It was a perfect night! The moon was full and the evening was warm and comfortable for an October night. The biggest danger that beset our group was the cow pies. The abandoned farm house’s yard was now a pasture and the large black and white cows lay in the tall unattended grass that surrounded the hundred year old house.
Our group was unusually large for an investigation, which was exciting by itself. Linda and Melissa were members of GRIPS, Ashley, a former resident of the farm house and the others were interested in the home from stories that they had heard from Ashley. Hopefully everyone will have their curiosity satisfied and possibly become members of GRIPS.
The small barn was the first of the six buildings we came across it appeared to be in fine shape. A seventeen year old boy was to have died falling through the chute years ago. The other structures two silos, hog house and shed, were in great disrepair and were unsafe. We planned to check out the barn later, but our focus was on the home of Ashley’s past. It was really quite charming, the two story home with all its rows of windows and a long narrow front porch it was very different than what was imaged for an abandoned home.
The front door appeared closed as we mounted the stairs to the wooden porch. Ashley knocked and called out, the door knob was missing and it slowly swung opened. We entered carefully in case of animals. Never know what little varmints have made a cozy home. Once in the room, it was clear that this house had not been occupied for some time. The plaster had fallen and the lead paint had bubbled away from the wood and the ancient wall paper had peeled away in long thick strips. The ceiling was low and the rooms had a feeling of solid hard work. What fixtures there were, were from an era long past.
Ashley took us on a tour, relating how in the front room, the dog would growl and stare at the cast iron vent in the floor and watch an invisible threat travel across the ceiling. An empty beer bottle lay among the chunks of plaster and paint. The floor was a speckled white against the dark wood. We traveled through a dining room, it was clean and in wonderful condition, not at all like the rest of the house. In this room the wallpaper was only old, not torn or hanging down. The ceiling was untouched by time and floor was almost like it was swept, with no debris of any kind. It was as if this room was untouched by anyone or anything, safe and comforting like a sanctuary.
Ashley took us on a tour, relating how in the front room, the dog would growl and stare at the cast iron vent in the floor and watch an invisible threat travel across the ceiling. An empty beer bottle lay among the chunks of plaster and paint. The floor was a speckled white against the dark wood. We traveled through a dining room, it was clean and in wonderful condition, not at all like the rest of the house. In this room the wallpaper was only old, not torn or hanging down. The ceiling was untouched by time and floor was almost like it was swept, with no debris of any kind. It was as if this room was untouched by anyone or anything, safe and comforting like a sanctuary.
Rounding the corner we came upon the back door, the old time arches of the two pane window must have been beautiful back in the day, but now the glass lay broken inside the door. The metal sheeting that someone had put on the door had been pulled off and it lay on the grass. It was oblivious that someone had broken into the house through this door, rather than enter through the unlocked door at the front probably the fellow with the beer. The sheeting on the lower windows that faced toward the highway remained intact.
At one time this was a beautiful home. Next to the stairs on the first floor was the small bathroom, to the right of the back door was the baby’s room and beyond that a kitchen and a summer kitchen. The glass crunched as we climbed carefully up the steep and narrow steps. The staircase railing was smooth and beautiful. The second floor had four rooms, Ashley mentioned only three were used as bedrooms, the fourth was one that no one had cared for and it had been for storage, in this room was a pull down ladder to the attic.
The little landing at the top of the stairs had a window that looked out over a hill, beyond that was the paved road and it is here where the little girl would have been heard singing. Ashley told of how she and her sisters would hear the little girl sing and whisper and run up and down the stairs laughing. The spirit was always comforting and sometimes she would even play with their toys setting them off and giggling.
All of her memories were happy ones with the little girl, unless the man spirit was there. It would be around two or three in the morning when she could sense and feel him enter the house. The tension would be high and the nightmares of being chased into a corner of the closet by this faceless man would visit the dreams of Ashley as the three young sisters slept. She felt better if the little girl’s spirit was there the little girl was protective of young Ashley and her sisters. The little girl protected them when it stormed and she was always there when Ashley would awake from her terror. She was a comfort and now Ashley worried about the little girl’s safety and that was why she wanted to come back. To prove to herself that she wasn’t imagining things and that the girl was alright.
