Case #: 20110618-E

Pre-Investigation

Pre-Investigation: Rob met with the client and her 16 year old son on Thursday June 3 at the residence without anyone else from the group going along, as this case was given to us under unusual circumstances. What makes it unusual is that the home is her mother's house, and her mom is in failing health in a nursing home, no longer living there. The family is going to be putting the house on the market, but since her parents lived there for 35 years and there are paranormal claims going back to the previous owner (a doctor that lived there for 30 years from the early 40's until the early 70's), she wanted a seasoned group to come investigate.

Investigators present: Rob, Ed, Patty, Mike R. We were also joined by the client, her son, the client's sister and her daughter (last two for only first part of the evening).

Weather: Earlier in the week, the weather was cool, dry and comfortable with daytime highs around 70 and nighttime lows in the 50s. The morning of the investigation, the humidity and temps had risen, and storms rolled through.

History: The original part of the house closest to the street was built in the early 1860s and finished around 1863. The Preble County Genealogy Room didn't have any historical inventory or records on this house. They had every house around it, but not this one, which I found very strange.
The client's mother and father both lived in the house for 35 years, having purchased it in the early 1970s from a doctor and his wife who had owned it since the early 1940s. The doctor added on to the house shortly after buying it in the 40's which, if the theory holds true, probably started the activity.
The house was a doctor's office (when the doctor owned it) and a travel agency for many years (when the current owners had it). It is soon to be going up for sale, as their father died (in the house) in 2010, and their mother is in failing health living in a nursing home. It has central heating, but no central air conditioning.

Claims of activity: Of the main claims of activity since the mother has moved out of the home leaving it to sit fully furnished but empty, is a general air of creepiness and feeling like you aren't wanted there. The client has slept there on occasion and heard footsteps rushing up the main stairs towards her room. Her parents both admitted to seeing apparitions of soldiers marching through the living room in the newer part of the house. Apparitions have also been seen sitting around the main dining room table in the oldest part of the home. The client's sister has come into the house on an occasion, rounded the corner from the kitchen into the office rooms and come face to face with a tall shadow figure.

Strange Photo: We don't hold a lot of credence to photographs, but the photo below was taken during the pre-investigation walkthrough. Click on the image for a larger version of it (1.71MB). When viewing the larger picture, zoom in on the right side of the image. Look between the chair back and the chest of drawers for something. It is also in another photo, same location, same image. The more we scrutinize it, the more we are under the impression that this is a reflection from something in the room. Interesting picture though.

Investigation

Investigation: Having been shut up tight since February, the first thing we noted was the overwhelming smell of mustiness pervading the entire house. This affected some more so than others in our group. Everything was set up and baseline readings were taken one hour ahead of schedule, so we set to investigating at 9:00pm.
Rob, Ed, the client's sister, and her daughter started investigating the living room where the father had died in 2010. Rob did a real time EVP session in the very chair in which the father had passed away in (which might explain the extensive coughing on the audio recorder--or just the mustiness was getting to him). Some mumbling was heard (noted on the audio page), but after nearly an hour, Ed and Rob moved on to other rooms while the mother and daughter left for the night. During this time, Patty, Mike, and the client and her son were investigating the four bedrooms upstairs. They noted some K2 interaction both upstairs and downstairs in the dining room, but little else happened.

Audio

Video

Photos

 

What We Captured: During Rob & Ed's vigil with the mother/daughter team early on, the daughter was saying how she had a messed up childhood and that a lot of traumatic experiences happened to her at the house. Rob captured an EVP response on the new Sony ICD-P520 digital recorder (making it's debut on this investigation).

Conclusions

Opinion: It was unfortunate that we learned during the investigation that the client's parents were big drinkers during their day. A lot went on in this house--stuff that we know nothing about, but from what the client's neice was saying we can only speculate that a lot of arguing/yelling went on and probably more. The house may have the stain of all that negativity upon it.
Our recommendation to the client is, once everything is moved out of the house and auctioned off, a thorough airing out and cleaning be done. Leave the windows open (not only to rid the house of the mustiness but any lingering spirits/energies). Either have someone come in professionally and clean the house from top to bottom or have the entire family come out to help--whichever is more convenient.

Conclusion: We can't say for 100% certain that this location has a haunting. We aren't discounting what happened to the homeowners and the client, but it just didn't happen while we were there. A lot of it could be residual energy that's accumulated over the years. Hopefully a thorough cleaning of the house prior to sale helps.