Good Morning today I have apretty good cautionary list of  things you may be over paying for or not being told about during the funeral and burial process. While I dont thinck all funeral directors or homes are there to riip you off or act unscrupulously it is definitely better to be well informed and make sure that you pay for only the rservices and extras you and your family want and can afford.

A couple of my fellow investigators from the United Paranormal Project, Brendan Shay and Eric Glosser, will be making an appearance on an Episode on the Bio Channel's "My Ghost Story - Caught on Camera" scheduled for Saturday night, JUNE 2nd, 2012.

The story covered in the episode is based at the Twin City Opera House in McConnelsville, Ohio. The episode will air at either 9pm or 10pm EST. I am not 100% sure which time-frame it will be in just yet. I wanted to let everyone know as this is one of my personal favorite haunted locations and these two guys are friends I have investigated with for several years now.

I am hoping the show does this awesome building, its interesting story, and activity justice. I know from talking with Eric that the Bio Channel's camera man was more than a little creeped out by the experience of shooting in the Opera House. The Opera House is one of the most active locations I have investigated and it continues to surprise me with its activity to this day. Check out the episode and see for yourself!

Check out show page over on Bio's website: "My Ghost Story - Caught on Camera"

www.1upp.org
www.twincityoperahouse.com

Good morning todays blog article is news about a reputedly haunted old hospital being renovated and re-entering into the world as the location of a  of senior living home.  I like seeing old building saved and repurposed in general and am curious to see how this goes.

‘Haunted’ L.A. Hospital Being Converted Into Senior Living Home

Would you want your grandma living in an abandoned hospital so well known for its creepy atmosphere and alleged hauntings that it has been used in various Hollywood productions by folks like Rob Zombie and the makers of the horror film "Se7en"?

The L.A. Times says the 107-year-old Linda Vista Community Hospital may soon earn a new reputation once a proposed $40 million conversion is complete, transforming the abandoned building into a senior living home.

"People tell me it's the most haunted place in L.A.," said Maurice Ramirez, executive vice president of Amcal Multi-Housing Inc., the affordable housing group heading the hospital's conversion. "Because it's been empty for maybe 25 years or so, it becomes the subject of a little urban folklore about ghosts and things."

The hospital's caretaker Francis Kortekaas says he has experienced a few unusual moments over the years since Linda Vista closed shop in 1991, including when a sink seemed to turn itself on and off in front of his eyes, and when he felt a child's hand reach out for his own, even though he was alone at the time.

"It felt like my daughter's hand," he told the paper.

Kortekaas has made some unusual changes to the site, including adding a fake prison cell, to make it more accommodating to potential filmmakers. Over the years, the property has been used by several entertainment productions, including the musicians Duran Duran, and as a set for the TV shows "True Blood" and "ER."

Kortekaas says filming takes place at the hospital for nearly 130 days a year.

Perhaps most terrifying of all, the hospital has also been home to shooting locations for the critically panned films "Pearl Harbor" and the 2005 Adam Sandler remake of "The Longest Yard."

But that dark legacy will have a shot at redemption once the extensive renovations are complete.

"It's going to look like an upscale hotel," Ramirez said. "People in the neighborhood will really see a transformation.

Good Morning todays blog article is a bit of a mystery as ancient Peruvian remains are discovered beneath a pool in Florida.

Skulls in Florida Backyard Belong to Peru, Date Back to 1200

The discovery of two skulls in a Florida backyard sparked questions of intrigue and murder when they were found in January, but now investigators say the origin of the bones is even more mysterious than they thought.

The two skulls, of a 10-year-old boy and older man, date to 1200 to 1400, and show signs of being from Peru or South America, thousands of miles and a millenium from Winter Garden, Fla.

"The mystery is how they ended up there," medical examiner Jan Garavaglia said today. "We don't have any way of finding out."

The skulls were discovered in January when a plumber installing an in-ground pool came upon a piece of bone and reported it to the police.

