Secret lock-ups rented by Thomas Markle Sr in California to store the Duchess of Sussex’s belongings, along with memorabilia from his own life, are set to be searched for child abuse material, it was claimed today.
Meghan’s half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr, 60, has reportedly told the FBI the location of two storage units at a site in Los Angeles.
‘I dread to think what they might find,’ he said last night, as investigations continue in the Philippines and Mexico.
A stash of alleged child abuse images was discovered by the Daily Mail inside a storage locker rented by Markle Sr in Rosarito, Mexico. The Mail alerted the FBI to the find last week, prompting a raid by Mexican authorities.
Police in the Philippines are also said to be ‘very close’ to bringing formal charges against Markle Sr after child abuse images were allegedly found at his apartment.
Markle Jr claims his father told him around 2011 that he had two lock-ups ‘stuffed to the brim’ with Meghan’s former furniture and possessions from her time at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
The former Hollywood lighting director also stored boxes of memorabilia from his own career in the units, which are now expected to form part of the investigation.
Markle Jr, who is said to have been interviewed by the FBI for two hours, told The Sun: ‘My father told me about the two units years ago. He’s had them for about 15 years.
‘One is stuffed to the brim with Meghan’s old furniture. The other is packed with boxes, books, photos, memorabilia from his Hollywood career, items from Meghan’s college days and God knows what else.
‘I dread to think what the FBI might find, especially given what has already been found in the Philippines and Mexico.’
Meghan, pictured as a teenager, has been estranged from her father, Thomas Markle Sr, for years. Two previously unknown lock ups he rented, said to contain some of Meghan’s belongings and his own personal mementoes, will be searched
The Daily Mail alerted the FBI after uncovering a stash of sexually explicit books, magazines and photos – including of Asian females who look conspicuously young – in a Mexican storage unit rented by Thomas Markle
Markle Sr with a mystery young woman in his belongings
Markle Sr vehemently denies the allegations, telling the Daily Mail they are ‘sick lies’.
He is now living in a Florida care home specialising in dementia care, close to Meghan’s half-sister Samantha.
An insider claimed: ‘Since the meeting she’s stopped speaking about the allegations on social media.’
Thomas and Samantha reportedly held ‘crisis talks’ together over three hours yesterday.
Detectives in the Philippines have said they had found ‘explicit content’ – including footage of ‘male and female minors’ – on digital devices which allegedly belonged to the Duchess of Sussex’s father.
Police were granted a warrant on Thursday to search material found in four storage boxes at the 82-year-old’s flat in the city of Cebu.
Officers spent the weekend looking through the devices, which included nine mobile phones, three SD cards, five hard drives, a camera and another non-digital object.
Major General Wilson Asueta, of the Philippine National Police, said this week: ‘We were able to find that there are files consisting of CSEAM [Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material].
‘This will be subjected further to analysis. These are videos of a male and female minors, others who are not minors doing sexual activities and of course, explicit materials.
‘We are conducting ongoing digital forensics analysis and our field investigators are also doing their best conducting investigations… to validate the information that was provided to us. The investigation is going in the right direction.’
He said that none of the children in the videos appeared to be from the Philippines but said they looked ‘Asian [or] Caucasian’.
The Sun last night reported that as a result police were ‘very close’ to bringing formal charges against Meghan’s father.
The force was handed the cache of potential evidence by Markle’s son Thomas Jr, 60, who lives in the Philippines.
Meghan’s half-brother claimed he had found ‘hundreds, if not thousands’ of child abuse pictures and videos – including an image that appeared to show his father having sex with an underage girl.
Markle has denied any wrongdoing, admitting he paid for sex in the Philippines but insisting it was only with adult prostitutes.
He has described the allegations against him as ‘sick lies’ and suggested he was ‘set up’.
Meghan, now the Duchess of Sussex, is the only child of Thomas Markle Sr with his second ex-wife Doria Ragland (pictured with Meghan in 2018)
Markle moved from Mexico to the Philippines in January last year before relocating to the US in May following the amputation of his lower leg. On Friday, he was reportedly moved into a care home for dementia patients in Florida.
Experts believe it is unlikely that someone with advanced dementia could be extradited.
Meanwhile, Mexican authorities confirmed they had raided a storage unit previously rented by Markle in Rosarito after the Mail discovered a stash of indecent images of children there.
The FBI is also thought to be investigating after Scotland Yard finally shared a letter containing allegations his late ex-wife Roslyn Loveless sent about him in January 2019.
The force has referred itself to the independent police watchdog over its failure to act on the letter, despite sharing a copy with Meghan and Prince Harry.
The letter reportedly said that he had moved to Asia because ’12-year-olds are legal there’.
Police have also reportedly advised Meghan not to speak publicly about the claims. She previously said she was ‘deeply distressed’ by the allegations.
Philippines police are said to be ‘still poring over everything but serious images of child abuse have been found… so formal charges are very close,’ a source said.
READ MORE: Can Thomas Markle’s dementia halt child abuse investigation? Are Meghan and Harry hurting the King’s popularity? Watch the new Palace Confidential, now available a day early for subscribers
