by Rich Newman
Though this new information sounded a bit cryptic, I was intrigued enough with the case to actually brave the drive back south once again. Plus, I had to admit that I was curious about the current state of the haunting.
However, I knew from past experiences that most para-
normal groups do not relish the thought of “outsiders” joining their investigation. So I did not want to interfere with what the new group (we’ll call them “X Paranormal” for reference sake) was doing at the trailer at all. Instead, I would simply return to catch up on what had happened with Joanne and her family, take a look at this “new territory” that Terri had referenced, and (perhaps) bring about some sort of resolution concerning the case—at least for myself!
So, after loading considerably less gear than on my previous trips, I found myself once again making the dreaded drive into Mississippi …
A New Approach
Once I arrived at the trailer (already exhausted from the trip), it was immediately obvious that X Paranormal had a whole different approach to an investigation than I did. There were at least fifteen people present to comb through the small trailer, and they seemed to be everywhere, getting into each other’s way.
Once I had parked, I looked around and quickly picked out Terri and Tom from the members of the new group. This was no challenge since they were the only ones not dressed in black T-shirts. Sheesh … it looked like an AC/DC concert! Patricia and Blake would not be present for this investigation for personal reasons, but I was certainly glad there were a couple of familiar faces with me at the property. I slowly made my way to them as I watched the new team set up.
As I walked over to introduce myself, it was also quite clear that X Paranormal liked to use a lot of gear. By this I mean huge amounts of gear. In addition to a massive, wired DVR system with multiple cameras stationed all around the trailer (inside and outside), they also had entire tables covered with audio devices, various EMF detectors, and camcorders. It appeared that their approach to an investigation was to bombard an area with as much electronic equipment as is possible.
While on the surface this may seem like a good idea, I have learned the hard way in the past that electronic equipment often interferes with each other—the signals from wireless walkie-talkies pick up the wireless cameras, and so on. As a result, I usually choose to deploy gear more strategically rather than overload a location.
Also, wired DVR systems often make for a cumbersome investigation. Looking at this group’s setup, it was clear that people would be tripping over wires all night long. A couple portable camcorders would have most likely served them better since they could be moved rather quickly to areas of activity—and since they are battery powered, they wouldn’t trip up any investigator moving through the pitch of night. But tripping over wires would prove to be the least of my worries for this investigation …
Because there was still no power in the trailer, X Paranormal was running a generator on site to power their massive amounts of gear. A loud generator. A generator that would, most likely, pollute all the audio gathered during the investigation. They had attempted to place the generator as far away from the trailer as possible—but I knew it would still be there, looming in the background of all the audio data collected.
I had hoped to discreetly leave an audio recorder on the premises to gather a few more EVPs during my visit, but after seeing (and hearing) the generator, this idea flew out the window. I would have to be content with updated info and a few new photographs.
After saying my hellos to Terri and Tom, they took me around the area and quickly introduced me to members of the new group. Before they could get indignant at my presence, I quickly explained that my visit was solely for “journalistic purposes,” but the leader of the group (I’ll call her “Pam”) insisted that I still log all my gear into their notebook for tracking purposes. Huh?
I explained that the only “gear” I would be using was my personal camera and that it did not need to be “tracked” since it would remain on my person during my visit, but this was like arguing with a wall—an illogical wall. She insisted that this was just their practice. So, rather than debating the ridiculousness of me logging my gear in their notebook (and adding on to the sizable amount of gear that they were already tracking during their visit), I simply placated them and left shaking my head. But the ridiculousness was not over.
Terri then explained to me that Pam wanted to bring all the investigators over to do a “blessing” before they did any work in the trailer. I probably don’t have to tell you that I was appalled by this idea. Blessing? What kind of blessing? What possible benefit would this provide concerning the performance of a scientific investigation of the paranormal at this location? The short answer: none.
It was clear that this was not going to be a scientific investigation. Not long after the prayer circle broke up, I could hear Pam lecturing her team members about wearing anything religious that could “provoke” the demonic entity in the trailer into doing anything to them. Wow. If wearing a cross or crucifix antagonized anything in the trailer, wouldn’t doing a blessing in the front yard essentially make them all targets? It made no sense.
Without ever having investigated the location, X Para-normal had already come to the hasty conclusion that they
were dealing with a demonic presence. I was sure this pleased
Joanne. Finally, some paranormal types were actually humoring her and giving her the attention that she desired.
I pulled Terri to the side and asked her about this. I could not believe that she and Tom were actually interested in being a part of such a debacle. At this point, Terri filled me in on some new events that had happened at the trailer during my absence.