Garavaglia determined immediately that the bone was from the face of a young child, aged 10 or 11, and alerted authorities that because of human tissue found still intact on the bone, it could be a recently-deceased child, buried illegally. The skulls were found with shards of pottery and textiles and a scrap of newspaper dated 1978.

The bones, it turned out, had a lengthier history than the 30 years or so since they were buried in Florida. When x-rayed by the medical examiner's office, it was clear that the bones were hundreds of years old, and that the human tissue on the cheek of the skull had been mummified. The skulls featured an "Inca bone," a telltale sign of a human from the Incan culture of Peru, Garavaglia said.

"This was clearly a secondary burial site," she said.

Garavaglia enlisted the help of archaeologists and anthropologists from the University of Central Florida and Yale to try and trace the origins of the skulls. Researchers identified cloth items found with the bones as that of primitive slings and purses made of woven materials and non-human hair.

What the researchers cannot figure out, and Garavaglia says they probably will not figure out, is how the items came to buried in Florida.

Authorities suggest that the bones were taken from South America into Florida when transporting skeleton parts was a more acceptable practice; it is now against the law. A tourist with a unique keepsake, or a migrant with a relic from their culture, could have transported the skulls, she said.

"Back in the 1030s or 1940s, people would go on vacation and buy things like that, and maybe they buried them when they didn't want them anymore. Another possibility is that it used to be a migrant farm worker camp, and some cultures will bring part of their heritage with them when they leave. It could be that they were moving on and decided to bury it there," Garavaglia said.

The archaeologists and anthropologists will continue to research the bones, which will become part of published scientific studies. Ultimately, the skulls could be returned to Peru.

"It was certainly a departure from the norm," Garavaglia said. "When you hold something in your hand that is that old, from 1200, it's amazing. To think about the connection back  in time, that you hold in your hand what that they held in their hand. Amazing."

Today we have another cautionary tale about making sure that your deceased loved ones have the proper care from the moment of death, straight thru the funeral and into the grave. Too many times I have the sad duty to report that the dead are not treated with the care and respect that they deserve and that the funeral industry is paid to insure they get. Make sure that those you are entrusting with this solum and serious matter are worthy of your trust. Once your loved ones are in the hands of a stranger its almost allways too late to make sure something like this isnt going to happen. Be vigilant and attentive, make sure they know your paying attention to whats going on, ask questions, dont settle.

Suit Over Grave Secret Ends

MAY 14TH 2012 ON FOX 25

http://www.myfoxboston.com/story/18409142/2012/05/14/suit-over-grave-secret-ends

UNDERCOVER - Debra DiMarco never wanted to take on the Catholic Church, but she kept waiting at every turn in her ordeal for the Archdiocese of Boston to make things right.
       
Her family was never notified after a former gravedigger told Archdiocese of Boston officials about her grandmother's remains being desecrated at a Catholic cemetery.
         
When the gravedigger told FOX Undercover his story, the Archdiocese of Boston said he was lying.
        
And when her grandmother's grave was exhumed, showing a twisted metal coffin and human remains laying in the mud, the archdiocese said it wasn't proof that her coffin had been smashed with a backhoe.
          
So DiMarco sued, a lawsuit that recently settled out of court, and DiMarco found herself with one more battle against the church: to erect a gravestone over her family's plot.
         
"Originally I had thought it would have been a nice gesture on their part to even volunteer to have the stone made for my grandparents' grave, so to be at this end that we're fighting just to put this up, it's very insulting," DiMarco said.
          
It's insult to injury for DiMarco, who thought the settlement would also stop her five-year battle with the Archdiocese of Boston.

"When does it end?" asked FOX Undercover reporter Mike Beaudet.

"Hopefully soon," DiMarco replied.
      
It began in 2007 with gravedigger Tom Keigney's confession. 
           
He had worked at Holy Cross Cemetery in Malden, and told FOX Undercover horrifying stories about what happened there out of the public's view. He showed gold fillings that he says other workers took from skulls, fillings which he took to prove others' misdeeds.
          
