Investigations
Quest has been on several investigations over the last few years and we will be adding information on those cases very soon. Please be patient.
Here are some of the places you will be reading about:
Central State Insane Asylum
Willard Library (As seen on Ghost Hunters)
Bobby Mackey’s Music World (As seen on Ghost Adventures)
The Woodcarvers building (As seen on Ghost Diaries)
The Elwood Opera House
The Beech Grove Library
and many more…
Keep an eye out for this weekends investigation of the Noblesville Jail built in 1876 with claims of paranormal activity. I’ll get a write up on that soon after we’re done.
Roachdale Indiana Case
Through a friend, we were asked to investigate a location with strange types of activity. Not only was the house build in the mid 1800′s, but it had a rich history of familes and death.
Claims
Strange feelings in the upstairs area – One room got so cold so quick you could see your breath.
What we needed to find
Looking for high EMF readings all around the house. Checking for faulty A/C or drafts. Or, paranormal activity.
Roachdale, IN Investigation (7/11/09)
We were called into an unoccupied residence located in Roachdale, Indiana by a woman who had recently purchased the home to fix up and get on the historical register. While cleaning up the house with relatives, they had felt cold spots and heard things that were unexplainable. We investigated the residence on Saturday, July 11, 2009. Throughout the investigation we had a few personal experiences with strange noises and voices, but nothing that was definitive. We had a difficult time making out what we had heard due to the fact that some neighbors down the road were shooting off fireworks throughout the night. After our audio and video evidence review, we found that any activity we had experienced through the night could not be determined as “paranormal”. Although we had a fairly uneventful night at this house, we still had a lot of fun learning about the history of the home and touring this neat late 1800’s home.
Setting up for the investigation.
Scooter and Kyle after the investigation.
___________________________________________________________
The Old Noblesville Jail and Museum Case
The front of the former jail and museum
We were told of this location by someone that had visited the museum and told us that strange things had happened and that there were weird feelings. We contacted the museum and they were happy to have us come and put an answer to the questions of activity.
The location was built in the mid to late 1800′s and was the Sherriff’s house as well as a jail for 24 prisoners. Throughout the the years the number of prisoners kept going up and they had to add on. Some noted prisoners to stay there were Charles Manson and it’s , rumored that John Dillenger stayed there as well.
The rear of the building that is part of the jail
Our contact there told us some of the stories of paranormal activity that included doors opening and closing by themselves and a full body apparition in one of the offices (determined by us to be a residual spirit). Not only that, but there were claims of people being seen in the jail windows at night. So, we took that information and started setting up our equipment.
Setting up a camera to catch two doors to see if they will open and close
Just checking the shots to make sure we have the right angles
As we were setting up, our researcher, Hogan, got as much information on the history of the building and the claims as possible.
Hogan gathering information
When we finished setting up, we walked around to get our base readings and then left the building for about 30 minutes to let the equipment run and see if anything wanted to communicate at that time.
When we went back in, we split up in to two teams of three and started the investigation. My group wanted to investigate the claim of the apparition in the office area and the other team headed to the jail area where there had been two confirmed suicides.
Kyle testing his theory that ghosts are really really small
After around 30 minutes we went to the stairs where earlier, when I was setting up the IR camera for the foyer shot, something had brushed up against the back of my head. The other team mmet us there and we decided to blanket the staircase with people to see if any of us would get that sensation again. We tried for another 30 minutes to get something to come forward and touch one of us, but it didn’t happen. We did get a cold sensation at the bottom of the stairs where it wasn’t felt anywhere else, but I’m going to chalk that up to an old building with single pane windows.
We continued the investigation in the juvenile cell block (there was the mens section, the womens section and the juvenile section) where they had it split into two sections. One team took one side and the other team took the other side. We tried to get something to mess with the other team. This is a fun trick as sometimes you can get the spirits to touch the other team and then you can gather evidence that way.
One of the old cells (the chain is on because the locks still work and it keeps us from getting locked in)
While in that section of the jail, we didn’t have any activity. So, we headed up to the third floor where the womens cells were kept. After hearing some strange sounds, we could contribute it to a scavenger hunt going on outside by the local high school (which made audio evidence very difficult). We stayed there for quite a while trying different ways of getting some activity, but to no avail. Hogan even went to the mens cells by himself for a half hour to try and call them out, but he had no luck. Remember, you don’t always get activity when you want it.
