Case status: Closed
Case date: February 28, 2017
Location: Buena Vista, VA
Identity: Private
Site classification: Residence
Report #581 – Case Basic Information by Tommy Amos
This case was referred to CPRI by Teresa Gray. Teresa was contacted by the property owner through channels outside of CPRI. Teresa visited the property and thought it should be referred to CPRI for possible investigation.
Contact: [REDACTED]
Phone: [REDACTED]
[REDACTED] prefers to use text messaging to communicate. She doesn’t have Internet access.
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Here is the information provided by CPRI member Teresa Gray:
Tommy, her name is [REDACTED]
Her husband’s name is [REDACTED]
4 sons: [REDACTED]-19, [REDACTED] -17, [REDACTED]-16, [REDACTED]-12. [REDACTED] has a girlfriend that also lives there.
[REDACTED] admits to going to the Lexington Poor House Tunnel.
Sorry to bother you. But i found your number on the paranormal site. i’d like to ask you a few questions if your still doing that and if you don’t mind. my name is [REDACTED].
Hey how are you? i was wondering if you and your group do investagations in people’s homes or just like abandoned buildings
Well we have things happen inside and outside and tons of pictures. should i call and tell you or text cause its a good bit of stuff
Two of my boys have seen the same man in their room. i know we have a small child here. something likes to lure my husband into the woods. We see my Husband in different places but its not him. in my one son room at certain times the bed will shake till you wake up. my kids and i seen a full dark figured person in my bedroom window looking out at us one night right after something effected my husband and caused his eyes to go big and dark and it was the most terrifying thing i’ve ever seen. You hear people talking often or walking around. i know i’m leaving stuff out but from that do you think you would come check it out for us. please.
My address is [REDACTED] buena vista. and can’t find much info on the property and no one does any spiritual things. About five years ago we did start digging out the other half of our basement and things did get worse then
It was built in [REDACTED]. and honestly the only person i feel scared for is my husband. Something bothers him a lot and he stays sick
Report #582 – Contact Log by Tommy Amos
Text to [REDACTED] on 2/16/17: Hi [REDACTED], Teresa [Gray] referred me to contact you about the activity that is taking place in your home. She provided a lot of details about her visit to your home. The activity you are reporting greatly concerns me. I will discuss your situation with my fellow team members during our monthly state meeting in Richmond this weekend to see if they want to take this case. Also, we don’t charge for our services.
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Text from [REDACTED] on 2/16/17: Hello this is [REDACTED]. thank you for getting back with me. sorry i took a bit i had to wait till my lunch break. I hope your team decides they will take our case. It would really mean a lot. …thank you again and i hope to hear from you soon.
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Text to [REDACTED] on 2/20/17: Good morning, I have good news. We have agreed to accept your case. Would it be okay for me to call you sometime this evening between 6-9PM?
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Text from [REDACTED] on 2/20/17: Awesome! Thank you so much. and yes you can call. this phone only texts for now but you can call me on my son phone at [REDACTED] look forward to hearing from you.
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Text to [REDACTED] on 2/23/17: I just wanted to let you know that I have everything arranged to visit you on Saturday at 2pm. I hope this time is still okay with you.
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Text from [REDACTED] on 2/23/17: Sounds great. looking forward to meeting you and thanks again to you all.
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Text to [REDACTED] on 2/23/17: I look forward to meeting y’all too. I would like for your husband and sons to be there too. I will have a ton of questions.
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Text to [REDACTED] on 2/25/17: Good morning, I just want to make sure that we are going to meet you at your house at 2pm today.
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Text from [REDACTED] on 2/25/17: yes sir. sorry i slept in today and late getting back with you
Report #583 – POI on 2/25/17 – Tommy’s Report by Tommy Amos
I visited [REDACTED] home on Saturday, 2/25/17. I was accompanied by Amanda Phaup and Amanda Patterson. Teresa Gray met us at the property within a few minutes of our arrival. [REDACTED] met us outside and I made the introductions.
I asked [REDACTED] to show us around and tell us a bit about the activity associated with each room in the house and property location. She gave us a tour of the outside shed, outside trail in the woods and the interior of the home.
