On August 16, 2024, the Investigating Oklahoma’s Paranormal (IOKP) held a “Ghost Investigation” at The LeFlore County in the Hotel Lowrey home of the LeFlore County Historical Society in downtown Poteau.
The IOKP has various ghost hunting equipment:
- Spirit boxes – Radio devices that rapidly scan through radio frequencies, producing white noise and random speech fragments that some investigators attempt to interpret as spirit communication.
- Digital voice recorders – Used to capture potential electronic voice phenomena (EVPs), which are unexplained voices or sounds recorded during investigations.
- EMF (Electromagnetic Field) detectors – Used to measure fluctuations in electromagnetic fields, which some believe may be indicators of paranormal activity.
- Infrared (IR) cameras and night vision equipment – Allows investigators to see in low-light conditions and potentially capture anomalous visual phenomena.
- Thermal imaging cameras – Used to detect differences in surface temperature that may suggest paranormal activity.
- Motion sensors and trip wires – Can alert investigators to movement in an area under investigation.
- Dowsing rods or pendulums – Some paranormal investigators use these devices to try to detect the presence of spirits.
As Director of the Museum, I got to be a part of the investigation and discovered that the building is not haunted by just one spirit, but many.
During the investigation, myself and six IOKP investigators using this “Ghost Hunting” equipment encountered “Louise” her mother “Amanda” and her father “James.” Amanda was a clerk, but not at the hotel and James was a janitor (not at the hotel). Amanda’s last year she could remember being alive was 1936. One investigator told her that this was now the year 2024 and it was election year. The investigator told Amanda that we have a woman running for President, then a “spirit” spoke up and said, “Oh My” and that investigator said that the woman running for president is currently the Vice President. Another spirit by the name of Edwin, spoke up and said, “You’ve got to be kidding.”
Edwin was either in law enforcement or running from the law. He said things like, “investigate, interrogate and surveillance.” Edwin was either involved in a train robbery or investigating the train robbery. Edwin was asked by one of the investigators if he had enough energy to appear. He didn’t appear, but several spirits made themselves known in the Military room. One investigator was hit on the head, another was brushed up against the leg. Edwin became uncomfortable with the questions being asked and he asked us to leave. We told him we would leave the second floor and go to the third floor and that he was welcome to come with us.
Gathering up the equipment, we headed to the third floor of the 102-year-old building. On the third floor was when things became a little scary. The investigators wanted me to ask questions to the spirit. I asked the spirit, “Do you know me?” The answer was “yes”. So, I asked, “How do you know me?” “Because you work here” was the answer. I then asked the spirit, “Is there a favorite room or exhibit that you like? Is it the Honeymoon suite? The Choctaw room? The train room? How about the Spiro Mounds room?” Suddenly the atmosphere in the building changed. I asked the spirit if there was ever a laundry chute in the hotel? The answer was yes. I then asked, “Was there ever an elevator?” The answer was “No”.
Through more questioning, we discovered the spirit was a woman who was killed in a house fire along with her employer and the employer’s baby and that the husband of her employer had set the house on fire.
When I asked her about an opening in a closet in the Spiro Mounds, I felt like a spirit was trying to enter my body. But because I am a born-again Christian, this spirit could not overtake me. She then began to tell us to leave. “It’s time for you to go,” she kept saying. One of the IOKP investigators told her if she really wanted us to leave, to turn the light off from the Cat Ball, which lights up when moved. The lights went out and the investigators packed up their equipment and left.