Lake Geneva women seek out the paranormal
Audio Clip
Lake Geneva ghost hunters
Breckenfeld amplified the audio after her question and says she can hear the response, "I'm in pain."
To learn more
To reach Carol Breckenfeld and Amy Tornow about Ghost Scene Investigators, e-mail gsi@usa.com.
Photo
Carol Breckenfeld left, looking at a ghost meter with audio alert on a headstone as Amy Tornow video tapes the event at the cemetery.
LAKE GENEVA — On a recent summer evening, Carol Breckenfeld and Amy Tornow headed to a small cemetery at the corner of County U and Eastside Road east of Lake Geneva.
Except for an occasional car passing on County U, the graveyard was deserted and quiet. The women's only companions were a news crew, voracious flies and a cool evening breeze.
Their job: Ghost scene investigation.
The Lake Geneva women frequently venture in cemeteries, old prisons, reportedly haunted houses and former asylums. They carry camcorders equipped with infrared lighting, digital voice recorders and electromagnetic field meters.
Their mission: To get answers from the beyond as to why "presences" still are roaming around Walworth County.
The two women run Ghost Scene Investigators, and they don't charge for their services.
"We would probably pay you to let us investigate your house," Tornow said.
"Our investigations are scientifically-based," Breckenfeld said. "If you get an electromagnetic field, there's a temperature drop, then something is making this happen."
Breckenfeld and Tornow say they use the EMF meter to detect presences, which normally are followed by a drop in temperature.
"We also use voice records because sometimes the human ear can't hear, but the voice recorder can capture it," Breckenfeld said.
The two women met in the 1980s, Tornow said. They became interested in investigating paranormal phenomena and creating equipment for the job.
Although most people would meet their efforts with a healthy dose of skepticism, that doesn't deter their confidence.
"I remember not wanting to tell anybody because people would think we're crazy," Tornow said.
"That was already a given," Breckenfeld joked.
Breckenfeld has a background in criminal justice. Tornow is a chef in Walworth County.
"I use my background in criminal justice to interview people," Breckenfeld said.
She said she also uses such techniques to provoke responses from presences, or ghosts, which they capture on their digital voice recorder.
As Breckenfeld walked through the cemetery near a dirty headstone with the name "Carolina" carved on it, she captured something or her EMF meter. The device, equipped with a backlit thermometer, also detected a tiny drop in temperature, which Breckenfeld said is typical in ghost hunts.
Clearly excited to have captured something, she kneeled down to ask a few questions.
"Do the cars ever bother you? What kinds of things bother you? Do we bother you?" she asked, always followed by about 20 seconds of silence during which Breckenfeld expects to get a response.
Then she joked: "Do the bugs ever bother you?"
After about 15 minutes, the investigators gave in to furious bugs and left.
"OK. Good night," she said while recording one last time.
"Is that the right thing to say to dead people?" she joked.
Later that evening, Breckenfeld used audio editing software on her laptop computer to process the recorded audio, heightening sounds and eliminating background noise.
But Breckenfeld swears there's a voice saying: "Keep him out," and, "Take him in ...yeah ...busted."
"In Savannah, Georgia, we had a man and two daughters, and they introduced themselves," Breckenfeld said. "Sometimes they just want to talk."
Aug 11, 2009 at 2:39 p.m.
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MrScott: marble and granite were common stone types for headstones. By the way, how is your summer? Did you like the storms the other day?
Aug 11, 2009 at 2:37 p.m.
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hannah-No, it was early in the evening and drugs had nothing to do with it. Thanks for your concern, though. Yes, it is true that carbon monoxide buildup in a home can induce hallucinations. We had a CO detector in the home and CO was never an issue there. I can understand that you've never had any experiences yourself and this does not invalidate my experiences. What I described in my other posts was only the most recent examples of what I have experienced. Some people are more prone to this type of situation and it tends to run in families. I am not asking you to believe me. I am sharing my stories with anyone who wants to read my post. I know what has happened to me and what I have witnessed.
Aug 11, 2009 at 11:01 a.m.
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I meant Manteno State Mental Hospital. Duh.
Aug 11, 2009 at 10:09 a.m.
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Mendota was haunted. That place had a bad vibe to it. Southern Wisconin Paranormal Research group has some fantastic footage of what they found there.
Aug 10, 2009 at 11:15 p.m.
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Seriously? A background in criminal justice person and a chef.
