This past Saturday I had the opportunity to do some ghost hunting with Sharon (Autumnforest) at the Pioneer Cemetery in downtown Phoenix, AZ. Her friend and fellow hunter Debe Branning was conducting a spirit workshop at the cemetery for all that was interested. I expressed interests in going on a few investigations with her and finally that opportunity arrived. I have cyber chatted with Sharon for over a year, with each of us commenting on the other’s blogs. I was excited to finally meet Sharon in person and perform a ghost hunt with someone who had the right equipment and knowledge about how to conduct a hunt.
Everyone was supposed to arrive between 3:30 and 4:00 pm at the cemetery’s parking lot. I got there early and waited in my car for Sharon to arrive. When she did, she parked right next to me with Dale the doll buckled in the seat next to her. We got out, gave each other big hugs and then I met Dale. Yikes, he has this creepy smirk on his face that I really didn’t like, or trusted. Sharon was exactly like I thought she would be, a warm, funny, whacky and sweet friend. We hit it off like old buddies. We grabbed our stuff to meet Debe and all the others in the Smurthwaite House.
After everyone got there, we all grabbed our trash bags to do a cemetery clean up. This was part of the deal for letting us be there and no one seemed to mind. Sharon and I walked around together talking about our blogs, Mikey and all the other bloggers we follow. (Were you ears ringing?) The cemetery’s trash wasn’t too bad but some areas were very muddy so we had to be careful. After spending about an hour and a half picking up trash, we all met back at the Smurthwaite House to grab a bite to eat. This gave us the opportunity to talk to others about their experiences and check out their equipment. I was excited to see Sharon pick up on some spirits that were in and near the room we were sitting in.
After eating, we all got together for a group photo and then Debe took us on a tour of the cemetery. She would stop at certain graves and tell us the story of the person buried there. The sun was going down as we walked around from grave to grave, lending a bit of eeriness to the tour. After our next break and before heading out on our own, Debe wanted to play a game with the participants there. She split us up in groups of four or more and put us with people we didn’t know. I was with two other females and a male. (Sorry, I am bad with names.) In my little group we were all new to the workshop as was many others that were there. She handed each group a clue that will lead you to one of the graves. After finding the grave, you had to take a picture and show Debe to see if you had the right one. Our clue had the name “Emma” and her husband’s first two initials “J.I.” with a clue to his last name which referred to water. We were excited because we remember a gravesite and story that was similar to our clue. As soon as she said “go”, we all took off to the grave we thought was the one. The area that we went to had paths with rows of graves down each path. One of the ladies found the grave we thought was it and as you might have guessed, it wasn’t. The woman’s name was Elizabeth and her husband’s name was James or something like that. She took off down another row to find “Emma’s” grave and I walked down the path further to find another row of graves to check out. The guy in our group was on the path next to mine trying to find her grave. I yelled out to him that we were wrong and that wasn’t Emma’s grave. He and I ended up meeting in the middle of a row, in front of a grave where we planned our course of action to find her grave. I shined my light on the headstone of the grave we were standing next to and wouldn’t you know it, it was Emma’s grave. Wow, that was weird. Of all the sections of the cemetery and rows we could have ended up standing on, we ended up right in front of the grave we were looking for. As for Emma’s husband, his last name was Brook which fit our water clue. After three of us took pictures of the headstone, we walked back to Debe. She confirmed that it was the right one. We ended up coming in third place. She and others were intrigued on how we found the grave, as were we. We felt like Emma helped us out by sending us to the right place. Thanks Emma, we appreciate not spending hours wandering around the cemetery trying to find your grave.
After we were done with the game, everyone went on their own to do EVP sessions and to see if their KII meters would get any action. We did have the elements against us for the EVP sessions such as airplanes, cars, and loud drunks talking to themselves while walking down the street. Yes, that did happen. Autumnforest (Sharon) and I invited a very sweet hearing impaired woman to go along with us. We started at the crypt where Sharon showed us how to use dowsing rods. I used them first and got hits on some areas that were unmarked. She (sorry, again bad with names) used them second and got hits in the front area of the crypt but not the back. We sat Dale the doll down with the KII meters next to him and conducted an EVP session. After not getting any movement on the meters, we decided to try another grave. I suggested Emma’s grave since I felt a kinship with her, drawing me to her grave earlier. Another group must have felt the same because they were there doing their own investigation. We went elsewhere and found a child’s grave with the name “Amy” on the headstone. Sharon laid Dale on top of the grave hoping that the little girl would want to play with him. We spent some time there but didn’t get a hit on the KII meters and called it a night.
Everyone got together in the Smurthwaite House after spending some time in the cemetery doing investigations. Many took pictures of the inside with some strange orbs and lights showing up on some of the pictures. I got orbs in my pictures but with the moisture outside, I disregarded it as possible dew from that. I posted those for you to look at. After all the picture taking, everyone sat in one of two rooms where an EVP session was conducted. All the lights were off and a few asked questions. Some reported being touched and other’s picked up a “sigh” on their recorders.
After that was over, Sharon and I packed up our stuff and left. Sharon’s car battery was dead so she had to run back in a get a jump. Thank goodness she did. This was a fun and educational experience. I got to see a KII meter up close, use dowsing rods, participate in an EVP session and most of all, meet Autumnforest (Sharon) in person and investigate with her. I cannot wait to see what adventure we go on next together. For her account of the events at the Pioneer Cemetery click on this link:
Ghost Hunting Theories.
