A. from Harvard University. Additional training at Northfield Counseling Institute. Taught science at Blair Academy, an exclusive boarding school for boys in ninth through 12th grade in Blairstown, New Jersey, for 10 years (1963–1973). Left Blair Academy with a forwarding address and turned up three months later at Harvey School, Katonah, New York, where he taught science and history from 1973 to 1975. Left Harvey School and turned up in Carmel, New York — the same address documented in the FBI file as Kearny, New Jersey. In May 1975 he submitted an application to the Contra Costa County Big Brother organization in California listing his occupation as youth director of Ocean Living Institute, Inc. and claiming to have previously been a director of a boys’ camp in Vermont. Listed as vice president of Brother Paul’s Children’s Mission and executive director of Ocean Living Institute.

A September 27, 1976 case file entry documents that St. Clair County Prosecutor Robert Cleland was contacted about a warrant for Grossman for sex crimes the previous summer and had not authorized it, citing workload. Grossman was never arrested, never served with a warrant, and was never charged in relation to North Fox Island.

After Richards’ arrest, Grossman fled from Port Huron to Walnut Creek, California on approximately August 30, 1976. FBI investigation documents him renting a post office box at the Dollan Ranch Station of the Walnut Creek Post Office, using Church of New Revelation — Foster Parents as his business identification, listing “child welfare” as the business type. A New Jersey business card was found inside the post office box. He also had prior addresses in Lansing, Michigan; Farmington, New Mexico; and Carmel, New York (the same address as Kearney, New Jersey, where Shelden’s December 1976 letter was postmarked). FBI intelligence dated February 22, 1977 documents that Grossman made application with the California Social Service Department to become a “big brother,” then moved to Washington State. FBI intelligence states Grossman was thought to be planning an establishment of a nature camp in Washington State to pursue his pedophilia activities — actively rebuilding the operation. He had also been in contact with someone at the State Prison of Southern Michigan at Jackson. The FBI Newark field office was specifically directed to interview Ocean Living Institute, 31 Davis Street, Kearney, New Jersey regarding Grossman’s whereabouts and association with Shelden — a previously unreported organizational node in the documented network. A redacted subject visited the Detroit-Port Huron area August 1-3, 1975, renting a car at Flint Bishop Airport using a Bank Americard registered to a New York address — the month before Brother Paul’s Mission was incorporated. Grossman was never arrested, never charged, never located. Status unknown.

Documented aliases: Dale Osterman, Elliot Crossman, Elijah Crossman. In Tacoma, Washington, FBI investigation documented Grossman registered at the Oakwood Motor Lodge, 9920 South Tacoma Way, November 2, 1976 through January 18, 1977. Motel staff reported seeing a large amount of camera equipment moved into motel room 57 in November and December 1976, with a possibility of film production in the room. He opened an account at Pacific National Bank, Tacoma Mall Branch on December 16, 1976 with a $10,788.31 deposit, account number 36006-9648, with a remaining balance of $7,600. Also held a National Bank of North America account with a Manhasset, New York return address (240 Plandone Road, Manhasset, NY 11030). San Francisco Police Department missed Grossman by three days on March 5, 1978 — he had been living with Jerry Hoarn, who was arrested for child molesting in San Francisco. Grossman was using aliases and had shoulder-length hair when last seen, leaving no forwarding address. As of September 1977, Grossman sent a letter to an associate confirming he had been traveling between the U.S., Canada, and Europe and was developing oceanographic programs and a new business. He was simultaneously resigning from the Board of Directors of Camp Kabeyun, Alton Bay, New Hampshire — a boys camp he had attended and later worked at. Never located, never charged. Status unknown.

Donald G. Keller, DOB April 20, 1921, Male, Caucasian, 6′, 170 lbs, slender, gray with receding hairline, hazel eyes, wears dark rimmed glasses. Residence: 9825 225th Place S.W., Edmonds, Washington. Employed as a wholesale shoe salesman for Consolidated Footwear. Traveled extensively. Lived with his 80-year-old mother.

In November 1975, the Edmonds, Washington Police Department received a letter from the Orange County, California, Sheriff’s Office containing six photographs of young male juveniles in obscene positions, stating Keller had sent the negatives to a local California photographer to be developed, leaving P.O. Box 342, Edmonds, Washington as a return address. The Edmonds Police Department investigated Keller for involvement in pornography involving juveniles.

Interviewed by FBI March 18, 1977. Keller stated a redacted individual contacted him by telephone to meet regarding finding property in the Seattle, Washington area for use as a recreation camp for the Ocean Living Institute — the New Jersey organizational node tied to Grossman and the Church of the New Revelation. The redacted individual also sought Keller’s assistance in securing funds to purchase the property. Keller stated he had no interest in the venture. He was very nervous and evasive during questioning. Advised of the harboring statute and promised cooperation with FBI if he received further information. He admitted his involvement in pornography was limited to obtaining negatives of children in obscene acts from a European studio and having them developed in California — the same Europe-to-California distribution chain documented throughout the network.

Real name Malcolm McConahy. “Adam Starchild” is the alias listed in New Jersey telephone directories and on all corporate incorporation papers across three states. Per New Jersey authorities, Starchild is an alias. The man who answered the number listed in the Kearny, NJ telephone book for Ocean Living Institute identified himself as Adam Starchild. He claimed the organization was a “low budget” operation of approximately “two dozen” church members meeting in private homes, but that Ocean Living maintained an active “mailing list of 2,000” with his interest being “purely business” — underwater habitation.

Listed on incorporation papers as: president of the Church of the New Revelation, primary incorporator of Brother Paul’s Children’s Mission, president of Ocean Living Institute, and trustee of the Educational Foundation for Youth. New Jersey authorities’ investigation confirmed these are all the same individuals operating across Delaware, New Jersey, and Illinois incorporations — one network, multiple state registrations. The Church of the New Revelation incorporated in Delaware, tax exempt. The Educational Foundation for Youth incorporated in Chicago, Illinois. Ocean Living Institution based in Kearny, New Jersey. All three entities were investigated by the FBI as components of the same operation.

Contacted by the FBI while in Houston, Texas on April 5, 1977, where he telephonically reached the Mt. Clemens, Michigan Resident Agency. He stated the Traverse City Record-Eagle’s publication of the investigation had “all but put the two of his business endeavors under.” Claimed to be unaware of Brother Paul’s Children’s Mission until reading about it in the Record-Eagle articles, which he said were sent to him anonymously from Detroit. He admitted knowing Grossman and that Grossman had told him about a “wealthy Michigan man interested in donating money to the church and Ocean Living Institute.” He also admitted Grossman may have “used” the organizations for pornographic purposes.

Additionally documented as involved in establishing a West Indies Trust Company — exact address unknown — which connected to the offshore financial structure of the network. Per Newark FBI file NK 88-11989, he was also using a contact’s New Jersey address as the registered location of several corporations and the contact broke off relations with him when he discovered this. Self-described perpetual traveler. Stood trial for various financial and other crimes. Never charged in relation to North Fox Island. Died in Spain, 2006.