Intruder who ventured onto Epstein's island claims he was blindfolded, hand and footed and thrown into a dungeon
A YouTuber who recently ventured to a private island that once belonged to Jeffrey Epstein claims he was bound hand and foot and thrown into a dungeon, blindfolded.
Benjamin Owen PHOTO: X
Benjamin Owen, 44, of Memphis, traveled to the notorious Caribbean island of Little St James on April 25 with his friend Ryan Dalton and an unidentified third person.
But when the three were spotted by a group, Owen said he was bound hand and foot, blindfolded and thrown into a room he called “prison”, according to the Daily Mail.
Hours later, he said, Virgin Islands police arrived and arrested him.
“I don't think I was meant to leave that island alive,” Owen told CBS News.
Police now claim those working on the island for new owner Stephen Deckoff were trying to get justice amid a wave of influencers flocking to the famous Caribbean island.
In the suit filed by the island holding company against Owen and his associates it is stated that they are “internet fame seekers” and “conspiracy theorists” who acted with “reckless and imprudent indifference.”
It is also claimed that the group is part of a “rapidly growing subculture of so-called 'urban explorers', social media influencers, YouTubers and Internet publicity seekers who … are profiting financially from the island's notoriety and its association with Jeffrey Epstein.”
It is also claimed that Owen and Dalton “they revel in their crazy conspiracy theories and use them to justify their criminal behavior.”
It is one of three such civil suits seeking damages against alleged trespassers by a limited liability company (LLC) linked to Deckoff, the billionaire founder of Black Diamond Capital Management.
Owen has posted videos online sharing his theory that Epstein is still alive — an opinion Dalton said he shares.
“I haven't seen any evidence that he's still alive there, but that's part of the search for the truth”he explained to WREG.
Owen also said that “was trying to do some research to bring that story back into the spotlight and raise awareness about our non-profit We Fight Monsters, which fights human trafficking and exploitation”.
In a statement to CBS News, a spokesperson for Deckoff's island property, which he plans to turn into a “high-end, five-star, world-class luxury resort with 25 rooms”stated: “There has been an alarming increase in the number of people trespassing on private property on Little St James Island. Accessing property beyond the beach, including by entering or tampering with any of the island's structures – as these trespassers have done – is a clear violation of the law and will be dealt with as such without exception.”
Epstein originally bought Little Saint James in 1998, then purchased a neighboring island, Great Saint James, in 2016.
Witnesses said they never saw any crime on the island, but after Epstein's arrest in 2019 on federal sex-trafficking charges and his death in prison a month later, the Virgin Islands filed a civil lawsuit against his heirs, accusing him of transporting underage girls to the island to sexually abuse them.
The case was settled in 2022, with $105 million being paid to the Virgin Islands.
That same year, Epstein's heirs put the island up for sale, and a year later, billionaire Stephen Deckoff bought the two islands for $60 million.
