A Haunting in Natomas by Cheleim Umpst

It is Saturday night, September 27th at 10:00 p.m. Tonight’s HPI team assembles outside of a charming little house in the older era neighborhood in Natomas. Gina de la Rosa, the current resident, acquired the home from her Grandmother, Josephine about 2 years ago. She explains some strange phenomenon and feelings that she has experienced in her time in the house. Toys have turned on by themselves, shadows are seen, and the unsettled feeling in the back bedroom of the home is so great to her that she does not allowed the two small children to sleep in there. The children are 1 and 2 years old. Gina also does not like to spend time in the back yard, which is about ¼ acre. She explained that her father stepped in a large, 6 foot deep hole in the yard, he covered in up but it is unknown where the hole came from. Dave Mace, HPI Investigator explained that the hole could be a sink hole, probably coming from the septic system. This seemed like a plausible explanation. The team spent some time in the yard and took several photos there. There was many orb photos taken but considering the dry conditions, dust probably accounted for most of them.

I did take an orb photo in the tree and picked a strange, almost solid orb. It could have been simply and animal. Scott Young, HPI Investigator, also took several orb photographs, some with very bright orbs. At one point, I thought that I had seen a white haze move across the yard, Scott said that he noticed that headlights on the street were causing a similar effect. Great debunking Scott!

HPI then moved into the back room. It did seem to be significantly cooler in that room. Dave explained that the temperature in the living room was 80 degrees. The back room was around 77 degrees, so the back room was around 3 degrees cooler. By observation, this room is surrounded by trees and does seem to get more shade from the rest of the house. Also, there was evidence that there was moisture in that room as well. Older homes did tend to have less insulation also. This house was bought in the 50’s by Gina’s grandmother so it did have some history to it structurally.

We decided to hold a séance to try and communicate with the looming spirit in the back bedroom. Lisa Holt brought with her a pendulum and began to ask the spirits if they were there and to show her a yes. The pendulum began to move slowly in a circle. She then asked for the spirit to show her a no. Strangely, the pendulum began to move from side to side. She asked if there was a female spirit in the room and the pendulum began to move again in a circle. She then asked if the entity was named Josephine, and again, the pendulum began to move in a larger circle. I am a skeptic so I kept my eyes on Lisa’s hand and it appeared that she was holding the pendulum still. It seemed that whatever was moving the pendulum, it was not being done by Lisa. At one point I tried the pendulum myself, keeping it still as it dangled between my fingers. The pendulum still continued to move. In using this pendulum, we observed the pendulum move when speaking with Grandma Josephine and to her son, Michael, who’s daughter’s were also with us in the room. I one point, I felt my chest tighten. Later, I asked Pricilla, the daughter of the spirit Michael, what their father died of. She explained that he died of suffocation. This startled me. I have never felt empathetic to a spirit to this degree.

We then moved back to the living room to try and get the spirits of the house to make the toys go on, as they had turned on many times on their own, according to Gina. We tried for about a half hour to communicate with the spirits of the house again, but it appeared that the house was quiet and whatever activity had happened that night, it appeared that they were no longer willing participants. We then packed up our gear and headed out.

Upon review of the evidence, I did pick up several orb photos and even an outline of a human shaped shadow in the back yard. It was a dry and hot September night though and many of the photos of the back yard appeared to be dust orbs. I am not sure about the shadow. It could just be the shape of the trees. I will leave that up to interpretation.

David got an EVP of what sounds like “Henry”. I did not find anyone by the name of Henry associated with the house. Apparently, a young boy was hit by an ice cream truck about 20 years ago up the street, and a little boy has been seen on the property, but it is unknown whether Henry was the name of the boy who was killed. The voice does seem very distinct but David wasn’t sure if the voice could have also been one of the investigators or Gina’s family whispering.

Overall, I cannot determine if the house is actually haunted or not. Perhaps the spirits are not necessarily connected to the house, but the family still residing and visiting in it. Perhaps Grandma Josephine, Michael, and Tony are just watching over their children and grandchildren, and not up to showing off for some ghost hunters. Thank you to Gina for letting us investigate her home. Hopefully, she can feel more at ease that whatever unknown she is frightened of is only her loved ones still with her, and that the house doesn’t contain anything malevolent or negative.