Most disturbing was his story of preparing a grave for DiMarco's grandfather, James Keavy, in 1985. 
           
Keavy was going to be buried on top of his wife Delia, DiMarco's grandmother, who died in 1977. But Delia Keavy hadn't been buried deeply enough, so there wasn't enough room for her husband's casket.
           
Keigny recalled how a backhoe went to work to make room, ripping out the body of the grandmother and smashing the metal coffin and concrete liner.
           
"So we dug the hole a little deeper. ‘Ok, knock her in,'" Keigney recalled the order from that day. "The digger went over, she was laying over in the mud in a pile like this. He hit her, she fell in the hole. ‘Ok that's it.' So we set a liner up right on top of her for when her husband come in the next day."
          
He had told the same story to church officials in 1986, according to a church record, but DiMarco's family was never notified.
          
Keigney, a tough ex-con from Charlestown, told FOX Undercover his conscience couldn't rest until the family was found.
           
"Do you think the family has a right to know?" Beaudet asked.
           
"Yes, without a doubt," Keigney replied in his 2007 interview. "I'll go into court for them. I don't want one peso out of this. Maybe I'll get some peace. I don't know."
           
FOX Undercover tracked down DiMarco's family and told them about Keigney's confession. The Archdiocese of Boston insisted he was lying, and tried to discredit him.
           
"They felt that because of any past he had had that that was going to shed light on his character and make it seem evil in some way. But people don't make this up," DiMarco said.
          
Richard Bradley, the acting foreman the day James Keavy was buried, was later promoted to a high ranking position at the Archdiocese cemeteries. He still works there.
         
"Tom Keigney says you were giving orders that day. Is Mrs. Keavy's body lying in the mud?" Beaudet asked him in 2007, but Bradley had no comment.
           
Video taken by a private investigator hired by DiMarco shows just how painful the exhumation must have been to witness. It shows archeologists looking in the mud for Delia Keavy's bones, then laying out the remains on a tarp, piece by piece.
          
Those remains, along with the twisted metal coffin, and broken concrete liner, seemed to prove Keigney was right. But it was not proof enough for the Archdiocese, which in 2007 blamed "the passage of time and the effects of natural elements" for the condition of the casket.
           
"It gave me the resolve I needed to continue with this case because to me this was the most ridiculous, insulting statement they could possibly have made," DiMarco said.
           
The ordeal was also painful to DiMarco's father, Albert Keavy, whose parents were buried in the grave. Once a devout Catholic, Albert Keavy turned away from the church, even refusing last rites on his deathbed.
    
"He was furious that they never apologized, they never accepted guilt, never took responsibility. For days after the exhumation, he lived with us and every day he'd say, ‘Did they call? Did you get a phone call from the church yet? Did the bishop call, did anyone contact you?' And every day I just had to say, ‘No dad let's wait, they'll probably call.' And no one ever did,'" DiMarco said.
           
The lawsuit settled for what DiMarco's attorney says is a substantial amount of money. But to this day she never received the one thing she and her father have been looking for from the beginning.
          
"Never an admission of guilt. And never an apology," she said.

The archdiocese's insensitivity was on full display when, in 2008, DiMarco was presented with a list of demands over the new grave stone, including that "no additional burials to be allowed" in four empty plots, her family had already purchased.
           
DiMarco refused to agree, and the gravestone was still sitting at the manufacturer when FOX Undercover visited last month.

"That's indicative of how the church cared about Debra DiMarco and her father throughout the entire case," said attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who represents DiMarco, and hundreds of victims of the church sex abuse scandal. "They didn't care. They were just worried about their wallets. That's all they were worried about."
          
DiMarco says she settled the case partly to avoid more exhausting legal battles, but agrees it helps the church avoid scrutiny.
           
"Their solution to everything is to write a check to make it go a way, and it doesn't go away for the people that are affected by their wrongdoing. And I'm sure there were plenty of other mishaps at Holy Cross Cemetery that people don't know about," she said.
           
