October 25, 2006

The Witchcraft Connection: Metaphysical Investigations into the Paranormal

Part Four of Belle Gunness: McClung Road and the Blood Farm Horror
By Marcus Foxglove Griffin

The Grave of Andrew Helgelien 
At the time of WISP’s initial visit, there were an unusually high number of toppled headstones at Patton Cemetery; Andrew Helgelien's headstone was no exception. Upon witnessing the damage, I recalled reading an obscure article on the Internet that mentioned a local legend about toppling a specific headstone in Patton Cemetery. The legend suggested that toppling the correct headstone would entice the grave's resident ghost to appear and give chase. I couldn't help but wonder if there wasn't a connection between this legend and the large number of vandalized graves. Andrew's headstone was laying flat on the ground, and fortunate to our investigation, the inscription on the headstone was facing up. If the inscription had been facing down, we probably would have never located the grave of Andrew Helgelien. The inscription on Andrew’s headstone is somewhat chilling, and fostered my imagination: 

Andrew K Helgelien, 1859-1908, The Last Victim of the Gunness Horror
Remains Found by His Brother, Asle K Helgelien, May 8, 1908, Rest In Peace

My first instinct was to right Andrew's headstone, but WISP’s attempt at doing so failed. Andrew’s headstone proved to be too heavy to be lifted by hand. Unable to return the headstone to its foundation, I knelt on the ground next to it, closed my eyes, and placed my hand on the grave. I imagined what Andrew's last night on earth must have been like for him; a night spent in the company of a heartless murderess. I wondered if Andrew had known he was going to die, or if the fatal blow came without warning. I couldn’t help but wonder if Belle had taken pleasure in taunting her victims before murdering them.

According to our burial listing, the grave of Jennie Olson was located right next to Andrew's: it wasn't. None of the graves adjacent to Andrew's belonged to Jennie Olson. There were several headstones in the Tier section with unintelligible inscriptions, but none of them were anywhere near the grave of Andrew Helgelien. Either the burial listing was wrong, or Jennie's headstone was missing. I suggested to my teammates that it was possible that Jennie was buried next to Andrew but was never given a grave marker. Jennie Olson was Belles adopted daughter, and with Belle dead or missing, Jennie was most likely buried by the state of Indiana with little ceremony and even less money; a sad ending indeed for the victim of such a gruesome crime. 

Next on WISP's agenda was to scope-out the rest of the cemetery so we wouldn't lose our bearings after nightfall. Albeit massive, Patton's semicircular layout allowed us to easily pinpoint key areas and mark them on our map. We felt confident in our ability to navigate Patton Cemetery in the dark. 

After snapping a few more photographs, WISP left Patton Cemetery and returned to our base of operations to prepare for our nighttime incursion. I had already secured permission from the LaPorte city police department to enter into Patton Cemetery after hours, so all that was left to do was ready our minds, spirits, and equipment and wait for darkness to fall. To my knowledge, there had only been a few previous paranormal investigations performed at Patton Cemetery, none of which had produced any compelling evidence of otherworldly activity. Were we wasting our time? Or would WISP's mere presence entice the spirits of Patton Cemetery to come out and play?

*Special note from Marcus* Included with this column is an anomalous photograph that was taken during WISP's daytime visit to Patton Cemetery. There appears to be a large orange "orb" in the photo. I invite any reader that has a serious, scientific, or paranormal explanation for the anomaly to e-mail me with their thoughts and opinions. The anomaly is probably just lens flare, but it doesn’t quite fit into lens flare parameters. Lens flare is typically polygonal, but the anomaly in the photograph doesn't seem to display polygonal characteristics. The anomaly appears to be round. There is also what looks like a motion trail on the left side of the "orb." I have shown the photograph to several professional photographers and have received mixed opinions. Any natural or supernatural explanation for the anomaly is most welcome. 


Next Month: Part five of Belle Gunness and the Blood Farm Horror: Hunting the Ghosts of Patton Cemetery

Marcus Foxglove Griffin has been a student and teacher of the occult for over twenty years and is the creator and lead investigator for Witches In Search of the Paranormal (WISP). He is High Priest for the Temple of Aradia located in northern Indiana and teacher in the temple’s school. Under the penname Lord Foxglove, he is the author of Advancing the Witches’ Craft (New Page Books, 2005) and numerous articles in the areas of Witchcraft and metaphysics. "The Witchcraft Connection" is Marcus Foxglove Griffin's monthly column on the metaphysical and paranormal.