Ghosts of the Highland Dell, Monte Rio

First off, before I talk about the investigation of the Highland Dell, I have to tell you this was an incredible place to stay at. A very quaint hotel that takes you back to a by-gone era. As you step outside to gaze upon the Russian River, you feel like you have been teleported to a faraway foreign land, it’s hard to believe you are actually still in California. The beds are soft and when you lay in your bed, you are instantly in la-la land. Herb – who manages the Highland Dell makes sure that you receive the royal treatment and is available for your service 24/7, he lives right across the Russian River and can be there instantly in the wee hours if assistance is needed. In the morning, a continental breakfast awaits you. The Highland Dell is escapism at its finest! We did find evidence of paranormal activity, but have determined that the entities who reside at this hotel are benevolent and basically mind their own business, unless you are a ghosthunter trying to seek them out. Even with one EVP, in which the investigator asks the entity to show himself, he basically responds “I don’t want to.” There is nothing but positive energy in this hotel.

INITIAL REPORT:
Date to be there: Feb 16, 2013 Saturday Time to be there: 1400 Hours. Location: HIGHLAND DELL 21050 River Blvd, Monte Rio, CA –
Tracy Lindstrom and Paul Roberts will meet at Wendy Maxam’s home, Wendy is driving. The rest of HPI will be at the Highland Dell.
Crystal Willit and her crew Central Valley Paranormal (CVP), out of Martinez, CA is joining HPI on this exciting ghost hunt. Monte Rio, California has been known as a “Vacation Wonderland” for many years and the Highland Dell Lodge helped make it so. If you are looking for a great get-away, the Highland Dell Lodge is the place to stay.

Originally built in 1906, the Highland Dell Hotel in Monte Rio, California, was a popular destination for San Francisco and Bay Area families throughout the first half of the 20th century and it still is today. I learned about the Highland Dell when I received an email from a person that stayed at this hotel. They told me that they laid a camera on the cabinet, went into the bathroom and came out and the camera was laying on the bed. They placed the camera back on the cabinet and again went into the bathroom, came out and the camera was again on the bed. Another person that stayed in the hotel, heard tappings on the wall and a whispering in their ear. This motivated me to bring a team to the Highland Dell and determine if this hotel really has paranormal activity.

Monte Rio Investigative Task Force

CVP has rooms 209, 210, 211. Paul, Wendy, Tracy & Chris are staying in Room 208. Becky & Mark are in Room 212. Jen is in Rm 315.

INITIAL BRIEFING:
Herb – caretaker of the Highland Dell tells us that the hotel sign has never been turned on, but on one night, this photographer that was taking pictures of the hotel for their business card, took the photo and the red hotel light was on, lighting up the whole sign. This has never happened before. Then one day Herb gave it a shot, during the time Monte Rio was flooded, he decided to take a picture of the hotel and to his amazement, the hotel sign light mysteriously came on. This was amazing, because the hotel sign light doesn’t work, but on two separate occasions it actually turned on when the photos were taken. One of the employees of this hotel has seen a female and male entity. In 2004, the hotel went through some renovation and Herb was playing a German card game with some friends and the dining room light would turn on and turn off by itself, this happened about 4 times and Herb has no explanation for it. Herb also recalls on one hot August night, they had an extreme cold spot in the bar area. The cold spot was in one isolated area and it was so cold, Herb could see his breath. During the 80s two construction workers got into a fight by the bar area. They were fighting because of a gambling debt. One of the construction workers was killed during the fight and buried in a shallow grave underneath the bar area. This is the area where they felt the extreme cold spot. The short time we have been here, Wendy captured a face in the window.

Some History of the Hotel Told By Roger Parker.
Roger Parker has lived in Monte Rio for 45 years. He tells me that back in the 60s Don and Dottie Tomlin bought the place. Dottie was a Can Can girl in Las Vegas. Don was a clinical psychologist. Roger tells me that notables like Henry Kissinger, Phil Silvers, Steve Miller, Leon Russell, Commander Cody and Jefferson Starship have been to this hotel. Phil once made the comment: “Don’t drop your wallet in Guernville, because you will have to kick it to Monte Rio before picking it up.” The movie ‘White Christmas’ was filmed near and around the Highland Dell and the film crew for the movie stayed at the Highland Dell.

Tonight we are breaking up the team into two teams. Crystal Willett and Becky Cardenas are leading. Crystal leads CVP and Becky leads HPI. We have 3 floors to cover.

FIRST INVESTIGATIVE EVIDENCE BRIEFING:
CVP went into the basement and using FLIR (Forward Looking Infra-Red), digital cameras, digital recorders, dowsing rods, they feel they communicated with the murder victim (construction worker), they obtained some unintelligible EVPs, orb photos. But, here is when it gets good! Crystal actually sees the full body apparition of possibly the murder victim! She sees the outline of a male figure, he is 5′ 10″, dark hair, transparent, dark eyes, gave off a shimmering light, blurry or cloudy. It gets better, he starts walking very fast towards her. Crystal takes off and tells everyone to get out of there. Joey felt something running up on him, it was a strong feeling, he gets chills throughout his whole body. This apparition showed itself to Crystal when she asked the entity to show himself. This entity can be somewhat powerful and could be using the Russian River as an energy source. Becky got some K2 hits, captured some moving orbs, captured photos of orbs in Room 211 and 212. Anytime the investigators talk about playing cards, murder, the K2 meters go wild. A specific question was asked by Tracy and the K2 meter goes wild, along with 2 other K2 meters. She does a 2nd test asking the same questions and all 3 K2 meters go crazy again. Jen got some strong K2 hits in Room 211, when cards are mentioned the K2 meter goes off again.

Highland Dell – Monte Rio

SECOND AND THIRD INVESTIGATIVE EVIDENCE BRIEFING:
Tracy Lindstrom – Mother of EVPs collected several EVPs in different voices. She captured EVPs that said: ‘get out’; ‘yes’; ‘let’s go!’. Tracy captured at least 3 distinct Class EVPs. The EVPs either sounded like different males or a little girl. Other EVPs she captured: ‘here’. When she said ‘show yourself’, the entity says ‘don’t want to’. During the time she was capturing an EVP the smoke detector comes crashing to the ground for no apparent reason. Other EVPs areL ‘comb your hair’ and ‘who do you want’ EVP. This was a very successful paranormal investigation.

NEGRIS ORIGINAL OCCIDENTAL FAMILY STYLE ITALIAN DINNERS:
This is where HPI and CVP ate at. Great place, loved my spaghetti. Located at: 3700 Bohemian Hwy, Occidental, CA 707 823 5301 negrisrestaurant.com

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HPI TV PILOT ON HIATUS:
HPI is supposed to do a TV pilot for a major TV network. It’s on hiatus, because of more ‘videographer’ problems. Dean Diablo, Director and main videographer is stuck on another project, so we are waiting for word when everything will be back on schedule.

A HAUNTING – DISCOVERY CHANNEL:
HPI is now assisting a researcher for A Haunting – in regard to some of our extraordinary cases!