HPI Chronicles: Anything Paranormal Going on at Empire Ranch/Humbug - Willow Creek?

HPI Chronicles: Anything Paranormal Going on at Empire Ranch/Humbug-Willow Creek?
By Paul Dale Roberts, HPI General Manager/Ghostwriter

BLAST FROM THE PAST – DEANNA JAXINE STINSON MODELS FOR THIS ARTICLE FROM THE HPI ARCHIVES!

Before I get into this article, you can find the pictures to the Willow Creek paranormal investigation located at this link:

http://s459.photobucket.com/albums/qq319/HPI_International/WillowCreek/

To see David Mace’s video on the Empire Ranch investigation, go here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJgqX3uy6z4

Now to the story…….

Growing up I was a strange kid. While boys my age were playing football, I was busy sending Monterey Cypress seeds to the President of the United States. Why did I do this you might ask? I thought the trees looked beautiful and felt they would make a good appearance on the White House lawn. Of course, my mother Rosemarie Causing/Roberts was called by the Secret Service and the agent on the phone asked…”who is Paul Dale Roberts?” My mother said…”that’s my son; he’s only 12 years old!” While boys my age were looking at their father’s Playboys, I was busy at the library reading Brad Steiger books and later reading my Marvel and DC comic books in my tree house. The year was 1967. Brad Steiger and Erich von Daniken were my inspiration into the paranormal. I got interested in the paranormal, because I thought I lived in a haunted house on Effy Street in Fresno, California. During my stay at this home, I was thrown into a heater by an unknown force. My leg had temporary burn marks. Another night I saw flying skulls in my bedroom and when my dad walked into the room, his face was a skull too. One of the most frightening nights in this home, is when I heard rolling skating sounds coming down the sidewalk. The sounds stopped at my bedroom window. My bedroom window slowly opened half way and a black tea kettle thing raised up to the open window. It had black wheels on the bottom and a snout like a regular tea kettle. The snout slowly pointed towards me and a vapor engulfed me. I started coughing uncontrollably. My mother came in with a teaspoon of what she thought was cough medicine. It was poison. When she realized what she did, she carried me into the bathroom, where I vomited the poison up. I felt something in this house wanted me dead. The last thing that happened to me at this house, I was looking out my bedroom window into the orange grove and a woman’s soft voice was summoning me, she said…”Dale, come here” many times over. I ran away from the window and yelled at my mother…”we need to move!” We finally moved. But, those memories always haunted me and I wanted to know if either I had childhood nightmares or what I witnessed was the paranormal.

Having a huge collection of Brad Steiger books, I was well-versed in the paranormal and one day a girl I was dating asked if I wanted to go to the National Hotel for some ghosthunting. She said it might be a good article. I was already a freelance writer and had travel stories published in magazines like Conde Nast and National Geographic Traveler. When I arrived at the National Hotel, I asked to meet the President of the organization…H.P.I. (Haunted and Paranormal Investigations International). I then met Shannon McCabe. I asked if I could write about her group. Shannon smiled and grabbed me by the arm and said…”I love the press.” She showed me around and showed me how to use all of the varieties of ghosthunting equipment. Before, I knew it; I was an assistant organizer, paranormal investigator, core member and ghostwriter for HPI. I have only been with the group for over two years and been on over 150 investigations, have written over 150 articles and that is why some scouts call me a Paranormal Writing Juggernaut. I never stop. I am truly prolific. I learned this from my mentor Brad Steiger who has written over 170 books. We’re talking books, not articles. Talk about prolific. Brad Steiger is truly the Paranormal Writing Juggernaut! I am now the General Manager of HPI and have become the Pied Piper of the Paranormal, leading up to 30 scouts into haunted locations once a month.

HPI has grown to be one the biggest paranormal organizations West of the Rockies. With up to over 400 members, proclaimed freelance paranormal video journalist John Shue says…”HPI is the place to be!” HPI is proud to claim branch offices in Michigan and San Luis Obispo. The Michigan office is run by Director of Investigations Tanya Douglas and the San Luis Obispo office is run by Carrina Hanson. Both Directors are doing an exceptional job! Now to other things.

