Spirit Fall 2020 Edition 25
he was murdered or died in an accident, as Murphy’s ghost has allegedly told both stories at different times. People at the ranch have reported that they have seen a figure either standing outside the barn or peering out from a barn window. “When we investigated (the barn) the last time we heard footsteps and dragging coming from up top in the loft,” Dennis said, “no one else was in there but us.” Neville Center for the Performing Arts, 301 E. Fifth St., North Platte The building, constructed in 1929, has its share of ghost stories, with the most prominent being sightings in the Fox Theatre. People have claimed to have experienced cold spots in the theater or to have seen shadowy figures suddenly appear in the balcony. A story has been passed down over the years that a vaudeville actor fell off the balcony and died in the 1930s. “Most definitely it is haunted,” Dennis said of the building. Dennis had one of the highest recordings on his Mel Meter, a device that measures electromagnetic fields in units of milligauss, as he walked past a row of seats. “(The device) measures up to 200 (milligauss),” Dennis said. “I walked by this one seat and it registered a 99. The average (reading) is .2 to .3. “Evelyn asked, ‘Can you make a noise for us and make it loud?’ And a door just — bam! — slammed like that. There is also a piano underneath the stage and we could hear a couple of notes.” Dennis said perhaps the weirdest experience was an image that appeared on the ceiling of the theater during an investigation. “It looked like an octopus or a flower or something,” Dennis said. “It was white and it just started spreading out (on the ceiling), sending tentacles out. We turned off all of our equipment and it just kept getting bigger and bigger.” The Hotel McCabe Building, 420 N. Dewey St., North Platte The building, constructed in 1915, is believed to be haunted as well, especially on the unoccupied third floor. It is said to be the home of the spirit of a young girl. “Right when you go up to the third floor,
you turn to your left and there is a little room,” Dennis said. “She likes to stay in there. We left a recorder there overnight one time. We came back and could hear music, like the old-time circuses and stuff like that.” During an investigation of the building on another occasion, the McConnells say they heard the sound of running footsteps coming from the third floor as well. Mysterious footsteps were heard again when the McConnells were with a small group on the third floor. “We physically heard footsteps behind us at the time,” Evelyn said. “On the recorder, right after those footsteps, we hear a man’s voice say, ‘That was me.’ In this case it wasn’t one of us (in the group). So apparently the ghost decided to play a bit of a game with us.” Arrow Hotel and East Hotel, 509 S. Ninth Ave, Broken Bow The building was built in 1928 and is believed to be one of the most haunted structures in the state. The website hauntedjourneys.com has a post on the hotel, which was constructed in 1928 and renovated in 1984. Among the reported ghosts is a former owner who is reported to have died in the building. People have claimed to see his spirit walking up and down the stairs. Other people have reported seeing a red-haired woman in the upstairs hallway, according to the website. Dennis said he has sighted an apparition there as well. “I looked down a hallway and at the end of it there was this gentleman (standing there),” Dennis said. “He had a hat and a coat on, and the funny thing is that his nose looked pointed. “From the waist up he looked normal, but he had no legs. Our machines were all going off at the same time and I turned for a moment (toward the equipment). When I looked back, he was gone.” Dennis said there also is the spirit of a girl in the basement of the hotel, and the McConnells say they have a vocal recording of her. “She says, ‘I find you. Can you see me?’” Evelyn said.
BY TIM JOHNSON tim.johnson@nptelegraph.com Dennis and Evelyn McConnell have devoted nearly a decade to investigating paranormal activity in Nebraska and separating true hauntings from those reports that can be explained by creaks and pops of an old house settling. The couple and Sheila Furley make up the Research and Investigation of Paranormal Activity team. They have done more than 60 investigations over the past seven years over about a 100-mile radius of North Platte.
Dennis said about 80 % of the investigations can be debunked.
“The rest is what we can catch on our (equipment) — spirits or whatever it is,” Dennis said. The couple said six spirits reside in their house on West A Street in North Platte, four of them downstairs. “I think every area has ghosts. They are around everywhere,” Dennis said. “If you go into every store downtown (in North Platte), I bet you would find something.” Here is a sample of some of the popular places in North Platte and the surrounding communities where the McConnells and others claim to have witnessed or experienced paranormal activity. Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park, 2921 Scouts Rest Ranch Road, North Platte The McConnells said at least three spirits dwell within the mansion: Willam F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody; his wife, Louisa; and their son, Kit. They said there is information that the spirit of a former maid may be within the building as well. There are reports of motion detectors going off inside the mansion at night when no employees are there and Buffalo Bill’s rocking chair in the house’s parlor moving back and forth on its own. Some people have even claimed not only to have seen Buffalo Bill’s image in areas of the mansion but also to have spoken with him. The McConnells also spoke of Murphy, a young man who may have been a day laborer at the ranch and was impaled on a pitchfork in the barn. It is unclear whether
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