An American couple is kidnapped from their home by a Las Vegas court. Two thousand miles away, a journalist investigates the same thing happening to thousands of Michigan residents. Victims of conservatorship abuse, they are stripped of their freedom, rights, identity, possessions, and life savings by a professional guardian, and it’s all perfectly legal.

In the early morning of August 30, 2013, Rudy and Rennie North were enjoying breakfast in their Las Vegas home when there was a knock at the door.

Expecting their daughter Julie Belshe and her children, the Norths were instead confronted by a woman who called herself an “Officer of the Court.” Under the threat of imprisonment, she had them forcibly removed and assumed complete control over their lives.

When Julie arrived later that day, she found the house locked up and her parents missing.

In 2019, journalist Gretchen Hammond discovered thousands of such victims in Detroit, Michigan. As with the Norths, their homes, possessions, savings, and basic human freedoms were taken from them by a judge, without a trial.

Conservatorship abuse is often found in situations where a professional legal guardian has themselves declared the executor of a conservatorship by a judge, usually in cases involving the elderly, and often without their client’s invitation or knowledge. As legal guardian, they then have the ability to possess and sell their client’s entire estate, and even forcibly remove them from their home into a care facility. The client and client’s family have minimal legal recourse to prevent or reverse this form of abuse and theft.

Julie launched a desperate battle for her parents’ freedom. Gretchen fought to uncover the unchecked and corrupt legal system that had similarly left countless numbers of innocents abandoned in nursing homes against their will.

Both women found themselves up against a powerful court and skeptical public. What took place became the biggest and most infamous case of abuse and exploitation in Nevada history, and a tragic secret Michigan would do anything to protect.

American Unpeople is a tragic true story and journalistic deep dive into a system that can suddenly turn anyone’s life into a terrifying dystopia. This is happening right now, to thousands of people in the US. It can happen to anyone.