Being in the paranormal business, things can become very paranormal in my everyday life. As I was watching History Channel’s Monster Quest, I saw Dr. Larry Barrett, Center Director of the Plum Island Animal Disease Center debunking that the Montauk Monster is not the Jersey Devil, but merely a dog that has washed up on shore. Well, I know Dr. Larry Barrett very well. Dr. Larry Barrett is my former boss. So, if I ever investigate the Jersey Devil sightings…I may have to interview my former boss to get his statement. Now as you read this article, you are wondering if Paul is going to keep on talking about himself, or is he going to talk about an investigation. Okay, let’s talk about an investigation…sigh, I was having so much fun yapping about myself…below, is my investigation to Empire Ranch – Humbug/Willow Creek Hauntings.

Empire Ranch – Humbug-Willow Creek Hauntings
Sometimes paranormal investigating is successful and on other times it’s not. Today is Saturday, February 28, 2009 and we will have an unsuccessful investigation. After receiving two emails about this area. I decided it was time to bring my HPI Paranormal Task Force to investigate. My first email, I didn’t pay too much attention to. It was from Greg Posadis. Greg says: “My wife and I were walking down the trail and we saw two shadow figures cross our pathway, it was 2pm last Sunday. I really feel this area is haunted, could you check it out?’ The second email is below:

“Hello,

My name is Mary Elkins and I am a paranormal investigator from Colorado Springs, Colorado. I am affiliated with Mountain Peak Paranormal Investigations out of the Cripple Creek / Victor area in Colorado. However, I am not contacting you as a representative of MPPI, but rather out of personal interest. I should note that I am also a “sensitive” and able to attune to the energy of spirits, and I also reassure you that I am not a crackpot.

My sister C. is a resident of Folsom, California and this past weekend, I flew out there to help her move. Her new home is a located on Plum Creek Court off of Golf Links Road. The homes on this street back up to the Humbug-Willow Creek trail. The first day I visited my sister’s new new neighborhood, we went for a walk on this trail. I sensed something unsettling out there near a bridge that spans Willow Creek. If you are curious, I will share with you what I sensed. I wasn’t too concerned about what I felt out there, until I walked into her house and felt some other unsettling energy there. I had a terrible nightmare my first night there. I might have dismissed the nightmare as a product of my overactive imagination, until…

The second night there, my other sister T. heard a very loud, drawn out human male “growling” sound just a few inches from her ear. Unfortunately, I was not in the room to experience it myself, but my sister T. screamed in absolute terror and cried for 15 minutes afterwards. Also, my very fundamentalist religious family more or less blamed me for T.’s experience, assuming that it was something evil that had followed me to their home, given my activities with paranormal investigation.

I have spent a great deal of time Googling and searching news archives to support or debunk the things I sensed in the house and the area… and turned up nothing. Also, although I want to say that the energy in my sister’s house is not grounded there, or that perhaps it’s only residual, I am too emotionally involved to be sure of my accuracy. (I have two small nieces and a nephew in that house.) Hence, the point of my email.

I am hoping that you might know something, either by rumor, legend, history or experience regarding the area in Folsom I have described. I need to know if this is something that is grounded to her home, if it’s residual, or if it’s something that is grounded to the area and perhaps just dropping in on their house for a “visit.”

In the meantime, I got my sister C. a bunch of sage and showed her how to smudge. That helped her feel better.

I hope to hear from you, if you might have any knowledge or insight that could be helpful… thanks in advance.”

So after this second email, I knew it was time to get the team out there and see what we could find. I met everyone at Starbucks – Madison and Date. Paranormal Investigators present were: Lynn Combs, Connie Brenner, David Mace – Researcher/Lead Investigator, Chantal Apodaco, Andrew Godley and Enrique Serrano representing S.H.I. (Sacramento Haunted Investigations), Tammy Straling, Mark Reyes, Sonja Caron, Janet Watson, Tom & Kathy.
I briefed the task force about the two emails I received and David briefed the team about his research on the area. The land where these new homes were built on was originally Midau Indian land. The indigenous people of this land were not treated well by the gold miners. Many of the Indians died due to Cholera. People who live in this area, feel a lot of negative energy near and around the creek area. When DA Russell built his ranch on this property, more goldminers came in and polluted the streams and killed off most of the game. Indians who once lived peacefully on this land, now found their lives in turmoil.