[REDACTED] was not able to meet us for several minutes after our arrival. [REDACTED] suffers from severe, debilitating anxiety. During the interview process, I discovered that [REDACTED] was severely abused for eight years of his childhood. He spent the remaining eight years in the regional Boys Home, by his own request to remain there. [REDACTED] severe anxiety has led to additional health problems, including gastrointestinal issues. [REDACTED] had a severe gastrointestinal attack while we were there. Since each of the other team members are RNs, they addressed his attack. They unanimously believed it was a specific issue related to cramping near the stomach area and recommended that he seek competent medical GI assistance. I found [REDACTED] to be believable and forthright. I believe [REDACTED] has been under a long term oppression which has recently become more intense.
I found [REDACTED] to also be believable and forthright. Prolonged stress due to [REDACTED] disability during the past 5 – 6 years are taking a toll on her. I picked up on signs of depression. However, I don’t believe she, or the kids, are being directly oppressed. She did break down into tears during one portion of the interview. She was overjoyed to hear that I wanted to pursue a FOI.
The reported activity includes: footsteps, voices, apparitions, shadows, visible orbs, poltergeist, scratches (at lease one set of 3), significant temperature drops, and physical interactions. The most pronounced manifestation was due to [REDACTED] being possessed by an unknown entity that was seen by [REDACTED] as a quarter size white orb that entered his body. The descriptions of this event can be reviewed on the audio recording at the link that will be provided later. One of their son’s submitted a report for his [REDACTED] class that describes the event.
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Here is the report submitted by [REDACTED] for [REDACTED] on [REDACTED]
Personal Narrative
The day was just like any normal school day, seeming and unending filled with obnoxious students. I went to practice and worked like a horse in the field. I finally felt a sense of relief as I came home and got a chance to wash off my days sweat. It began getting late, it was around eleven or so and I decided it was time for bed. As I was laying in bed playing on my phone like any teenager, I was startled by the blood curdling screams coming from my seemingly dense basement.
I quickly jolted from my bed to the stairs where the lights began flickering just before blowing. As I was coming down the stairs I was quickly aware of what was going on. I saw my father lying on the ground, giving a scream I’ve never heard before as my mother laid over him sobbing. My father had something in him, spirit of some kind, and I didn’t know what to do. His eyes were black as charcoal and skin as pale as a summer’s moonlight. It was just like you see on the TV shows, so my mother had the idea to begin praying over him. We took hands and began saying the Lord’s prayer as my father laid on the floor screaming in an unrelentless voice. After saying it multiple times and still no result, I had to call the police who arrived in less than five minutes. As they saw him in a daze, with his eyes rolled back and his piercing skin, the police officer began speaking to him.
After a few minutes the police officer talked to him, he began to get out of his daze. He began speaking and asking what is going on and how he got in the basement. I helped him to his feet, he barely had enough energy to speak but gave it everything he could. He said he felt a cold chill right before going into some form of daze, and then trying to attack my mother. After a few minutes of conversation the EMTs finally showed up after what seemed like ages. The large bearded man had a concerned look on his face when he saw my father’s almost lifeless skin tone. The EMT asked permission to run a scan of my father’s heart and he gave him the go ahead. The bearded brute began hooking wires to my father and starting this machine that gave a chilling sound. It was odd seeing my father’s heartbeat on that machine, knowing once that stopped, so did he. After around two minutes the man’s facial expression went from all smiles to a grim look. He told my father he had many unusual beats in his heart, and it wasn’t normal for someone his age to have that many. The EMT offered and pleaded for my father to go to the hospital. Of course him being stubborn he generously declined the offer. My family and I thanked the EMTs and police officer as they swiftly left my home. I helped my father to his room.