Our group of Ashley, Melissa, Natasha, her husband Pete, Kris, Stephanie, Maisie, Rosario and myself formed a loose circle in what had been the girls’ bedroom. We placed a K2 meter and a voice recorder in the center of the circle. Ashley explained how the room was furnished and which sister had slept in each bed. One could almost see the way the room was with its warm pink paint and with story books, toys and clothes everywhere.
I explained to any spirit present, that we would like to speak to the young girl. Each of us sat quietly in the dark the only light was from a couple of flashlights on the floor and the moonlight from the windows. Ashley began the EVP session by telling us about the toys that would start up without batteries, the sound of running footsteps, the giggles and laughter. And the singing of the little ghost girl when the squalls were at their worst was very comforting hearing a happy voice over the wicked noise of a storm. Ashley recalled how the song of Patty Cake would echo over the sound of thunder and lightning. The girls would then join the singing and the storms would seem less scary. She explained it this was this game that the little girl really enjoyed. It was a universal song to many generations no matter the decades apart, something the girls could share together.
Ashley described what she remembered in her mind’s eye the little lost girl long dark braided pigtails, bangs that nearly reached large bright dark eyes and a friendly playful smile. The little ghost appeared to have been between seven and ten years of age, about the ages of Ashley and her sisters had been when she first appeared, her manor of dress was of the 1950’s style. As Ashley and her sisters grew older, the little girl ghost remained the same.
The nasty man spirit, Ashley couldn’t recall his features only his dark and threatening form that would drive a girl into the corner of a closet to escape him. Only to be trapped. It was these dreams that still haunted Ashley, they had seemed so real. And in the corner of the room where we sat was the closet, maybe they weren’t a dream. Only the little spirit would always rescue Ashley in the dream and the bad man would then fade away. He would come about the same time every night, from where the train tracks had been over the hills, stomping up the stairs to where the sisters slept.
Rosario is a sensitive, and she relayed that the little girl was with us and she seemed happy that we were there. Rosario, was with us for the first time, and had no knowledge of the house or spirits that may have been there, but right away she would say things that Ashley would verify. We knew then tonight would be a night to remember for all of us.
We all sat and watched the K2 meter flash lights responding to questions Rosario would, with her quite Philippine accent, clarify the answer the little girl was speaking to her. Ashley would then say that made sense with what she remember and the room slowly got colder as the girl mustered up energy to communicate.
Things like disappearing items, like small toys and socks were the subject when suddenly Rosario leapt to her feet and raced down to the baby’s room on the first floor. We all followed not wanting to miss anything. Rosario put her hand on a wall and said “Here, she wants us to look here”. The wall was untouched by time, clean and solid. “Behind here.” She pounded on the wall.
Ashley quickly spoke, “Break it, the owners said we can do what we want, they are going to tear down, so break it.”
Missy with no hesitation at all took her foot and kicked hard a hole into the wall, after that it didn’t take long for a large hole to form. Next the two gals were reaching in the hole and pulling out a tiny store of treasures a dirty sock, tiny stars that glow in the dark, a pencil and a wallet size school picture. “It is my sister.” Ashley scraped away the grimy dirt of a decade or more. “And that is my sock. Did you take this? Are these your treasures?” Rosario answered, “She says yes.” Now during all this commotion, and believe me there was a lot, I had a unique personal experience. There were way too many people in a small room for me to be up front where the action was, when the hole was big enough and items being retrieved everyone converge forward into a tight group and I landed up against the wall to the left. Being short I couldn’t see over or though the mob to see what was going on. While standing there taking a few pictures I felt a small hand on my left hip that gave me a slight push. I immediately moved from the side to the back of the group in time to see the sock being showed by Ashley. At the time no one was near me and I just couldn’t figure out what had pushed me. That night as we packed to leave I told Natasha about it, since she had been pinched out in the yard while we surveyed the outer buildings.
