Court records detail recent kidnapping at Epstein island: 'Stripped and hog-tied'

Jeffrey Epstein’s “longtime property manager” allegedly kidnapped, “stripped and hog-tied” a Tennessee man after pursuing him and his brother in the U.S. Virgin Islands back in March, according to new court records reported by NBC affiliate KXAN on Saturday.

The man in question was Benjamin Owen, the owner of a Tennessee-based anti-human trafficking advocacy organization, who was charged with trespassing after he and his brother travelled to Little Saint James – formerly Epstein’s private island – to “raise awareness on the Epstein story,” he told CBS affiliate WREG.

According to the St. Thomas Source, a local news publication based in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Owen and his brother were near Little Saint James on jet skis when Ann Rodriquez – who managed operations at the island on behalf of Epstein – allegedly approached them by boat, waving what appeared to be a handgun and shouting “I will kill you,” according to court records reviewed by the Source.

“[Rodriquez] allegedly ordered the man to swim to her boat, where he was made to kneel with his hands over his head,” the Source’s report reads.

“The other brother filmed part of the encounter and then, fearing he was next, sped away to summon police. Authorities arrived to find the victim hog-tied naked in the back of the boat, according to court records.”

The supposed handgun, according to the Source, was in fact a BB gun “designed to look like a Glock 19." Rodriquez is also alleged to have thrown Owen’s memory cards containing drone footage of Little Saint James “into the sea.”

Despite occurring on March 1, the incident “wasn’t heard" in the U.S. Virgin Island's Superior Court until April 27, the Source reported.

Rodriquez is mentioned thousands of times in the Justice Department’s (DOJ) release of Epstein-related files, with a search query for her name producing more than 23,000 results. She managed operations at Little Saint James through at least 2023, having been “kept on as property manager” after the island was purchased by billionaire Stephen Deckoff in the wake of Epstein’s 2019 death while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.

Rodriquez has not been accused of any wrongdoing as it relates to Epstein’s alleged crimes. She was asked in 2017 by Lesley Groff – a longtime executive assistant to Epstein – to facilitate rooms for “2 girls” who were going to “accompany [Epstein] to the island tomorrow,” suggesting the role Rodriquez may have played in helping accommodate Epstein’s island guests, per an email released by the DOJ.

Regarding the incident on March 1, Rodriquez was charged with "kidnapping, assault and destruction of property.” Owen was charged with trespassing, and is released on bond in his home city of Memphis awaiting a May 15 arraignment.