Spirits Still Roam in Angels Camp

Spirits Still Roam in Angels Camp
By Gwen Johnson
Copyright April 5, 2010

Angels Camp is a small city located in Calaveras County, a rural community in Northern California about an hour east of Sacramento. The region has a long history of miners facing unsafe conditions, outlaws evading the powers that be, and conflicts between 19th century pioneers and Native Americans. In the late 20th century when the area was developed into residential neighborhoods, the ghosts of those of long ago stayed amongst the newcomers.

One of the modern-day residences caught in this conflict is the abode of Jimmy Peterson and his eight roommates who claim the ghosts refuse to leave their comfortable five-bedroom, three-bath home.

"My mom, brother and I were in the basement one time," Peterson recalls. "My brother and I were walking side by side when something cold slammed into us. We turned around like synchronized swimmers and headed back. That's when my mom said, 'Take a picture of me.'"

When Peterson snapped his digital camera, the image showed a wash of red flames surrounding his mother's body. As Peterson zoomed in on the picture, there appeared to be a faint image of a scowling man's face with high cheek bones and deep-set eyes resting on his mother's right shoulder and arms wrapped around her torso as if the specter were embracing her.

Another curiosity Peterson has to tell was the time he poured flour on the walkway near the basement. After several hours of unintentional human activity, Peterson's returned to the site to find footprints that either looked like hooves or someone walking on their tip-toes.

"Whatever it is has a long stride because the footprints are so far apart," he notes.

Peterson's mother Robin Hilmanofski claims she will frequently get up at night to use the restroom. One time, she noticed the refrigerator door was open, as was the laundry room door.

"We never leave the laundry room or refrigerator door open," she notes.

Hilmanofski also claims that she often hears creaking sounds on the floors "as if a 350-pound man were stomping around, bending the boards" even when no one is around.

One time, she heard a knock on the floor as if someone were in the basement. Her dog put its nose to the floor right at the spot where the noise came from.

Another night, she was lying on the couch when she saw three ghostly faces appear in the living room window. One of the faces was the same one that appeared in a photo her son Jimmy took of her in the abovementioned picture of her encircled by flames.

One of the strangest tales Hilmanofski has to tell is the time last March when she and her dog were out on the porch around midnight. She looked up and saw something looking like a sheet coming up over the trees. The dog noticed it too and began whimpering. As the image came closer, Hilmanofski could see a white, owl-like belly and huge, black, bat-like wings with a near five-foot wingspan. She did not see a head or feet on the creature. It flew over the house and out of sight. The dog became excited over the strange visitor. She has not seen it since.

"I don't scare easily but I am curious," Hilmanofski states on the bizarre goings-on in her home.

A week prior to the investigation, her roommate Dawn Hartwig found the outlines of two handprints on her bathroom window and some other odd shape that resembles a devil's face. There are no fingerprints, however - just outlines of hands with elongated, pointed fingers and something that looks like eye sockets and horns.

Hilmanofski lived in the house five years ago but did not experience any paranormal activity at that time. But this time, she and her roommates all have stories to tell. They have also spoken with their neighbors to compare notes about their haunted experiences.

"Neighbors had complained about bad things going on in their homes," Hartwig says. But none of them have had the issues investigated until now.

After many similar run-ins with possible ghosts, Peterson decided the case needed to be investigated. He called Haunted and Paranormal Investigations, Inc., (HPI) on the advice of Hartwig's employer.

On April 3, 2010, HPI general manager Paul Dale Roberts and his crew of 15 came to the house to investigate. The team consisted of Roberts, Reiki master Kamilah Smith, former police officer Ann Dupire, several paranormal investigators, professional photographer Sherry Andersen, audio expert Chris Singleton, two professional paranormal video engineers, psychic Shirley Hasselbrink, and yours truly - the reporter invited to document the event. Such a strong team was certain to uncover something that would explain the bizarre stories of what's been happening over the last five months.

The investigation started at 8 p.m. and didn't end until the wee hours of Easter morning. During that time, four 45-minute sessions were held where teams of investigators were divided into groups to investigate different sections of the house; each team had a chance to investigate each section. The results are as follows...

Dupire cleaned the window of Hartwig's bathroom to remove the handprints. Within a few moments, one of the handprints returned. No human had touched the window since the cleaning.

Also during her investigation, Dupire used a voice recorder to capture and electronic voice phenomenon (EVP) in one of the bedrooms. She asked "what is your name?" Singleton analyzed the audio to confirm the voice actually responded with the word, "Thomas."

At one point during the evening, Smith felt hands grabbing her waist. Simultaneously, her team's K2 meter - a type of electromagnetic field detector - showed a high level of energy. (A K2 meter measures the level of energy a spirit uses when it tries to communicate with the physical realm. When ghostly activity is high, the lights on a K2 meter will flash to high levels.)

When Smith investigated the basement, she felt as if it "had lots of cold spots (an indication of potential paranormal activity). There was dense energy like there was something there."

Another group of investigators - En-Vision Paranormal Research from Manteca - investigated the basement along with Peterson and me. At the end of our session, we all saw a white globe of light zooming a few feet above the ground. It traveled about 10 feet at a speed of about five miles per hour. A video camera had been set up in the basement and caught the rambling orb on tape.

Historian Laurie Rutledge often works with HPI staff. Her research discovered that the house was over 100 years old and was once a Catholic rectory. There is an Indian burial ground nearby, as well as a site where 16 miners died in a mining accident. More recently, Rutledge found that previous occupants of the house had felony charges for drugs and identity fraud.

Perhaps the most controversial issue is the fact that this location was known as a site where the Miwok Indians had encounters with miners who would shoot the Indians on the spot. Black Bart was also known for having a girlfriend in the area. Although he robbed a few stage coaches in his day, he was never convicted of murder.

The evening ended with Smith - who is part Black Choctaw and French Sioux - performing a sage cleansing of the house. This had been Smith's first time tagging along on an HPI investigation. As a Reiki master, she admitted at the beginning of the evening, "I'm here to heal whatever needs to be healed."

As she waved her bundle of lit sage leaves throughout the house - with Peterson by her side - Smith blessed the home, the inhabitants and the spirits to heal whatever emotional scars may be keeping them from moving on.

Regarding the batlike-figure Hilmanofski and her dog saw, Roberts believes it was a creature known as either Batsquatch or Mothman.

For more information, visit HPI's website at www.hpiparanormal.net.