The room seemed heavy, like a web of thickness that kept lingering on. My mother made my dad a bowl of steaming chili while my brothers and I laid and talked to him. I heard a knock at the door and was confused as to who would be coming to my home around midnight. It was my grandmother, breathing heavily and in a panic. She bull rushed her way into my father’s bedroom only to lie down on the blue and white flower printed blanket. She yelled and made a fuss of what was wrong which upset my father. He told her to calm down, that he was okay now. My mother cried in the corner and couldn’t bear to look at my father knowing what had just happened. I told her to calm down, that everything was okay now. Although she knew he still wasn’t himself, she said, “That’s not my husband right now, it’s coming back into him.” I wished she had been wrong, but she knew from the start it wasn’t over. After thirty minutes or so of praying and having normal conversation the room began to turn cold again. You could see my father’s bloodshot brown eyes progressively turn dark once again. Once more, he began screaming as if he was being tortured. This time, the scream was amplified. It took all of my brothers, my grandma, my mother, and myself to hold back the godly strength my father had received. I quickly ran to get a bible and as I walked in the room, my father stopped and stared directly into me. He saw the bible I held in my hand and began screaming that blood curdling scream we had heard downstairs but only more violent. As my family said the Lord’s prayer again, I began reading the bible scriptures in hopes it would help. I called the police once more but this time they were more hesitant to show. Before they arrived, I asked everyone to join hands as I lead them in prayer. You heard a belched and prolonged “No” coming from my father just as I began to pray. Finally the police showed up again, this time he brought his friend.
They walked into my father’s room and began shining a light on his lifeless cold body. It was unbearable for the policeman’s friend so he decided to stand in the living room and converse with my mother. As the police officer began talking to my father again, he snapped out of it just like before. Again he was confused as to what happened, he said, “I felt like superman, like I could rip this entire home off the foundation,” that worried everyone in the dense room. Once again, flashing lights from the ambulance shined outside my window like a lighthouse at the sea. It was the bearded man, he began asking questions and highly recommended going to the hospital. Again, he declined, but luckily my grandmother made him go. He agreed to ride over there and get checked out. The policeman helped my father to his feet and he walked to turn the light off in the closet. As soon as my father touched the light switch, it blew. The light not only blew, but completely shattered upon my fathers touch. The EMT finally loaded my father into the ambulance and off in the distance he went.
The time was around two, and we followed closely behind the ambulance. Although my mother and I took two separate cars, my brothers and I had to stop and get gas. it was a quiet ride to the hospital, everyone was still in shock as to what just happened. After ten minutes we finally reached the hospital. My grandma was sitting in the waiting chair as no one would let us back to see him. While everyone was inside, I waited in the car with my [REDACTED] dog, [REDACTED]. I took a nap, and when my mother awoke me it was around three AM. She said I was going to my other grandmas to sleep so I happily obliged. I walked up the stairs to her apartment and quickly fell asleep on her black leather couch. I woke up roughly around six. I had to go to school. I walked from my grandmothers to my home to get dressed and get my car. It was frat day at school so I dressed nicely. After barely making it through the day and practice, I was happy to be home and check up on my father. The results from the hospital were shocking, they said his heart was fine, that there was no abnormalities as seen before. It began to make us all think it was something in our home.
Nonetheless, it was a blessing disguised as a curse. This occurrence made mine and my family’s belief and strength in God much stronger. It changed my father into becoming a more Christian man and myself into the same. It was a horrific experience, but it not only bettered me, but also my family. I’m thankful to have strengthened my relationship with God.
Report #587 – Summary Observations by David Phaup
Observations from visit to property for FOI on 3/18/2017:
I arrived with my sister, Amanda Phaup, on site at approximately 6:45 pm. The family was in the process of leaving the home for an overnight stay at a local hotel. All had left the property by 7:15 pm. Of note, a shower had passed through the area shortly before my arrival and a double rainbow was visible to the east for 20-30 minutes. Documented by photos.
Pending other reports, I recorded two separate EVP sessions during the night. One session was for 30 minutes throughout the home. No noticeable anomalies were noted on the recording other than one possible evp of a voice interjection slightly before I asked a question. A separate 6 minute session was conducted inside an external tool shed. Nothing noticed in the replay.
Key observations of the night:
Several live recording (Tommy Amos’ DR-05 placed in Living Room) noise anomalies were debunked as noises generated by the ice maker in the kitchen, a stink bug pinging the light fixture in the kitchen, and noise generated by the cable/satellite DVR receiver in the living room and master bedroom, refilling of water in the hall toilet due to a leaky flapper in the rear tank.
