Trespassers 'Hogtied at Gunpoint' by Woman on Epstein's Former Island

YouTubers allegedly barged a pregnant woman to the ground while searching for Jeffrey Epstein, whom they falsely believed is still alive.

Little St. James sits just off the coast of the U.S. Virgin Islands, a low, green stretch of land surrounded by shallow water that looks like any of the other surrounding islands until the name is mentioned. Then it stops being just an island and becomes a reference point in a case that continues to echo years after its central figure died in custody.

That echo returned again after a trespassing incident at the end of last month, when a group of five YouTubers and conspiracy theorists illegally entered the island without permission. One of them, Benjamin Owen, was later found restrained on the property and has since been charged with trespassing.

Owen is the founder of We Fight Monsters, a Memphis-based nonprofit focused on human trafficking and child exploitation issues.

He told local media that he had entered the island to conduct ‘research’ connected to Jeffrey Epstein and to raise awareness about the case. In reality, Owens and his group are a fine example of the many online ‘influencers’ and self-described activists who have recently latched onto the Epstein scandal in an attempt to - without any knowledge of the case - produce lucrative clickbait content for their websites.

Benjamin Owen.

According to a Virgin Islands Police report filed in court, officers were called to the island after received a call alleging kidnap and assault. When they arrived, they encountered three individuals already on the property (believed to be security staff) who were not identified as part of the trespassing group. One of those three was described as initially aggressive toward officers. Police transported them by an all-terrain vehicle to another part of the island.

Officers then located Owen. He was found restrained, allegedly with duct tape, and was wearing black clothing marked with the words “We Fight Monsters,” according to the report.

The police account states that individuals on the island said the confrontation began after the group was seen landing on the beach and taking photographs. One account given by a witness alleges that a pregnant woman was pushed to the ground by one of the trespassers during the confrontation. Some members of the five-person group left the area. Owen was restrained by people on the island, who told police the action was taken “to protect the island.”

Owen was part of a group that included Ryan Dalton, cofounder of Closed Horizon, an online platform that describes itself as a crowdsourced investigation space where users can propose questions and fund rewards for information.

Dalton said one of the group’s early campaigns focused on whether Jeffrey Epstein is still alive, a conspiracy theory that continues to circulate online despite official reporting confirming Epstein died in 2019 while in federal custody.

Dalton said the group was on the island for less than 20 minutes. He said they arrived by boat, took photographs, and were approached by security personnel who instructed them to stop what they were doing and leave. He said they then began walking back toward their boat, which he described as a considerable distance away.

Dalton said Owen did not return with the group. He said Owen was restrained by a female member of staff at gunpoint with his hands placed behind his back using flex cuffs, and his legs bound, before being taken to another area of the island. Dalton claims he then called the local police and that Owen remained restrained for a period of time and began showing signs of dehydration before police arrived.

Asked why they went to the island, Dalton said the group believed Epstein was still alive. He later added that they did not find evidence supporting that claim during their visit.

This is not the first time Little St. James has drawn trespass attempts from people outside official channels. In recent years, the island has become a magnet for online investigators, documentary creators, and YouTube personalities who attempt to approach or document it from the water or shoreline. These visits are typically framed as independent investigation or content gathering, often tied to broader Epstein-related theories circulating online. In most cases, security presence has prevented landing or led to rapid removal from the area.

In one recurring pattern, creators have used boats to film the island from offshore, narrating speculation about its use while explicitly acknowledging they are not permitted to land. Other attempts have involved brief landings that were quickly cut short by security intervention.

Epstein purchased Little St. James in 1998 for approximately 7.95 million dollars. Over the following years, he developed the island into a private estate, constructing buildings and infrastructure that turned it into a secluded compound.

You can watch my interview with one of the designers hired by Jeffrey to plan out the development of his island below:

After Epstein’s death, the island remained tied to civil litigation, estate proceedings, and continued public scrutiny of Epstein’s activities and associations.

In 2023, ownership of Little St. James and the nearby Great St. James island was acquired by Stephen Deckoff, founder of Black Diamond Capital Management. Deckoff has indicated plans to redevelop the islands into a luxury resort destination, shifting the property from a private estate into a commercial hospitality development.

The redevelopment plans would transform the islands into high-end tourism sites, though the proposal remains shaped by the history of the property, which continues to define how it is viewed in public discussion.

Owen has since been released on bail. His case will now proceed through the courts in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Accounts of what occurred differ from the official report and remain contested. I’ll be following the case closely and will report back with more details as soon as possible.