Category: ACJ Investigates
Original investigations, case files, timelines, and evidence-based reporting examining crime, justice, and accountability.
Operation Underground Railroad Stages Fake College Graduation
For additional articles covering OUR, please go to ACJ Investigates- Derailed: Operation Underground Railroad Operation Underground Railroad (OUR) and its founder Tim Ballard staged a…
Criminal Investigation into O.U.R. Expands
Former O.U.R. Aftercare Director Ed Smart Breaks His Silence Also in this report: The Federal Bureau of Investigation has been working the case. Davis County…
Mutiny at Operation Underground Railroad
Three senior figures connected to Operation Underground Railroad—including Tim Ballard’s sister-in-law and former top executives—departed the organization and launched a new anti-trafficking nonprofit as questions…
Operation Underground Railroad: Crimes Uncovered
The Expanding Criminal Investigation into OUR Witnesses, documents, and a controversial 2019 Whiteboard Meeting have become part of an expanding investigation into Tim Ballard, Operation…
Tim Ballard’s Secret “Whiteboard Meeting” in August 2019
For years, Tim Ballard portrayed the search for missing Haitian child Gardy Mardy as a driving force behind Operation Underground Railroad. This investigation examines how…
O.U.R. Continues the Dangerous Practice of Victim & Witness Intimidation
For additional articles covering OUR, please go to ACJ Investigates- Derailed: Operation Underground Railroad Operation Underground Railroad Retains Kirton McConkie to Silence & Intimidate ex-Jump Team…
I was trained by Operation Underground Railroad to be an undercover operative overseas
For additional articles covering OUR, please go to ACJ Investigates- Derailed: Operation Underground Railroad Editor’s Note: The following was originally published on Medium on Feb. 24, 2021,…
The Elizabeth Smart Foundation Severed All Ties with O.U.R.
For additional articles covering OUR, please go to ACJ Investigates- Derailed: Operation Underground Railroad Ed Smart “Left in disgust” In August 2014, Tim Ballard and…
A Divorce From Hell: doTerra & Operation Underground Railroad
The World’s Largest Essential Oils MLM Partnered with the World’s Most Prominent Child Rescue Scam The Utah multi-level marketing company doTERRA is having a marital…
VICE News Exposes Tim Ballard’s O.U.R. Poster Child “Liliana” as Elaborate Scam
Marketed as a child rescued by Operation Underground Railroad, “Liliana” became one of the organization’s most powerful fundraising stories. Investigative reporting later revealed significant discrepancies…
