Friday night, we returned to the Old Lake County Jail in Crown Point, Indiana to do a follow up investigation. The former John Dillinger jail is always good for a paranormal investigation. We had excellent results when we visited in July, so we wanted to go back and check it out again. If you didn't catch the results of our first investigation, you can check them out by clicking the video below.
As anyone in the paranormal field will tell you, investigating is unpredictable. You can investigate the same place twice and get entirely different results. Our two investigations at the old jail was no different. A tale of two investigations. The first investigation was heavy on the sounds; loud banging, footsteps, jail cells closing etc. This investigation was heavy on the visuals and feelings.
From the moment we walked in, you could feel that the energy was charged and ready for a night of ghostly activity. For this investigation, it was myself and a co-investigator for the night. I like to investigate in small groups because I always get better results. But less people and more activity is not always a good thing when you're in an old, extremely haunted jail.
From the moment the door closed behind us and we were alone in the jail, it felt like there was something right next to us. Last time it took about an hour and a half before any activity began. I tried to get my cameras up and working but none of my electronics were working properly. I gave up on the cameras and grabbed my phone, flashlight and emf reader and we headed to the nearest cell block. This cell block has two rows of cells running parallel to one another. My co-investigator stood at one row while I stood at the other. I didn't see anything on my block but she did in hers.
She quietly called me over to show me that a mist had formed at the end of the cell block and was slowly moving to the up right corner. It was quite the show. She was able to catch a photo of the mist as it lifted up and out of sight.
About an hour later, we were honored to have the president of the jail preservation association and another member join us for investigating. We were also relieved. Last time I felt fine and explored the whole jail without any feelings of anxiety. This time, I was anxious the whole time. The energy felt a bit heavier. A bit more negative. So I was happy to have two more people with us. They, of course, knew everything about the jail and where the most haunted locations were which was incredibly helpful.
We came to a stairwell and stood for a moment to listen. Just then we heard something on the old metal stairs. Being as we were the only four people in the whole building, it was clear it was not us. The president asked if the ghost could bang on something to let us know they were there. They did. Loudly. A loud bang on the stairs happened again, this time closer. We waited a few moments but nothing else happened so we proceeded to John Dillinger's old cell block. The front of the cell block has a large community cell where the inmates would play cards or whatever they did. Earlier in the night, I had discovered there was a spirit in the cell but it was closed so we didn't go in. The ladies opened the cell for us and we all went in for an EVP session in hopes the ghost was still around. Turns out, he was. We had three different k2 meters the we spread out throughout the cell. I stood at the back so my phone would not interfere with the meters as I recorded the session. As you can hear from the recording below, he was all too happy to answer our questions. For many questions, he lit up our K2 meters on correct answers. On some of the questions, you can hear his ghostly voice respond to the questions asked.
We were able to determine that this was George Brown, a former inmate that was housed at the jail in 1956-57 before escaping with other inmates. George, also known as the Dunes Slayer, clearly wasn't a nice person as he murdered two women in addition to other crimes he committed in his free years. He was seriously a bad guy.
After our evp session with George was over, we moved on to other portions of the jail. Everything was calm until we reached the federal and solitary confinement portion of the jail. A lot of investigator's are good at picking up on energy shifts when around the paranormal. Three of the four of us investigate quite often and knew something wasn't quite right. The energy had shifted to a much more negative feeling.
We quickly left the area and the two members of the association needed a break so they walked outside. My co-investigator and myself returned to the area where they filmed the movie Public Enemies. We sat for a few minutes before the real excitement began.
As we sat at the table I noticed out of the corner of my eye a black shape flying. I knew there were bats in the building so I pointed it out to my co-investigator. She didn't see it where I was pointing but she got quiet for a second and then asked, "Do you mean that?" Pointing to the other side of the room. There it was, or another one. She told me that's not a bat, but I wasn't convinced. I thought it was. I noticed that it was a bit bigger than when it first appeared, almost the sized of a soccer ball. Then it started flying faster, circling us from the outside of the cell block. That'd be an extra large bat, but I was now beginning to understand, that this was no bat. A real feeling of dread started to spread. The black mass was a blur, and it was completely soundless. It was making the whole square of the cell block in seconds now, an impossible speed and I just watched, completely dumbfounded. I never grabbed my phone to record because at first I thought it was a bat but by the time my brain caught up with reality, I was stunned motionless. I looked at her and said as calmly as I could, without feeling calm at all, "We need to leave. Now." We got up and darted out of the cell block and down the stairs in record time. I have never ran away from an entity, never been scared enough to. But, at this moment, I felt I could break land speed records to get out of there.
We didn't really go back into the jail because it just didn't feel right. Instead, we sat and talked with the president of the jail for a long while. She told us stories of other people's experiences and we enjoyed hearing them. Right after a particularly creepy story, the front door to the old sheriff's house busted opened. The three of us (the other lady had left by this point) jumped up and clearly panicked. My co-investigator hid behind a door, the president ran a different direction while I stood frozen to the spot, apparently lacking the good sense to hide if it were an intruder. We guessed (hoped?) it was the wind; but since my blood pressure had probably reached max levels by this point, we decided to call it a night.
There is no doubt in my mind that the Old Jail in Crown Point, Indiana is one of the most haunted locations in America. I have been all over the country and investigated hundreds of places in my 16+ years of investigating. There is only the 3rd time I have felt that I could not handle a location. Last time I investigated here, it wasn't like that. Sometimes the ghosts are okay with you there and sometimes they want you out. They were not wanting visitors this time. There can be times where angry spirits, especially at jails, prisons and asylums are present. If you are interested in paranormal investigating, be sure to trust your instincts. If you feel there is something not wanting you there that night, it's best not to push it. Come back at a different time, work in groups, and until you feel comfortable, work with an experienced investigator. Like I said, this was only my 3rd time dealing with an angry spirit, they are rare, but they do exist. In this instance, I feel it was the angry spirit we all felt up on the federal block, that had followed us down. Coincidentally, the last time we were there, the loud banging was coming from the exact same spot.
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