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The Shawn Ryan Show

#311 Ben Owen & Ryan Dalton - Arrested on Epstein's Island

June 8, 2026·2h 42m

Two guests, one wild story. Ben Owen and Ryan Dalton join the show to break down their 2026 expedition to Little St. James, Jeffrey Epstein's former private island, and what happened when it went sideways. Ben Owen is the founder of We Fight Monsters, a Memphis-based anti-trafficking and addiction nonprofit. A recovered drug addict turned activist, he made national headlines in April 2026 after being detained on the island during a trip to document the property and raise questions about the Epstein case, an incident that ended with a trespassing charge and a disputed account of how he was restrained. Ryan Dalton is a former federal agent, attorney, and co-founder of Closed Horizon, a crowdsourced intelligence and reward platform focused on high-profile investigations. A University of Memphis Law School graduate who once served as a federal agent with the U.S. State Department, Dalton has publicly challenged the official narrative around Epstein's death and helped lead the expedition. We get into what drew them to the island, what they found, the confrontation that followed, and why they believe the Epstein story is far from closed.