After a long evening, we decided to pack in it and see if we got anything for evidence. It was a quiet night, but it was a great place to investigate. We’re glad that they let us in to do what we do. Hopefully we can get back in when the spirits are more willing to play.
We left Kyle locked up until we get a chance to go back. Maybe he’ll make some ghost friends while he’s there.
__________________________________________
Central State Insane Asylum
Central State Insane Asylum is a place ghost hunters around the state know a lot about. At least, it’s a place they all want to go. With stories of full apparitions, shadows, physical assaults, unexplained voices and sounds, phantom smells and cold spots, it’s a place investigators and hunters want to check out.
Quest was invited in with Indiana SPI to do a full investigation of the location. Now, we had special permission from someone there, so don’t try and just go there.
The place itself is intimidating. Not only are the grounds huge, but there are plenty of buildings with multiple floors and more than 7 1/2 miles of tunnels underground.
Going on a tour with our host, you could see the delapidation all around you as the place has been broken into and vandalized over the years. Closed in 1994, it looks as though everyone just stood up and walked out. When walking through the office areas, you could see paperwork still sitting on the desks with open pens ready to be used. For some reason, that just made it a little more creepy.
After a short tour, we decided to set up our equipment in one building (as we only had enough wire for that) and send teams to three different locations. The main building we were in, the tunnels and the admin building. It was easy to take a large group as you could be so far apart that you wouldn’t be able to hear each other scream.
Inside one of the buildings at Central State
The first night we were there, we were able to investigate part of two buildings and only about a mile and a half of the tunnels. It was an interesting adventure, but nothing paranormal happened.
We were asked to go back by a TV show called Doing Indy for their Halloween special they called “Paranormal Indy”. They wanted to get in to Central State and they wanted us to take them in and investigate with them. We were happy to help out.
We met with Seth Hancock (the host) and the rest of the team and started filming. Now, Seth is (was) a skeptic going into this venture and didn’t know what to expect. There was fascination and adventure on his part as he was eager to be proved wrong that indeed there was such a thing as a ghost.
We filmed there three times with Seth with nothing more than stagnent air and strange sights of old beds with chains on them. It wasn’t exactly what he had in mind for his show. So, we get the call one evening that Seth wants to go back just one more time to get some more footage. We agree to go back on a Sunday evening for two hours so he could get his footage and we could move on from this place.
We get there that Sunday evening and start filming. Seth is looking for creepy footage and whatever else he can get to fill the show. All of the sudden…………..footsteps…………..right above us. Now, we know there couldn’t have been footsteps since the ceiling had fallen in and the floor was covered with soft, broken down tile. So, we head to that location. Once we get there, we hear a sound down the hallway. Finally, some strange activity. We ask if we’re being led somewhere and we get a knocking response. We follow. We keep asking and keep getting sounds to lead us somewhere. We get to one of the arms of the admin building when one of the investigators notices a light across the front of the building and into the other arm of the building. We all looked. It looked like a flashlight at first and then all of the sudden, the whole room lit up. We headed over as fast as we could. Not a thing to be found. No trace of anyone and the room was empty. Just another experience.
Throughout the night, we had the sounds taking us places and leading us somewhere. Where that was, we’re not sure. But, we ended up near a nurses station where I see Todd looking down a hallway. I look down and as soon as I do………………swoosh……….a shadow passes. I ask Todd if he saw what I saw and he did. So, he and I told the film crew to stay put and we would check out what was going on. Todd and I make it down the hallway and into another room and can see a shadow moving up and down the hallway as if it was checking us out, but also timid. As we got closer, it would get further away. We could see this shadow figure darting up and down the hallway about 30 feet away and neither of us had the cameras or the crew. By the time we got everyone, it was too late.
Later into the evening, we were in what seemed to be a cafeteria. Seth was standing by himself and noticing a heavy feeling in his chest. He didn’t think much of it, but did mention it to us just in case. It was about five seconds later and Seth gets scared and angry at the same time. Something grabbed the back of his neck. He rushed down the hallway begging to get out of the building and his heart rate was sky high.
We were able to get out with some stories and personal experiences. It took multiple times of going there to get it, but it happened. Maybe someday we’ll go back, but we’ve got more places to check out first. Watch here as Seth hosts Paranormal Indy. Notice the difference between part 1 and part 2. He edited together part one before he had his experience.