DiMarco calls Keigney a hero for refusing to be ignored by the Archdiocese, but Keigney's health has deteriorated so much in recent years he's unaware of the latest developments in the case.
           
There is some good news for DiMarco though. When our photographer visited Holy Cross Cemetery earlier this month, he found the gravestone had been installed. DiMarco had never been notified.
           
Archdiocese, spokesman Terrence Donilon won't say now whether the Archdiocese stands by the 2007 explanation of what happened to Delia Keavy's coffin, but did release a statement saying, "The Archdiocese of Boston has gone to great lengths to bring some sense of comfort and closure to the family's concerns."
           
As for the gravestone, the spokesman says that standard Catholic cemetery guidelines were followed.

Today we have a story that is very sad, crazy, and gross. unfortunately some people have got it into thier heads that ingesting the remains of dead infants is beneficial. What more can be said other than it needs to stop.

South Korea seizes capsules containing powdered flesh of dead babies

The South Korean government revealed Monday that it recently seized thousands of capsules filled with the powdered flesh of dead babies. Reportedly, some people believe the powder has medicinal purposes and was created in northeastern China.

South Korea has reportedly been reluctant to criticize China directly over the incident, out of fears of creating diplomatic friction with the country. But the process by which the powder is allegedly created is one of the most disturbing stories imaginable.

According to the Korea Customs Service, the bodies of dead babies are chopped into small pieces and dried on stoves before being turned into powder. The customs officials have refused to say exactly where the babies come from or who is responsible for making the capsules.

China has already been in the spotlight over activist Chen Guangcheng, whose work involves protesting the government's sterilization and forced abortion policies. It was recently reported that China is working to "soften" its one-child policy slogans, though not the actual policy itself.

Last year, Chinese officials ordered an investigation into the manufacturing of drugs made from dead fetuses or newborn babies. Nonetheless, South Korean officials said in a statement they have discovered 35 smuggling attempts since last August, during which 17,450 capsules labeled as "stamina boosters" were discovered. Rather than containing any inherent medicinal properties, the capsules are said to contain dangerous bacteria and other harmful, unspecified ingredients.

The Great Appalachian Spook Show turned out to be a great weekend of paranormal speakers, friends and fellow investigators along with a host of interesting people/attendees that really elevated the conference to a true meeting of the minds. There was a lot of sharing of ideas and theories about the paranormal.

I want to thank everyone who came out and joined us in exploring what the paranormal is and what it means along with tips and techniques on how to improve all of our continueing investigations into this fascinating field.

Our Speakers one and all brought their own unique perspectives and experiences onto our opera house stage and laid out exactly what they feel and believe in their hearts with out any BS or hedging. Their were no cookie cutter TV ansers or dialog at this conference only what real life people in the field for years have discovered in their own treks thru this undiscovered country. There were many outstanding individuals there this weekend and I want to thank them all for their contributions.

I especially want to thank Aron houdini for his outstanding performance and for sacrificing his body to do what he does and also for his frank and informative talk about Harry Houdini, his magic, his life and death and the houdini seances that followed. If you have not seen Houdini perform you really need to.

Speaking of performances, Brian Harnois pulled a dissapearing act and was a no show, no call, no nothing this weekend, stiffing us as we suspected he might after pulling the same thing on multible other events recently.

We had many friends, associate team members and fellow Ohio investigatios and paranormal teams come down to join us, show support, learn new things and catch up with old friends. In addition to the presentations, ghost hunts, venders and work shops, alot of good food and good conversation occured and a good time was had by all. Thanks guys, be Safe, untill we meet again.

