Contact RISEUP:
Phone:
(401) 624-1782
Email:
Other Site Features:
Network with RISEUP :
Website Powered by:
Tiverton, R.I.
May, 24, 2008
INVESTIGATORS PRESENT: Ken DeCosta
Dave DeCosta
Chris Blanchette
Ryan Lantini
Adam Perry
Orientation
This investigation took place in correlation to PR03 as this abandoned, two story house is located adjacent to the homeowners property and under their stewardship. This was a very interesting case as a number of neighborhood legends had already developed. The most prominent tale was that a pair of old women who'd lived there practiced feiticaria.
Feiticaria is a folk religion rooted in (Celtic) Paganism and Christianity mingled with West African influences (Voodoo). Many parts of Rhode Island have areas densely populated by Portuguese-Americans. Many of these second and third generation Portuguese actually immigrated here from the Azores. Like many other places throughout the world, Christianity began to stamp-out pagan worship and folk practices/superstitions in Portugal. The Portuguese Inquisition formally began in 1536 and many fled to the America's to avoid persecution. They landed all over the east coast from Canada to South America. In fact, a large number or Portuguese in Rhode Island are actually from Brazil and the Azores.
Another local legend pertained to the men who'd lived in this particular house being cursed. Whether or not this is an offshoot from the old witch legend can't be confirmed or denied. While we know of at least one man having a fatal heart attack at a fairly young age we can't validate the merit of either of these claims.
We also got the opportunity to speak with two neighbors, one of whom had lived next door to the property longer than PR03. His prominent response to our initial inquiries of the home was "Weird stuff happened in that house!" While we were questioning him in terms of paranormal activity, this "weird stuff" ultimately pertained to disturbing human activities; rumors of incest and a sexual assault by a group of self-styled Satanists who stayed at the home as "house guests" for an undisclosed period of time. We were not aware of the stories centered around this group prior to investigating the property. What we were aware of upon learning their identity is that this "cult" would gain notoriety a short time later in a sensational murder case which shocked the local populace and drew national attention. At least two people were murdered in cold blood by the same people who once sought refuge in this dwelling.
Much of the recorded history of this property lies in the acquisition of the land by a prominent Tiverton family named Shove (shohve) who owned a local mill company. While the family and mill are not linked with the darker tales we've uncovered, there were some interesting details we gathered upon researching the name. One was that a daughter, Nellie was very close friends with another local legend - Lizzie Borden.
There was an elderly woman who, along with her middle-aged son, ran a small store on the property. There are still a good number of Portuguese families in the areas who are not so far removed from their European or South American generational heritages. Some of these old world practices, even those that are decidedly Roman Catholic, could create a false impression to those familiar with modern Catholicism. She was probably an old widow who had a friend visit her most days.
There is also a good deal of potentially sensitive subject matter involving people and families from the area that cannot, in good conscience, be submitted. While we did a good deal of subsequent research into this property, we conducted only a brief investigation as the majority of our time was spent with the homeowners of PR03. Obviously our time and effort was better spent helping them to document their experiences rather than poking around an allegedly spooky abandoned house, even in light of the reluctance of many to venture near the property at all.
Investigation
Atmospheric Conditions:
Temperature: 57 degrees F
Humidity: 51%
Wind Speed: 6-8 mph
8:15pm- Chris, Dave and Adam spent the first half hour or so looking for areas of concentrated EMF. The baseline was flat because the power had been shut down after the house was vacated. They brought over two of the HandyCams as our stationary IR surveillance was concentrated on PR03. They entered and began documenting the basement. It had obviously been renovated as there was epoxy and new concrete patching holes in the old foundation. Along with the video cameras, they brought a digital camera and snapped off a series of pictures. Prior to leaving the basement, they stationed a digital recorder that would run in their absence. They made their way to the first floor and eventually the third floor as they continued to visually document / perform EVP work using a second handheld audio recorder. Of particular interest to the group was an upstairs bedroom where a fire broke out this past year. The family living there reportedly took the resulting insurance settlement and left promptly, leaving many personal belongings and mementos behind in an adjoining bedroom upstairs. This was puzzling but suggested nothing other than a desire to leave quickly. The rest of the house appeared to be in satisfactory condition and not particularly run-down or neglected.
9:30pm- The three investigator left the premises in order to participate in the investigation of PR03.
10:00pm- Chris, Dave and Adam return to the property and continued to document the house, particularly the ground floor/ main living area (kitchen, dining room, parlor). Chris placed one of the HandyCams on a mantle pointing toward the parlor while Dave kept one in hand and continued to cycle through the rooms. This time was particularly quiet as we'd distributed our handheld recorders at PR03 in order to provide audio surveillance in the area of PR03 where audible phenomenon had been reported. There was still a stationary recorder rolling in the basement.
10:30pm- Ken and Ryan met Dave outside the property, while Adam and Chris went over to PR03 to spend some time (without the family) in the area of reported activity. They spend the last half hour of the investigation documenting the location with the other HandyCam. While they did this, they were asking questions, hoping to get a response on either a digital recorder or the K-II. After about 45 minutes, with no anomalous activity, we left the property and gathered our equipment to be on our way by midnight per agreement with homeowner PR03.
Conclusion
While there have certainly been a series of tragic family misfortunes surrounding the home, our initial impression is that these were a series of unfortunate coincidences. The untimely deaths by a number of males who lived there may be fodder for rampant speculation of "curses" perpetuated by neighbors, but one cannot forget that some diseases, and cancer certainly is one, can have origins in heredity as can heart disease.
The occupation of the home by people whom it has been suggested were "cultists" no doubt gave even more legs to the theory that some type of satanic worship took place there. However, there is a great deal of evidence, including testimony by police who investigated the homicide case involving these people, that suggests the appearance of certain satanic elements at the crime scenes were perhaps staged to lead the police away from the true reason for the crime. In any event, there again seems to be some very vivid imaginations at work here and none of them belong to the former occupants of the house.
All in all, it was a positive experience and investigation in terms of witnessing the power of the collective unconscious coupled with the willingness and ability of otherwise common and decent people to create and shape their own reality.
While further investigation revealed some very disturbing personal events that involved the family that had most recently resided there, there was no evidence or basis to affirm the belief that anything supernatural is grounded or ever existed there.