Ghost Hunting Group in San Diego.

Well, I just got a new computer today so hopefully I'll be updating this blog more often.  Something interesting happened the other day, I randomly ran across a local ghost hunting group that was doing a private investigation here in Tierrasanta in military housing.  The story about the house is very interesting, last year there was a man so distraught with his approaching deployment that he decided to take his own life instead of going overseas.  Doesn't really make sense does it.  Anyway, I guess the house has been experiencing some paranormal activity, I'm not sure if his family still resides there or if a new family does.  I asked the group (which I won't name at the moment) if I could shadow them on this particular investigation, but they said they would have to meet me in person first, which is understandable.

I followed up with the group the day after their investigation and they said they didn't catch any good evidence, but they needed to explore the place further in about a month or so.  I'm hoping to meet them before that investigation and hopefully they'll let me join.  Here is the link to the article about the man who committed suicide in case anyone is curious.

http://www.fox5sandiego.com/news/kswb-tierrasanta-stand-off,0,1928260.story

Shawnee North Community Center, Topeka KS

Shawnee North Community Center was a pretty big part of my senior year of highschool, my friends and I hung out there almost every single day our last few summers before college began.  I've always known it to be a very ominous structure, with a haunting feeling about it, but until now I haven't known where those feelings were derived.

My little sister Micaela has recently began a new job as a receptionist at the community center, she is there after school and has has a few experiences of her own, but before I get into that I will review the history of the building.

 

Shawnee North Community Center History

From Poor Farm to County Infirmary to Community Center in over 80 years, the building which now houses the Shawnee North Community Center has a history.

The origin of the building dates back to August 19...18 when Shawnee County voters approved a $50,000 bond issue to build a county home and hospital on 119 acres on Indian Creek. Construction was completed in 1920.
When residents of the Poor Farm moved into the completed building, they enjoyed examples of modern conveniences that few of the surrounding farms enjoyed such as electric light plant, water and sewage system, steam heat, a modern kitchen and dining room and an all-stone and concrete construction. The Poor Farm was closed in 1941. In 1942, the County Poor farm became the County Infirmary, essentially becoming a nursing home for the aged indigent. Many poor farms statewide were converted into small care institutions and then they were phased out in favor of direct nursing home placement. The Shawnee County Infirmary was staffed with LPN’s and nurses until it finally closed in 1974. In 1975, the building was converted into a community center. Presently, the Shawnee North Community Center is host to many classes and special events. The community center currently houses a center director, 3 recreation programmers, 2 recreation leaders, 3 preschool teachers and our athletics office.

 

As we all know, there have been many hauntings reported across the country in previous poor farms and Infirmary's.  The conditions were not ideal for the patients due to overcrowding and lack of resources, many individuals died in these facilities and many of their bodies were not claimed by family.  Because of this, there are many unmarked graves outside of these buildings, which is very unfortunate and seems to cause a lot of activity in the vicinity. 

 

Unfortunately, I have not gotten the opportunity to investigate this particular building on my own, but plan to in the near future during my next visit to Kansas.

 

Now, back to Micaela's experiences.  It seems as though both of my sisters, as well as myself have a knack for sensing paranormal energy.  We are all familiar with the usual claims of cold spots, feeling watched, seeing a shadow out of the corner of our eye, as well as hearing unusual sounds.  Lindsay even claims that she can smell a haunting :) Recently I believe Micaela has been sensing these almost every night she has been working at Shawnee North.  She has described feeling cold spots as well as having a shadow-like apparition follow her up the stairway. (I have posted a photo of the stairway).  She has also told me of an old coal room located in the building, which she has heard strange scratching noises resonating from.  I have posted photos of both the coal room, as well as the outside of the building, and will post more later. 

 

If anyone else has had any experiences in this building I would love to hear from you!  I can't wait to investigate!!

Dead Lady Hill

It all started one Tuesday morning when I was on my way to work, it began just like any other day I was half asleep stopped at a red light on the corner of Santo road and Clairemont here in Tierrasanta.  I'd noticed that there was an unusual amount of traffic for 7:30 in the morning, that's when I noticed the bright yellow tarp covering an area along side of the road.  Then I saw the taped off area surrounding as well as two police cars.  The last thought in my mind was that it was a human corpse until I saw the shrine later on in the day with a few boquets of flowers.

For months I was scouring the internet, as well as local newspapers but couldn't find any information on the events that had taken place.  Luckily, my husband and I frequent the local bar, JP's pub, and I knew that one of the bartenders had to have more information.  I sat there at the bar working up the guts to ask Gale (the bartender at the time) what had happened, she then informed me that a woman was found dead on the side of the road, and that she had been going through a really rough divorce at the time and there was a pending investigation so that was all she could really tell me.  This peaked my interest even more and I continued pouring over articles still to no avail.

A few more months passed, and Sean and I decided to hire a local contractor to remodel our fireplace.  Tony, the contractor had grown up in Tierrasanta and knew everyone in the area, so I knew he probably knew the story.  I asked him and he said that the woman was addicted to the drug oxycontin, went wandering one day in the canyon and in her altered state had wandered about until she died of exposure!  Right then I knew I had to do an investigation.