Thanks also need to go out to all the attendees and paying public who came down and payed money to see our guests speak, to trust us that we had something unique to share with them and who showed us, the opera house and the paranormal field their support. Without them we would not be able to put on the spook show and we know that and apreciate their patronege. I hope to see many of you in the future, whether it is at next years show or another event or in the field. Take care  

I am frankly pretty tired from hosting the spook show and am allready back to work to play catch up, so I will be posting pics and more info about the conference and some really cool news about what the two investigations and all these investigators found in thier own time spent at the opera house in the following days as I am able to go thru the evidence and sort everything out but I can say allready that there is at least on very promising photograph we are scrutinising very thuroughly from the weekend. The whole United Paranormal Project team is allready posting pics from the conference up on facebook and more pics and evidence will be going up on the Great Appalachian Spook Show website in the following days www.greatappalachianspookshow.com 

www.twincityoperahouse.com  

There are only a couple of days until this years Great Appalachain Spook Show and we have a couple updates....

First off, it's highly unlikely, at this point, that Brian Harnois will be fullfilling his obligation to be in attendance as a speaker and guest. He has stiffed several cons recently, taking their money, and then doing a no-show. Unfortunatley, I don't see our Spook Show having any better chance of him appearing this year because he has not returned our messages or emails over the past few weeks. If he actually does end up attending, I will be the first to apologize to him for having doubts.

Sadly, there have been a few others this year, as there was last year, who were scheduled then waited until the last minute to back out. To their credit, they at least called us, but because of the complexity of scheduling an event like this it is difficult for me to see inviting them back in the future. These situations really aren't that unusual in the paranormal field. There are many people who have difficulty meeting their commitments.

I really think that the field is taken less seriosuly, not just because of its' controversial subject matter, but because of the actions of the people involved in it. What they do creates doubts about their sincereity, profesionalism, and reputation by failing to fulfill obligations. The majority are doing their best to advance the field but a few bad apples tend to spoil it for everyone at times. 

This also applies to the flipside of a paranormal conference, the organizers themselves failing. I have been invited to speak at more than one conference over the years that never ended up happening because of a failure to collect enough pre-sales to satisfy the promoter/organizer, or even shadier reasons like not actually aquiring/reserving a location for the event. Many would-be conference goers have been stiffed at one point or another by such flim flamery and have had to try to fight for refunds.

The paranormal is such a popular field right now that many people decide they want to put on a conference or para-event but then become overwhelmed with the realities of money, time, and effort involved in schedulling and organizing such an event. These flash in the pan cons rarely make it to a second year. All of this leads me to our own para-con traversing the trials and tribulations and going into its second year here in 2012.  

The Great Appalachian Spook Show continues to gather steam as we have added new venders this year in addition to our many returning venders and speakers. like U-Neel Rabbit Shawls, Shawls & Native American Crafts  

Our after hours events are filling up too so if you want in on one of the workshops or ghost hunts you had better get signed up soon. Get a great deal on the whole three day paranormal conference by ordering your tickets online Now, soon it will be too late to get these discounts so dont miss out.

we are also announcing a great new photography contest for this years spook show. All weekend long at the spook show or any of its events we encourage you to take pictures and do what you do, look for ghosts. the best pictures submited during the spook show showing some kind of paranormal activity will be in the running to win a 25 dollar prize, we will have some of our speakers and a member of the United Paranormal Project be the judges.
We are also considering having an open photography contest where anyone can bring their best paranormal photograph to the spook show to enter it into a simular contest so dig out your best pics and bring them with you. Theres nothing like being able to compare evidence with others in the field and talk shop anyway.

The Great Appalachian Spook Show
 
www.greatappalachianspookshow.com

Friday May 4th 5th and 6th 2012

The Haunted & Historic
Twin City Opera House
15 West Main Street
McConnelsville, Ohio 43756

For More Information
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Join Ohio’s American Ghost Society representatives — The United Paranormal Project — at the Haunted Twin City Opera House, “One of the most haunted locations in Ohio”, for a weekend of ghosts, hauntings, and the unexplained! All of this nestled in Historic McConnelsville, Ohio along the Muskingum River, in Morgan County, Ohio.

Get a great deal on the whole three day paranormal conference by ordering your tickets online Now, soon it will be too late to get these discounts so dont miss out.

We will be offering nationally-known speakers on ghosts, hauntings and the supernatural. Pat Brussard, John Sabol, Aron Houdini and James Willis to name a few. Plus all of this will include: paranormal workshops, haunted tours, ghost hunts, after-hours events and much more!