There was a horrible smell of a dead animal in the hall between the two boys’ rooms upstairs. It was believed to be generated by a dead rodent in either the wall or ceiling.
It was also noted that dog food, uneaten food (pizza crust) and other trash was on the floor throughout the home. Mouse feces was found in large quantities under the kitchen sink. The house was very likely infested/inhabited by mice as a result of evidence.
The basement door to the outside had been repaired from a break-in. It was also noted that the walls in one of the boy’s room had two large holes that appear to have been kicked in. Also a small hall was knocked in the wall of the master bedroom.
The only religious article found in the house was a small angel statue in the master bedroom. The statue was made for mounting on the wall, but was laying on its side on the master dresser.
A night of early excitement over unexplained noises on live monitor was largely debunked as described above; however, there were still sounds that were unaccounted for. It was equally “quiet” inside the home during live visits by my team. In fact, we commented several times that the home was overly quiet while we were inside…this was very different from what we heard on live monitor.
One of my theories coming into the night from previous knowledge of the case was that the father of the family may have some element of demoniac “attachment”. As noted previously, this individual was not home during our FOI. This could possibly explain or lend credence to the relatively uneventful night. I would be curious to try a separate FOI with the father at home.
The group began tear down at 12 midnight and left the home at approximately 1 am.
Report #588 – FOI on 3/18/17 Report by Tommy Amos
I lead the FOI investigation on 3/18/17. Additional participants were Davis, Mike, Amanda 1, Amanda 2, Savannah and Tom. We arrived at the location shortly after 6:00pm. We set up an EZ-up tent in front of the patio and used it as our base of operations for the evening. We set up video monitoring in all three upstairs bedrooms and living room. We set up video monitoring in the lower bedroom, dirt room, stairs/utility closet and shed. Live audio monitoring, by way of a Tascam DR-05, was set up at the floor level near the top of the stairs, which centrally located it within the house. The home owners and sons stayed off premises throughout the night. They didn’t return until the next day.
We noted multiple sounds coming from the house throughout the evening while it was vacant. Most of these sounds could not be accounted for. These sounds would diminish whenever someone was in the house. We did note that there appears to be a mouse problem within the home. This was the source of a few of the sounds we recorded and subsequently dismissed.
Live remote video monitoring could only be provided for the recordings in the upstairs portion of the house. We did not have a means by which to remotely monitor the DVR that was utilized for the lower level recordings, along with the shed. There were no obvious video anomalies noted during the investigation. Other investigators will provide a review of any anomalies noted during their post investigation reviews. I will post an additional report if I note anything during the audio review of the DR-05.
Excursions were made into the home at various times. A strong stench similar to rotting meat was noted by most investigators. It is possible that this could be related to a dead mouse within the walls. During my personal excursion, along with Savannah and Tom, an odd scratching/clawing sound was heard within, or behind, the walls of the basement. This sound moved in a point-to-point fashion from the middle of the wall to the corner of the wall between the bedroom and utility closet. After reaching the corner, it quickly proceeded along the wall at the front of the house going toward the driveway until it abruptly stopped at the midway point. While making the quick pass, the scratching/clawing sound did not stop. It reminded me of a sound similar to finger nails being dragged along the wall. Tom attempted to force anything behind the furniture to run out into the open. However, during the time the sound was being made, nothing was visibly seen passing between the pieces of furniture that sit along the walls.
The investigation ended at midnight. Just before leaving, and locking the upper front door, Savannah visited the bathroom. After she finished, we locked the front door and exited, pulling the door shut behind us. At that time, Savannah discovered her phone missing. She knew she had placed it on the sink in the bathroom while using the facility but thought she had placed it back in her coat pocket before exiting. Savannah and I returned the next day to retrieve her phone. We arrived at the location about a minute before the home owners returned from their overnight stay away from home. The phone was not found in the bathroom. A search of the house found the phone on the dresser in the master bedroom. Savannah is absolutely certain that she would not have placed her phone on the dresser. It is believed that the phone was mysteriously relocated to the master bedroom after being left in the bathroom or was removed from Savannah’s pocket before she exited the house. Savannah is certain that she did have the phone with her upon entering the bathroom just before leaving for the night.
