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Ghost Hunters
Team investigates hauntings in Ariz.
businesses, homes, historical sites
By Janice L. Semmel
Community Editor
The ghost hunters stayed overnight in the saloon, and at 4 a.m. sharp, the place came to life and then abruptly at 5 a.m. became quiet. During that hour, the ghost hunters asked for verification that something was present, and the metal locks on the bathroom stalls rattled vigorously for confirmation. The ghost hunters experienced the sound of a marble rolling across the barroom floor, and even though it was not visible, they could track its progress by sound. Hank says, “The owner had the floor refinished, but stains come back, and the owner thinks that it is blood.” Three years ago in Prescott, Bennett and the Martins met at a ghost chaser workshop. Since then, they have done their own ghost hunts and organized tours to various locations around Arizona. By day Bennett is a full-time mom, Anne is a computer operator and Hank is a purchaser for a surgical center, but in their free time, they investigate ghostly happenings in Arizona and around the country and document their findings. Anne says that the ghost hunters’ purpose is to prove there is an afterlife. Their leads come by word of mouth. Anne maintains their goals are to gather information at an investigation by using videos, pictures and EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) along with interviews. The ghost hunters do not charge for investigations and give investigation evidence to the homeowner. Anne says, “When we are invited into a home to do an investigation, we try to comfort the home owners and give them a better understanding of what’s going on in their home. A lot of times when they find out it isn’t anything to worry about, they learn to live with the ghosts.”
Hank maintains their purpose is not to make a profit, but to investigate the incidents, compile consistent evidence to establish credibility and give peace of mind to individuals living with the situation. Bennett says, “Either you believe or you don’t.” The ghost hunters present the "facts" to individuals, and they are free to come to their own conclusions. Hank considers Bennett the antenna that hones in on ghosts and spirits. Anne explains that Bennett is sensitive to seeing ghosts and spirits and can pick up their energy and communicate with them. Bennett gains perspective on ghosts’ personalities through encounters with them. Some pull her long hair, she says, while others whisper an evil or a mischievous “boo” or “hello” in her ear. Bennett explains that ghosts are earthbound, and spirits come back to give loving messages. Anne adds, “Sometime, they [ghosts] choose to stay earthbound because they are afraid to cross over. Sometimes, they do not know they have passed away. It is also free will, if they don’t want to cross over, they won’t.”
Anne suggests that ghosts may stay in a specific place because they were happy there when they were alive. Ghosts may appear in order to communicate with an intuitive or to frighten an unwanted homeowner. The ghost hunters spent a night locked in Pioneer Living History Museum with the caretaker. They left three recorders in the Opera House, which had been built by the Goldwaters in 1876 in Prescott and moved to the museum brick-by-brick after 1959. Only one of the three recorders contained 40 minutes of static followed by 21 minutes of loud train depot noise. Later while talking to a Prescott bookstore owner, the ghost hunters discovered the Opera House had once been two blocks from the train depot with no buildings between them. The ghost hunters travel and arrange tours to Yuma Territorial Prison State Historical Park. Superintendent Jesse Torres, affiliated with the park for 30 years, takes the group on a 10 p.m. tour of the facility while telling its history. Many emotions survive in the cave where prisoners were kept in solitary confinement. The cave has no windows just a narrow air shaft, and prisoners were chained in the pitch-black darkness. Guards threw snakes and scorpions down the air shaft into the darkness onto unsuspecting prisoners they disliked. Upon entering the cave, the ghost hunters tape their pants around their ankles so that snakes and scorpions can’t crawl up their pants legs. Here ghost hunters recorded a voice saying, “Get out of here.” By cell 14 where inmate John Ryan hung himself, Hank placed a gold panning pan containing 1880’s coins, a sheriff’s badge and sprinkled with beer to attract a ghost. As Hank poured the beer, he heard “thank you, but get away.” Closer to home, Anne and Hank’s neighbor, Janette, felt someone watching her by day and sitting on the end of her bed by night. The ghost hunters investigated and took a picture of the ghost sitting on the sofa with Janette. Further investigation revealed that a homestead or a burial plot owned by a man named Kevin previously occupied the land where Janette’s home was built in 2001. Janette feels comfortable with the ghost she has named farmer Kevin. Arizona Desert Ghost Hunters maintains a Web site at www.adghosthunters.com where additional information is available. |
| Last updated: May 5, 2006 Paradise Valley Community College- URL-http://www.pvc.maricopa.edu/Puma/ © 2006 Maricopa County Community College District. All Rights Reserved. Click here for Questions or Comments. 
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