The Great Appalachian Spook Show is open to guests from all over the country and will give attendees the chance to gather information about ghosts, hauntings and the unexplained; meet other ghost enthusiasts from around the country; network and compare notes with other investigators; and to visit the haunted Twin City Opera House in McConnelsville, Ohio. You don’t want to miss this conference. www.twincityoperahouse.com

- Hope to see you there  : )

Good morning today we have an interesting article revealing that the dead may be taking more trips than we realise. Far from just taking that one final ride after death to the funeral home and then to the cemetery some of the deceased are actually still wracking up miles as they are carted here and their and then back again.

http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/busy-gps-view-bodies-in-car-parks/2537963.aspx

Good morning to start the week off we have an interesting article about a new cemetery related tv show called  The Decrypters, I havent caught this one yet but want to check it out and see if its any good.

Washington Park Secrets Unveiled In National Geographic Show

John Kiesewetter 
April 18th 2012  in cincinnati.com

http://communitypress.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20120418/ENT11/304190076/Washington-Park-secrets-unveiled-National-Geographic-show?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|E-Edition|s

Secrets buried in old cemeteries under Washington Park – a mother’s skull resting on a fetus, a couple buried together in a metal-lined box – will be revealed to TV viewers nationwide Thursday night.

“The Decrypters,” a new National Geographic Channel reality show, devotes an hour to some of the 70 remains removed during excavation in 2010 for a parking garage across from Music Hall.

“We found a lot of surprises we didn’t expect,” said Mike Striker, 42, archaeologist for Gray & Pape Inc., the Over-the-Rhine firm that supervised the dig in the former Episcopal cemetery (1810-1850).

Although “The Decrypters” focuses mostly on three sets of remains, viewers will see many photos of the dig, and video of hundreds of bones in Dr. Beth Murray’s College of Mount St. Joseph biology lab, where they now are stored in boxes.

Murray, a forensic anthropologist and biology professor overseeing the local research, told TV host Dr. XantheMallett about the fetus – 32 to 34 weeks in utero – found inches beneath the remains of a woman.

“She put the baby under her head, like a pillow. The baby may have been a premature birth, and the mother died due to some complications at childbirth,” said Murray, 53, who did her doctoral dissertation on remains from an old paupers’ cemetery under Music Hall.

Viewers also will see pictures of the remains of a 4-year-old girl found buried face down. It could be an indication that the child was buried alive, as were “many people” back then, said Murray, who mentioned the practice in her 2010 book, “Death: Corpses, Cadavers and Other Grave Matters.”

Kristen Koenig, 22, one of Murray’s biology students who studied the bones, was amazed that half of the remains “were kids, ages 24 weeks in utero to 12. That was shocking to me.”

Mallett, a British forensic anthropologist, gave most attention to the two full skeletons buried in one coffin, a man on top of a woman with a crushed skull. They were sent to the show’s experts at the Texas State University-San Marcos forensics anthropology department.

Their examination revealed the two man were both of European descent, and not related. Researchers also found the woman’s skull was shattered by natural forces after burial, and she had a high amount of antimony, a toxic chemical, in her bones.

Murray said the TV producers featured the duo because they wanted to do a computerized reconstruction of their faces. Both “skeletons were in really good shape, and a lot of the others were not,” Murray said.

Longtime residents who knew Washington Park was located on two former cemeteries may be upset by the reality show’s sensationalism about “bizarre burials” and “suspected witchcraft” in Cincinnati’s “graveyard of horrors.”

Murray, who appeared on Discovery Health’s “Skeleton Stories” in 2005, was not surprised to hear how producers hyped their script.

“The clearly tried to sensationalize it. That’s what they do. It’s all about the drama to get a lot of people to watch,” she said. “They were definitely trying to lead me to be sensational.”

“The Decrypters” does not mention the remains of 11 children found in the same grave and other discoveries. Murray wants to do more research before the remains are reburied in Spring Grove.