Report #594 – FOI Personal Impressions by Amanda Patterson
Showed up for Buena Vista investigation on 3/18/17 at around 7pm. The family had already left by then. I helped to set up with team. Will say different energy level than POI, but that can also be expected since kids are no running around and wide and husband not there. There was a scent of cigarettes outside and in house. In the front left boys room there was a scent of something not pleasant, possibly a dead mouse. There was also 2 laundry baskets full of dirty clothes that had the aroma of athletic wear which again expected, but was no t the same scent. After tour and set up the team settled in the base outside. Still got the aroma of something not pleasant even in the tent but there were high winds. At around 9:30 Davis, Amanda Phaup and myself went inside. I felt and heard nothing. Davis and Amanda Phaup turned off the ice maker that seemed to fix a lot of noises heard over the speaker before entering. I did notice pink fluffy insulation on the kitchen floor by the sink cabinet which I don’t think I noticed before. Under the same no in cabinet lots of mouse feces noticed. One of the noises I heard over the speaker at one point in the night sounded like 2 mice squeaking. Later in the night when cleaning up I noticed the pink fluff changed as though something messed with it or moved it. My impression is a mouse. Down stairs in basement I felt nothing even in the dirt room. There is a smell in that room because of the dirt and possible moisture. Outside in the shed and woods nothing seemed abnormal except the family had put up a fence portion to block the path at one end. I honestly feel a lot of what is going on has to involve the husband and what possibly could be “attached” to him if there is something. During the POI I could see he had physical/health issues going on with him with his GI system and anxiety. Something could possibly be “feeding” off him making these issues worse. It was definitely a different atmosphere without the family present.
Report #595 – FOI Report and Data Repository by Mike Magner
I was asked by Tommy Amos to assist with this investigation. The investigation was requested by the family that lived at the residence because of the family’s reported experiences in the house. The primary complaint was apparent intermittent possession of the father by some malevolent entity.
The team arrived on-site a little after 6pm. After the family that lived at the residence left for the evening to spend the night in a hotel, the team set up our headquarters in an easy-up tent outside the residence. 8 surveillance cameras and 2 audio recorders (DRO5) were set up for passive surveillance. 4 of the cameras and 1 of the audio recorders were live-monitored in the headquarters. The other 4 cameras were not monitored live but the video was recorded for later view. Also, 5 temperature/ humidity (HT) data loggers were set up in the 4 bedrooms plus the outside shed. 2 additional DRO5 audio recorders were used for live-monitoring sessions during excursions into the house by the teams.
All Mike’s raw data files are located in the dropbox folder at the following link: [REDACTED]
Although some interesting audio was heard by the team, consisting of “bumps”, “bangs”, “thumps, “knocks”, “shuffling sounds”, etc., there was nothing that could not be explained by mundane causes. The toilet in the hallway bathroom was leaking water and refilling throughout the night. A smoke alarm had a low battery and was beeping routinely. The Ice Maker in the freezer was running through the first couple hours of the investigation and could account for a lot of the noises.
Mike’s review of video found nothing much of interest. At 8:44:05 PM, the Camera that was set up in the Master Bedroom switched from visible light to IR light mode and back again for no apparent reason. This would suggest that something darkened the light to the camera momentarily, but there was nothing seen in the video that could account for that. It was most likely a malfunction by the camera itself – the cameras in use are not exactly the top of the line in quality and reliability.
The team noticed an intense, foul odor in the single bedroom facing the front of the house. The odor smelled like a dead animal – perhaps a mouse. The odor was very localized to the area where there were 2 large holes in the drywall. This possibly suggests that a mouse died inside the wall and the odor was coming through the holes in the drywall.
HT Data files did not register any unusual readings. Heating and cooling patterns in the data are consistent with a house in which centralized heating is in use. The HT logger in the shed should a slight increase in temperature during the time Mike and Davis were in the shed.
In conclusion, I noted nothing that could confirm the existence of paranormal activity occurring at the residence. However, our observations at the location for ~6 hours were not sustained long enough to rule anything out. It is possible that if something paranormal is occurring at the residence that it may be centered on the family itself. Since the family was not home for the evening, the activity may have stopped accordingly.