Southern Paranormal Investigations
Date: 11-10-07
Location: Hempstead Private Property
Case Status: Closed

Client Reports: Client reports activity in and around the barn area. Orbs occurring in pictures taken by the client. The horses tend to get spooked and act as though someone or something is there. The longhorn cattle also tend to get spooked for no apparent reason. There is a large tree on the property that the client believes a body may be buried under. She thinks a body was hung from the tree, burned, then buried.

Equipment Used: 2 Sperry EMF meters; KII meter; 2 handy cam cameras with night vision; 5 digital audio recorders; 5 digital cameras; tripods; magnetometer (magnetic locator); dowsing rods; walkie-talkies.

Set-up: Due to the location being a large, undeveloped property with only a barn and no electricity, our choice of equipment usage and set-up was limited. A handy cam with night shot was set up in the barn covering the two horse stalls with the most activity. Another camera was set up facing the tree in question. Two audio recorders were left in the barn; one at the tree; and the remaining audio recorders were carried by investigators as were the EMF meters. The dowsing rods and magnetometer were kept at command central and only carried on location when in use.

Investigation: Our team arrived on the property before the client but was given permission to unlock the gates and enter for a walk-through and set-up. The first investigator on the scene was blocked access by a large longhorn bull. Once the founders arrived on scene, the bull was shooed away and we were able to enter the property. Command central was set-up just outside the gates to prevent interference or damage from the livestock.
The team had to set-up and work around the herd of longhorn cattle, as well as two horses and a mule. The camera in the barn was set inside a stall to keep it safe from the livestock. Audio recorders were hung on the stall door hooks and secured. The team broke down into groups of two and sent in assigned areas all around the 17 acre property to investigate. All areas, even those with no reported activity, were covered. Team members were followed by cattle, horses, and the mule everywhere we went with one exception. They seemed to refuse to go near the tree in question; however, it was obvious they do travel in that area due to the droppings that covered and surround the area.
At one point, one of the founders path was blocked by the two horses and they intentionally separated her from the rest of the team.
The founders did feel an energy emanating from the tree. One possibility could be that the tree may have been struck by lightning at some point in time. There was a large burn spot on one side of the tree, but according to the markings it appeared to have been made by the burning of brush and clearing the area around that tree. The KII and Sperry meters did have high spikes around the tree, as did the magnetometer; however, this could be due to mineral deposits in the ground. This only occurred on one side of the tree.
The founders also picked up on an energy inside the barn. The back corner of the stall in the far left end (facing the inside of the barn) had a strong energy pull for both of the founders. They also both picked up on a strong animal energy, and one founder felt the energy of a large cat…possibly a cougar. Also, the founders could feel the Native American history on the land. May have once been a campsite for a local tribe.
To help satisfy the curiosity and mind of the client, we did dig around the tree in the area indicated to see if we could find any evidence of a body having been buried there, even though the magnetometer did not hit on this area nor did any of our other equipment, including the grave dowsing done by one of the founders. Our team member dug to the satisfaction of the client, which was several feet deep. No evidence of any body was found.

Findings: No evidence was captured at this location. In observing the cattle and horses, we noticed that they tend to “spook” each other. One will run upon another and nip it and then they all will begin to trample about in a frenzy. The horses especially would do this, with one horse being the main instigator. The orbs in the client photos were all dust orbs, which is expected with the location. We found no evidence of any body being buried under the tree and believe the burn marks on the tree to be from the burning of brush and clearing done by the previous owner.
We do not feel this location to be haunted and believe it to be safe should they choose to build a home and live there.