It wasn’t till a week later when she called and she and Ashley raced over with an EVP. ** It was a voice of a little girl, you could hear the commotion of the treasure hunt in the background, but her voice was clear as she told me “to move, I want to show you something”. Talk about the hairs standing up! My experience matched the EVP. I was flabbergasted! I should get back to that wonderful night, believe me it only got better from here, Rosario said the girl would like to show us something in the basement and she fearlessly headed down the narrow, slippery steps into the darkness with only a small flashlight and the guiding of the little girl. Pete was the only brave soul to venture to the basement. There were only cobwebs, bugs, and a dirt floor and not much room to move, the ceiling was low and the air stale. The girl showed Rosario an area, but wouldn’t say why she wanted to show it to her. Rosario thanked her and retreated back to the roomy first floor and all of us that waited. We went back upstairs to the comfort of the girl’s room. The night continued with questions and answers. The only question we could not get was the young girl’s name.
We had done research and found a picture of a missing girl from Chicago, who had disappeared back in December 3Rd, 1957. Her body was found just twenty miles or so from where we were investigating. Her clothes from the 50’s and the dark braids matched Ashley description. Her name was Maria Ridoph or Rudolph. Soon after our visit a man who was from this area at the time of her disappearance was arrest in Washington State for her murder. We all wonder if Maria was the girl in that house. And the evil man spirit was the residual from the killer’s energy imprinted on an ordeal that no one should endure. And that Maria found her strength in protecting the girls of the house from him.
Ashley quickly spoke, “Break it, the owners said we can do what we want, they are going to tear down, so break it.”
Missy with no hesitation at all took her foot and kicked hard a hole into the wall, after that it didn’t take long for a large hole to form. Next the two gals were reaching in the hole and pulling out a tiny store of treasures a dirty sock, tiny stars that glow in the dark, a pencil and a wallet size school picture. “It is my sister.” Ashley scraped away the grimy dirt of a decade or more. “And that is my sock. Did you take this? Are these your treasures?” Rosario answered, “She says yes.” Now during all this commotion, and believe me there was a lot, I had a unique personal experience. There were way too many people in a small room for me to be up front where the action was, when the hole was big enough and items being retrieved everyone converge forward into a tight group and I landed up against the wall to the left. Being short I couldn’t see over or though the mob to see what was going on. While standing there taking a few pictures I felt a small hand on my left hip that gave me a slight push. I immediately moved from the side to the back of the group in time to see the sock being showed by Ashley. At the time no one was near me and I just couldn’t figure out what had pushed me. That night as we packed to leave I told Natasha about it, since she had been pinched out in the yard while we surveyed the outer buildings.
It wasn’t till a week later when she called and she and Ashley raced over with an EVP. ** It was a voice of a little girl, you could hear the commotion of the treasure hunt in the background, but her voice was clear as she told me “to move, I want to show you something”. Talk about the hairs standing up! My experience matched the EVP. I was flabbergasted! I should get back to that wonderful night, believe me it only got better from here, Rosario said the girl would like to show us something in the basement and she fearlessly headed down the narrow, slippery steps into the darkness with only a small flashlight and the guiding of the little girl. Pete was the only brave soul to venture to the basement. There were only cobwebs, bugs, and a dirt floor and not much room to move, the ceiling was low and the air stale. The girl showed Rosario an area, but wouldn’t say why she wanted to show it to her. Rosario thanked her and retreated back to the roomy first floor and all of us that waited. We went back upstairs to the comfort of the girl’s room. The night continued with questions and answers. The only question we could not get was the young girl’s name.
We had done research and found a picture of a missing girl from Chicago, who had disappeared back in December 3Rd, 1957. Her body was found just twenty miles or so from where we were investigating. Her clothes from the 50’s and the dark braids matched Ashley description. Her name was Maria Ridoph or Rudolph. Soon after our visit a man who was from this area at the time of her disappearance was arrest in Washington State for her murder. We all wonder if Maria was the girl in that house. And the evil man spirit was the residual from the killer’s energy imprinted on an ordeal that no one should endure. And that Maria found her strength in protecting the girls of the house from him.
Sorry to say the house is no more. It was demolished in 2013. Only comfort we have is that the little girl ghost is happy at her new home and family. We wish all of them the best.