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by Charlotte Sanchez-Kosa, Mountain Democrat
Published Wednesday, November 2, 2006
Investigations Inc. to sites in El Dorado County.
By Charlotte Sanchez-Kosa, Democrat staff writer
From water faucets turning on and off by themselves to mysterious footsteps in the now empty
rooms above the restaurant, employees and owners at the Diamond Springs Hotel take it all in
stride as they go about their daily duties.
On a recent dark but not so stormy night, a group of investigators from American Paranormal
Investigations Inc. decided to check into the happenings at the old building. On this night, group
founder David Bender and Ann Overhiser were conducting a preliminary interview with employees
and owners.
“Do you know of any tragedies that have occurred on the premises?” Overhiser asked.
Restaurant kitchen manager Leonard Landers said there had been a shooting at the bar following a
fight.
“That's one of the ghosts that I hear are here,” he said.
Overhiser went on to ask if there had ever been any recent remodeling and other questions. Soon
the staff began to tell tales of ghostly encounters.
“Do you ever smell any unusual odors?” Overhiser asked.
Landers said employees frequently smell old cigar smoke.
“You always smell it right around the computer,” he said. “One of the old waitresses who used to
work here, she was here a lot and one night when she was closing, she left and she got down the
street and all of a sudden she smelled old cigar smoke. She turned around and came back in the
parking lot, opened the door and said, ‘Hey get out! You live here.'”
Landers added he is a non-smoker and one time at his home, all of a sudden, he smelled old cigar
smoke. He asked someone what to do and she told him to return to work the next day, open the
door and tell the ghost to “come on, you're going home.”
Other reports include the sounds of footsteps going up and down stairs and a man who sits in a
booth along with a black lab.
Built in 1916, the hotel, located on the south side of Pleasant Valley Road in Diamond Springs, was
home to not only the hotel but was also a brothel, bar and a bar restaurant.
So on Friday night we all returned for the investigation.
Breaking into two teams, the investigators decided that one team would look into one half of the
structure while the other checked the opposite side. They would then meet later and compare notes.
Sensitive Jason Lindo and Ruth Caldwell began to explore the upstairs office and apartment area.
Caldwell carried an Electro Magnetic Field Detector. She spent the evening running the meter along
walls, floors and in mid air.
“Ruth was looking for changes in electro magnetic fields, thereby potential spirit energy,” Bender
said.” The Tri-Field Natural EMF detector does not pick up on AC or power appliances. It only picks
up on natural fields. Anything between one and three on the meter is considered normal. Any
spikes above that indicate a change in EMF fields-possible paranormal activity.”
In one upstairs bedroom, Lindo sensed the presence of a man and a woman, in another room, he
felt he was being watched from the doorway by teen-age girls. He also felt a sharp pain in his back.
“I would want to ask if the busboy who stayed in here ever saw anyone staring at him from the
doorway.” he said. “I get the impression of someone coming up to the doorway frequently, not
coming in the room, but coming up to the doorway.
Later on, downstairs, an employee commented that he too felt as if he was being watched at times
while in the room.
Meanwhile, team members Tammy Putnam, Erin Lynch, Michelle Barbaria, and Overhiser went into
the older section above the original bar.
“We started at the first room and worked our way counterclockwise through each of the five
rooms,” Overhiser said. “The second room had a few low level spikes up to 1.6 with the EMF
detector near the closet, mid-air at chest level. This is where several members felt a protective
woman's presence. EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena) was conducted in this room. A few orbs or
dust are seen in the photographs, but nothing dramatic. The team ended with the other front
room.”
Overhiser said that upon entering the room each team member felt dizzy and ill.
Bender said, EVP stands for Electronic Voice Phenomena. It is a technique used to attempt to
record disembodied voices, specifically answers to specific questions asked about a particular area.
A voice recorder is utilized to record questions and answers and then the information on the
recorder is processed with a program that filters out the background noise in order to capture these
voices or answers.
“While conducting an EVP session in the room, a man's whisper was heard audibly three times
while each member's foot was firmly grabbed and pushed down. As if to say, ‘I'm right here.'” she
said. “If you were the one getting held on to, you could see your pants form the imprints of a
man's hand. We decided to take a break downstairs after the EVP session.”
Later that evening Barbaria, Putnam, and Overhiser went to the back deck to try to contact and
photograph the reported man seen standing there. While there, they reportedly heard somebody
walking in the grass behind them. Overhiser turned on her recorder and Barbaria her video camera.
Nobody could be seen while they heard the footsteps behind them, three more times.
“It was slow, deliberate, and bipedal,” Overhiser said. “We recreated the sound when walking in the
same location.”
Following intuitive Caren Clarke, we made our way up the stairs to the empty portion of the hotel.
She stopped in a room where she came in contact with the spirit of a man who was angry. He
began speaking to her, describing a brothel. Everyone, including Lindo, who entered the room, felt
uncomfortable.
“Then why are you so angry about that?” Clarke asked. “I don't understand your anger. Tell me
what you're angry about.”
According to Clarke, the man told her that bad deals had been done there.
“Now I'm starting to feel like I can't breathe,” she said. “Like my windpipe has been cut off and I
feel like someone is choking me.”
She also reported smelling a putrid smell.
Downstairs, Lindo sensed a lot of energy near the restrooms. Caldwell, holding dousing rods, asked
the spirits to lead her to the vortex, the rods pointed to the area where Lindo stood.
“A vortex is believed to be a gateway of spirit energy,” Bender said. “It is believed that entities can
travel through these portals from one location to another. So spirit hauntings may not occur with
any distinct pattern.”
The investigators will now take the information and notes they accumulated during the
investigation and analyze it. They will return with the results at a later date.
Bender said the Diamond Springs Hotel was a wonderful site to investigate.
“The owners and staff were very helpful and interested in the investigation,” he said. “It is a nice
establishment where you can find great food and great atmosphere!”