David and I broke up the group into two teams. Equipment being used were: binoculars, whistle (to call in the group), digital audio recorders, digital cameras, digital video cameras. EMF Readers.
I came across two young men, Adrian and Jay. They tell me that on one night while camping near the second bridge, they heard something that hit the fence hard. When they went over to investigate, they saw a Shadow Dog with glistening eyes. The Shadow Dog appeared to be shaking and took off into the field. It vanished before their very eyes. They said they thought they were going crazy.

We spent a good amount of time in this area and going over my evidence, I found no EVPs, nor were any of my photographs showed any anomalous activity. My other investigators are still analyzing their evidence, so I am still waiting for results on that. The group heard a flute in the distance and went to investigate the sound. What they found was a young man playing his flute in the middle of the woods. I do believe there is something odd that is going on in this area. We just didn’t find it on this day. There is a lot of land to cover and we were not able to cover the whole area.

After the investigation, Tammy Straling, Mark Reyes, Rita Reyes, Chantal Apodaco and I went to WPLJ’s in Walnut Creek to celebrate Chantal & Rita’s birthdays that are only a week apart. WPLJ’s stands for: White Port Lemon Juice. White Port Lemon Juice was the poor man’s drink from the 50s. How they acquired this name is a mystery. WPLJ’s is one of the best nightclubs in the bay area. Lisa Max, owner of this nightclub instructed her assistant manager Michelle Billecci to let me in with my crew. Talking with Lisa and Michelle, I could tell they have a lot of enthusiasm for their nightclub. To insure that there clients have a great time, they make sure everything is in order and ready as the patrons start arriving. Since the club is so popular, it does get crowded. Don’t worry about bumping into a person, because if you do, you are greeted with a smile. The atmosphere is very festive. DJ Chad plays a mix of hip hop, R&B old school, rock and roll, 70s, 80s and 90s. I interviewed some of the clients and here is what they say about WPLJs.

Carlos Antonio Doty: This is my third time here and I must say, the crowd is friendly and I always have a great time in this place!

Martha Marquez: The music is off the charts!

Robin Hulbert: A great place to dance the night away!

Angela Rands: Been here 5 times, love the music, R&B and oldies. I love to dance a lot and I get my exercise right here! I am from Fremont and you will see me here a lot!

Linda: This place is not age prejudice; there are people of all ages here having a great time! I am from Dublin and come here often.

There you have it. What they say is true! You don’t have to drive into San Francisco, stop at the outskirts of the bay area. Stop at Walnut Creek and check out WPLJs. That is if you are not scared of having fun! I danced the night away with Chantal and a lovely Latin lady that had me doing the Salsa with her. I had a red shirt and red tie on, one of the dancing women I danced with, kept my red tie as a souvenir! Another tie lost…..oh well, it was worth it! Thank you to DJ Chad for dedicating this night to Chantal & Rita! Happy birthday to Chantal & Rita!

Paul Dale Roberts, HPI General Manager, Paranormal Investigator & Ghostwriter
Shannon McCabe’s HPI
Haunted and Paranormal Investigations International
www.HPIparanormal.net
Most Haunted House in Stockton Videos Part 1 and 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mThhLfUGOBA&feature=channel_page
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pupabgprb68&feature=channel
Paul on Wikipedia, click link below:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Dale_Roberts
www.jazmaonline.com
Staff Writer – Alien Seeker News – http://www.alienseekernews.com/
WPRT Paranormal Radio – Content Editor
Email: [email protected]
Paranormal Cellular Hotline: 916 203 7503 (for comments on this story).

If you have a possible investigation call: 1-888-709-4HPI

Copyright © 2009 Paul Dale Roberts, HPI Ghostwriter Copyright © 2009
all rights reserved.

MESSAGE FROM SONJA:
While at Empire Ranch i felt very anxious. Not in a nervous kind of
way, but in a giddy energy kid. At one point Dave asked me to walk over
a spot and tell him what i felt. As i passed over the area my chest got
heavy & i had difficulty breathing. I was continually draw to a higher
hill above me to my left. I didnt go check it out ( for safety reasons
). All in all, i sensed no negative energy. But the energy of those who
came before was definately present. Sonja Caron