And the criminal justice person uses her interview skills. "Do the cars ever bother you?"
Groundbreaking. Film at eleven - of NOTHING!
Does the 'chef' cook up an omelet for an offering?
Aug 10, 2009 at 10:23 p.m.
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It's the 21st Century, let's leave this junk on the scrap heap of history.
Aug 10, 2009 at 6:30 p.m.
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I wonder if these women realize that near dusk radiational cooling causes vegetated areas to cool quicker than objects such as, say, headstones creating micro thermal variations. Does anyone know what the older headstones are made of? There's are some minerals that have naturally occurring magnetism.
Aug 10, 2009 at 3:27 p.m.
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why not just call scooby and the gang. they PROVED episode after episode that there is a logical explanation to all 'supernatural occurences'
Aug 10, 2009 at 3:09 p.m.
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Amazing what our own minds can do to us..Just visit Mendota...................
Aug 10, 2009 at 2:54 p.m.
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Maybe its the holy ghost?
Aug 10, 2009 at 2:46 p.m.
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Like someone said: Those extra-terrestrials travel all those light years and the first they want to do when they get here is look up some hillbilly's kiester.
Aug 10, 2009 at 2:34 p.m.
Aug 10, 2009 at 2:14 p.m.
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Yes there are ghost animals...A lot of people feel there animals get on their beds .After they have passed....some smell something that reminds them of the animal also...BUT one must pay attention....
Aug 10, 2009 at 11:39 a.m.
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For about twenty years there's been a million dollar reward for anyone who can prove the supernatural.
No one has ever collected that money.
Aug 10, 2009 at 10:37 a.m.
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And yes, there are ghost animals. The last house I lived at in town was on Williams Street near the historic district. We had a beloved pet die of cancer in the home. Prior to this my daughter would complain of occasionally being woke up by a "see-through" man standing in her doorway. I would coddle her and send her back to sleep. The last time it happened was Thanksgiving night 2002. That night, I was jolted out of bed by my deceased dog barking (he was a beagle who was fiercely loyal) at a man standing in the door of my daughters room. I was amazed at how my beloved Buck had come to protect my daughter from this see-through man, who I believe(after a little investigation) was a former tenant who died on the property next door. My daughter never saw the man again, but she swore she felt that Buck was sleeping on the floor at the foot of her bed.
Aug 10, 2009 at 10:29 a.m.
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Anything is possible. Has anyone posting ever seen or felt something they cannot expalin? How about the Tallman House? I was on a tour a few years ago-we were up by the bathroom in the back of the house. I was the last person in line. When everyone went down the stairs to the kitchen I felt a hand on my shoulder; there was no one behind me. What about the funeral home across the street from there? I knew people who used to live there that would report on strange noises coming from the basement and the 2nd floor. Doors would open and close-no person or breeze was present. What about the old county buildings around the jail? I have heard voices coming from the buildings that no one is supposed to occupy. No I am not crazy and I don't need medication. I am just saying anything is possible. Just because you have never experienced anything does not mean it is fake for those who have...
Aug 10, 2009 at 9:57 a.m.
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GHOSTBUSTERS!!!!
Aug 10, 2009 at 9:53 a.m.
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Always an interesting topic, but no conclusive proof may ever be given that ghosts and such really exist. I believe it's possible, and I'm always open to hearing stories from folks who believe they've experienced the paranormal.
Aug 10, 2009 at 9:12 a.m.
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for more factual information, see the daily horoscope.
Aug 10, 2009 at 9:04 a.m.
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I watch "Paranormal State" on A&E. Very interesting.
Aug 9, 2009 at 11:03 p.m.
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Google "animal ghosts". There are quite a few hits.
Aug 9, 2009 at 10:56 p.m.
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"Who you gonna call...?"
Aug 9, 2009 at 10:16 p.m.
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"Why are there no ghost animals?"
Marsupials scare me............................
Aug 9, 2009 at 10:05 p.m.
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Why are there no ghost animals? Should not the woods be filled with the ghosts of murdered deer? Why are there so few ghosts? You would think there would be millions. How can they speak? With no lungs to move air over the vocal chords which they lack and without a skull to help produce sounds,it does not seem possible. How can a ghost walk thru a wall, would not his/her feet just go thru the floor making it impossible to move forward?
Aug 9, 2009 at 9:32 p.m.
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Eeery, but kind of interesting at the same time.
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