The Haunted Meth Lab
Apparently, not long after returning to Mississippi, Joanne decided, once again, to try to rent the trailer. However, this time the tenants would get the entire place, since Joanne had no intention in living there herself. And despite missing two windows and being trashed, she managed to actually get a couple interested in living there—and it wasn’t long before they moved in. For anyone other than Joanne, this would have set off alarms. Who would live in such conditions? The short answer: meth addicts.
Not long after the tenants had moved into the trailer, Joanne stopped getting her reasonably low amount of rent money from the couple. Concerned, she visited the property several times to try and collect the payments—to no avail. Either she never found them at home, or they were hiding in the trailer when she went over. Eventually, she was forced to go through legal channels to have the tenants evicted from the trailer.
Once they were gone, Joanne visited the trailer and found that it was (somehow) in an even worse state than before. But worse than that, it was clear that the people had been making crystal meth inside the premises. A quick look around the place found drug paraphernalia, all the ingredients necessary for concocting the drug, and the scent of the recently cooked amphetamines still hung heavy in the air.
There also happened to be something else in the trailer—
something that Joanne, even with her basic occult background, did not immediately recognize as being of significance.
In the kitchen of the trailer, a large mound of dirt was heaped up on the dining room table with assorted items strewn about it. According to the investigators of X Paranormal, this mound of dirt, along with the various items present, held specific occult significance. Basically, they were the essential ingredients needed for summoning the Devil or a demon through the use of a magic ritual.
The dirt was assumed by the group to be “grave dirt,” and several items that were present held a specific purpose for this ritual—or so X Paranormal believed. These items included a pack of juniper berries and a small silver bell that I was told the entity is supposed to ring upon its arrival to let the summoner know it is present.
After Terri finished explaining all of this
, she took me inside the trailer to show me the pile of dirt in the kitchen, along with the various occult items. Knowing nothing about magical rituals, I would just have to take the word of X Paranormal that this was what was going on in the trailer: meth heads summoning the Devil! But Terri had even more information for me—news that made the latest deeds of the trailer seem even more sinister.
According to Terri, not long after the tenants were ev-icted, they were involved in a deadly accident that claimed the life of the female resident. This was told to me with bated breath and a tremor in her voice. She believed it was a result of the couple meddling with the occult.
While there could be no way to possibly know this to be the case, I did not press the issue with Terri or X Paranormal. After all, I have my own weird tale that involves the Devil, and I certainly did not want to challenge their personal beliefs. Nonetheless, I did have Terri escort me through the trailer, so that I could photograph the table with the dirt and items, as well as to see the damage the couple had wrought upon the place.
As we walked through the premises, I snapped my photos and held my nose tightly—believe it or not, the heavy scent of the cooked drugs was still in the air! Members of X Paranormal moved around us, quickly opening windows to air out the trailer for their investigation (a move that was needed, but would further pollute their audio data with the sounds outside the home).
Once we were finished with the walkthrough, Terri then informed me that X Paranormal had made another discovery on the property as well: the location of John’s grave!
T he Mysterious Mound
After I was finished taking all the photos that I needed, Terri and I made our way back outside. Fighting our way past cables running from the DVR system into the house, Terri then took me around to the back of the trailer to an area that featured a deep depression with a large mound in the center of it. This, according to all present, was the gravesite of John.
I took a slow walk around the depression, taking photos all the while. There was no way for me to know if what they were saying was true. If there had been a John and he had been killed on the property in the 1940s, he would have most likely been placed in the ground quite a long time ago. There would be no evidence on the surface of the ground to indicate if there was a body there.
So I asked Terri how they knew he was buried there and if they had tried to dig for bones or other physical evidence. She told me that nobody had done any digging, but that the X Paranormal team had confirmed the gravesite through the use of dowsing rods. What?! I immediately stopped taking photos and left the area. I had a hard time believing that Terri, or Tom for that matter, could possibly believe that they had found a grave by using dowsing rods! Clearly the X Paranormal group was rubbing off on them.
In the paranormal world, though, there are many different beliefs—and the use of many different investigation methods. To those on the outside, the use of dowsing rods or a psychic may be no more ridiculous an investigative method than running audio and video recorders. After all, ghosts are make-believe, right?
But for those of us on the inside, there is a definite dividing line between those who stick to a strictly scientific method (like myself) and those who use techniques like pendulums, crystals, psychics, dowsing rods … well, you get the picture.
As a result, I knew it would do no good to scoff at their claims that there was a grave behind the trailer. That would just spawn a heated debate about the paranormal and various techniques. I told Terri to let me know if they ever got any proof that a person was buried in the mound. As of the writing of this book, this has not happened—and I don’t really expect that it will …
Terri would, however, send me the link to an article from a local news source that detailed the death of the tenant who had passed away in the accident, so that was an actual incident.
