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by Charlotte Sanchez-Kosa, Mountain Democrat
Published Monday, November 6, 2006
Overhiser talk with what she said
was a child’s spirit in the corner
room late at night in the Sequoia
Restaurant at the Bee-Bennett
House. See story “Long …”
Democrat photo by Dan Burkhart
Investigations Inc. to sites in El Dorado County.
By Charlotte Sanchez-Kosa, Democrat staff writer
Crawling through attics, spending time in darkness and talking to things they can't see are all in a
night's work for the members of American Paranormal Investigations Inc., and on a recent trip to
the Sequoia, they weren't disappointed by what they found.
Beginning their night at about 9 p.m., Friday, investigators took temperatures and also, utilizing the
Electro Magnetic Field Detector, took notes as the meters measured differences in temperature and
differences in the magnetic fields.
One of the first places investigators, including paranormal “sensitives” Ann Overhiser, Jason Lindo
and Caren Clarke headed to was the attic and Clarke began writing her impressions on a piece of
paper also known as an investigator's report.
“When I first got up here I felt very anxious and a very strong headache came on and was
gravitated towards the far end of the A-shaped roof,” Clarke said. “I picked up a young girl about
12 years old who used to play around here in the 1940s possibly early '50s. Her dad was a
carpenter. I'm trying to get to the reason why she's still here. There's another female spirit who
watches over her although this female spirit has crossed.”
Overhiser, standing near the south end of the attic near some windows was busily communicating
with another set of spirits. Looking out the window, Overhiser said she saw a woman looking back
at her that wasn't her own reflection.
“His reflection is right here, it's slightly taller,” she said. “The reflection is about 5-foot-5 to 5-foot-
6. He stands about 6-foot-2. He wore a hat, a brimmed hat from the '50s, a short brimmed hat, a
men's hat.”
The house was built in 1853 by Judge Marcus Bennett. He had four daughters and one son who
died at the age of 4 and is buried in the cemetery across the street from the home. The house was
the purchased by Col. Frederick Bee in 1889. In the mid-1900s, the Elks purchased the house.
Current owner Danica Olivo purchased the house at the end of 2002.
Restaurant manager David Begley has some tales to tell about the historical place.
“A lot of guests have heard things," Begley said. “They have seen things, felt things, objects
moving, lights being turned on and off and a lot of strange stories."
Begley also said guests in the women's restroom have had the feeling that they were not alone and
have experienced the doors opening and closing and for some, a foreboding feeling.
Begley said although there are entities in the building, the overall feeling is a positive one.
He also feels there are the spirits of mischievous children in the building also.
“I just thought I saw something weird, but it might be just me,” said investigator Janelle Loberg,
peering into the women's restroom. “When I opened the door... I don't see it now. I don't know if
it was just me or what it was. It was in the mirror and it looked like it came right across the bottom
of the mirror, but I had the door open and when I looked again, nothing else happened.”
Investigators Lindo, Ruth Caldwell and lead investigator David Bender decided to see what may
have caused the shape and if they could communicate with any spirits.
Once inside, Caldwell, using dowsing rods, asked if there was a spirit in the bathroom with us and
the rods crossed, which means an answer of “yes.”
“Is there a woman here?" she asked. “Is Mrs. Bee here?”
Once again, the rods crossed into the “yes” position.
Lindo said the bathroom used to be where the original front porch of the home was located and
asked the woman's spirit if she was standing on the porch. The rods once again crossed “yes.”
“That's why people feel as they are being watched,” Lindo said.
One member in the group felt someone or something touch them. Bender then entered one of the
stalls.
“Will you touch the tall gentleman who is standing on the porch with us?” Caldwell asked and the
rods responded with a “yes.”
Lindo then asked the spirit if she knew where Bender was located and the rods pointed directly at
him (Bender).
“There was something that made a noise in the stall next to me,” Bender said.
Lindo went to the stall and confirmed that there was a presence in there. He then asked the spirit if
the spirit he sensed in the staff was that of a black man who likes to stand in front of the restaurant
fireplace. The spirit answered “yes.” He then reported the sensation of being touched. Bender also
reported being touched.
A little later, investigators decided to conduct a séance in the bar of the building. Sitting in a circle,
they put an empty glass in the middle of a table and put their fingers on it, very lightly. Lindo
instructed potential spirits to move the glass towards Bender, who was sitting across from him in
the circle, to signify “yes” and instructed the spirits to move the glass towards himself to signify a
“no” answer.
“You need to move the glass more than that,” Lindo said. “Are you Mrs. Bee?”
He next asked the spirit if it had been the one in the bathroom. The glass slid to “yes.”
In another séance session, Clarke allowed the alleged spirit of Mrs. Bee to channel through her and
“Bee” said she didn't appreciate the loose women in the bathroom (at one time, the house had been
a bordello.)
“Bee” also said she watched over the house.
The investigators will now pour through video, photos and notes that were taken and written down
during the investigation. They will return at a later date with the results and present the results to
Begley.