A Final Investigation
Though I had no intention of joining in on X Paranormal’s investigation, I stuck around while they did it. It went pretty much like how any other group would do such a thing: equipment was stationed throughout the trailer, members took turns making their rounds through the place, and on occasion, somebody would claim to have seen or heard something. Most of these incidents were of the mundane nature, but they did break up the monotony.
At one point, several audio recorders were reviewed on the spot, with one member claiming to have gotten a set of strange EVPs that he claimed was made by a “Native American” voice. I listened to one of the EVPs and could not hear what the investigator was talking about.
Even though their team did a reasonably good job of maintaining noise discipline, they were still working in a small trailer with the windows open, people talking outside, and a generator running in the vicinity!
So of course the audio recorder had caught something—
most likely random noise—though I had no idea where the whole Native American thing came from … Thus far, nobody had ever mentioned any possibility of a Native American spirit being present. But, hey, Joanne believed in everything, right?
After observing for a couple hours, I decided to make another pass with my infrared camera to take some additional photos, and then I said my goodbyes. I had learned a lot from my final trip to the trailer: I learned that it was destined to stay knee-deep in illegal drugs, that people seemed to like doing occult and magic-oriented activities in the place, and that word that the place is haunted was beginning to make its rounds through the local paranormal community.
I was also sure that Joanne was most likely pleased with all of this. After all, it was most likely attention that she had wanted in the first place—whether it was from the living or the dead.
The Aftermath
So, after two full-length investigations, a third visit to the trailer, and over a hundred hours spent reviewing evidence from this case, what did I learn?
First off, I learned that the word “haunting” is a broad term and that it should only serve as a jumping off point for investigating the paranormal. Trying to set hard definitions on what a “poltergeist” or “demonic infestation” means is simply setting yourself up for failure. It’s important to go in to a case with an open mind and to simply observe and record the happenings that are occurring there. In the end, only the evidence matters—not what label you attach to the activity.
I also learned that “evil” and “demonic” are subjective terms. They can mean completely different things to different people. A Catholic and a Baptist have completely different ideas about how the Devil works—and if there are even demons capable of intruding upon the lives of the living. And religions other than Christianity have their own beliefs concerning these phenomena as well. So it’s best to avoid using these terms—or to venture into the realm of the religious at all.
In the end, only one set of beliefs is important when we are investigating the paranormal: the beliefs of the client. Ultimately, they are the ones who have to live within the haunted environment and have to feel comfortable in their own home. It is not our place as investigators to push our beliefs upon them.
Unfortunately, Joanne seemed to have no real belief system other than believing there were several spirits in her home. And without having any way to comfort her in this regard, it made working on her case an almost impossible task. Joanne didn’t want to be comforted, and she didn’t believe that house blessings had any effect. She also didn’t want to live free of fear, despite saying that she did.
What she wanted was someone to tell her she was right and that something horrible was there in her trailer—along with her ex-husband in tow. Short of that, paranormal investigators were really of no use to her. Though she did not feel comfortable with living in the trailer, it was clear that she didn’t mind it being haunted. After all, it was supplying her with attention and company.
Which brings me to perhaps the most important lesson I learned from this case: clients want a resolution, but
it’s not always the resolution that we think. It’s not always enough to visit a client’s home, set up and use a bunch of gear, and then play them some audio/video clips. They want to know, “What do you plan to do about all this?”
If a paranormal investigator isn’t prepared to offer some sort of resolution for a client, then he or she may be better off sticking to haunted hotels, restaurants, and museums for their ghostly fill.
For this particular case, and the Martin family, resolution was a particular sticky wicket—though I think, in the end, Joanne sort of got the resolution she wanted: validation that something paranormal was happening in her home, whether she and her family created the situation or not.
For most families, this is not the resolution they are looking for!
Bringing Resolution
When it comes to the well-being of a family and helping them to feel psychologically sound within their own environment, resolution usually means directly addressing the issue of spirits being present.
While recording the testimony of what’s happening within a haunted location, it’s best to pay attention to the way the details of the haunting are being told. Is the client using a lot of religious or occult terms? Are they exhibiting any fear or are they excited by the prospect of a ghost? Not everyone is frightened of paranormal activity. How do they feel about the haunting?
Paying attention to the attitude of the client is the key to bringing resolution to a haunting. If they are afraid, you must assuage this fear. This could mean a simple blessing (one that anyone can perform), a religious blessing (by clergy), or even helping the residents to directly confront the entity on their property and to ask them to leave.
It’s surprising how many times doing these things has had a positive impact on a client—especially if they are experiencing an intelligent spirit. And all of this is much better than telling a client that they will have to leave their home for any kind of solution to their problem.
