GHOSTS OF GREATER LOS ANGELES

About Ghosts of Greater Los Angeles

By Preston Dennett

His last ghostly book, California Ghosts, took you on a journey across
the Golden State, exploring a dazzling variety of ghosts and haunted
sites. Seasoned ghost-hunter Preston Dennett returns again with another
exciting and sometimes scary foray into the supernatural. Ghosts of
Greater Los Angeles picks up where his last book left off, bringing new
information on well-known haunted sites and also revealing several
brand new cases which have never been published before. Inside, you
will find numerous thrilling cases:

--a spooky exploration of one of the most haunted hotels in Greater
Los Angeles, the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, including new eyewitness
testimonies. Researchers estimate there are more than a hundred
different ghosts here, at last count!

--follow along with leading ghost researcher Syd Shultz as he
investigates several hauntings at Universal Studios amusement park,
where ghosts are open to the public!

--visit the San Fernando Mission in Sylmar, and hear brand new
accounts of the ghostly gaucho, a handsome cowboy who, for some
unknown reason, remains bound to the location.

--listen for mysterious voices and footsteps in the Moorpark
Melodrama theater in Moorpark, or search for ghosts wandering Forest
Lawn in Glendale or EVP in Hillcrest cemetery in Glendale.

---and much more including haunted bookstores, parks, roadways
and private residences, along with an in-depth analysis of the cases.

--also includes a comprehensive listing of 28 haunted locations in
the Greater LA area (with addresses and directions, and ghostly history)
that you can visit.

Exciting illustrations by award winning artist Kesara bring life to the
many compelling cases you will find in this book. Whether you live in
Greater Los Angeles, or are just visiting, this book offers a unique
opportunity to not only read about ghosts, but to see them for yourself!

Ghosts of Greater Los Angeles

By Preston Dennett

Introduction

Chapter One: The Hollywood Roosevelt Revisited

Chapter Two: Spirits of Universal Studios

Chapter Three: A Haunted Hospital

Chapter Four: A Last Goodbye

Chapter Five: Claudia’s Ghosts

Chapter Six: The Haunted Laundry Room

Chapter Seven: Augustine

Chapter Eight: Ordeal By Ouija

Chapter Nine: A Native American Haunting

Chapter Ten: A Haunting In Pacoima

Chapter Eleven: A Biting Ghost

Chapter Twelve: A Haunted Bookshop

Chapter Thirteen: Is That You Gran?

Chapter Fourteen: My House is Haunted

Chapter Fifteen: The Buena Park Ghost

Chapter Sixteen: Cemetery Ghosts

Chapter Seventeen: Ghosts of the San Fernando Mission

Appendix: A Glossary of Los Angeles Haunted Locations


Introduction

Do you believe in ghosts? Would you like to see one? It might be a lot
easier than you think. Despite the fact that some people still remain
skeptical, the truth is that ghost researchers have made considerable
progress in proving the veracity of ghosts. They have not only gathered
sufficient evidence to nearly prove that ghosts are real, they have
discovered how many hauntings begin, how they evolve, and how they
end. They know how ghosts manifest and why. And most importantly,
ghost researchers have identified literally thousands of locations across
the United States and the world which are known to have ghostly
activity.

Of course ghosts are real! Skeptics vastly underestimate the amount of
evidence. There are the literally tens of thousands of eyewitness reports
stretching back thousands of years and appearing in virtually every
culture on earth. More recently scientists and ghost hunters have been

able to bring science and technology into the study of ghosts. As a result,
we now have a vast array of evidence of ghosts, including photographs
and moving films of apparitions and/or objects moving by themselves,
audio EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena) recordings, EMF readings
from electromagnetic detectors, recorded temperature fluctuations
correlated with ghostly activity and more.

While the circumstantial evidence for ghosts is overwhelming, their
existence still has not been conclusively proven. At least, the evidence is
tenuous enough that mainstream science continues to deny that ghosts
are real. And so the subject of ghosts falls into the catch-all category
labeled “the paranormal.” Of course, there is no such thing as
paranormal. When something so-called “unexplained” happens, it
doesn’t mean that the Laws of the Universe have been violated. Instead,
it is an indication that our knowledge of these laws is incomplete.
Unexplained is simply misunderstood.

Although ghosts are often considered unexplained, it’s pretty obvious to
most people what they are: spirits of the deceased. However, most
researchers believe that ghosts come in Several different varieties. First,
there are spirits. Spirits are the souls of people (and animals) who have
died. Spirits manifest for a variety of reasons. Some have experienced
sudden tragic deaths and are not aware that they have died. Some are
attached to their homes or to loved ones and refuse to leave, or perhaps
are just coming to visit. Some suffer from addictions that overcome
them and force them to remain earthbound and attempt to satisfy their
physical cravings. Others might be consumed with emotions, such as
guilt, anger or something else that is keeping them attached to the
physical world. Many spirits have a purpose, manifesting for a particular
reason such as saying goodbye, providing the location of missing
documents or money, or giving a vital message concerning an important
personal or business issue. Probably the majority of ghostly activity is of
this first type – the spirit. However, there are many other different kinds
of ghosts.

Another popular theory to explain some ghost activity is known as the
poltergeist, which is a German word meaning noisy ghost. Researchers
have discovered that poltergeist activity often (but not always) occurs in
the presence of a pubescent teen-ager, and seems to be linked to their
mental and emotional state. Poltergeist activity is typically intense,
mischievous and brief. In these cases, some researchers theorize, there is
no actual ghost. Instead the activity is the result of uncontrolled
psychokinesis or telekinesis. The repressed emotional/mental energy
from the teenager (and sometimes adults) explodes and manifests in the
form of the uncontrolled movement of objects, electromagnetic
disturbances, mysterious noises and other paranormal events. Poltergeist
outbreaks are typically intense and brief, through this is not always the
case. Also, some researchers have theorized that poltergeist hauntings
might be better explained as uncontrolled mediumship: a subject we will
explore later in the book.

A third theory is that some ghosts are actually non-human entities, or
demons, which are consumed with a hatred for God and humanity and
attempt to possess the unwary. The careless use of a Ouija board or the
calling forth of spirits, some researchers say, can lead to demonic
possession. This theory is among the most controversial and hotly
debated. And yet the belief in demons remains widespread across the
United States and the world.

A fourth theory that is gaining increasing popularity is known as a
residual haunting. In these cases, the ghosts may seem real, but they are
in reality just echoes of past events. This theory was adopted when
researchers realized that in many cases, the ghosts did not seem to
perceive the outside environment and instead just re-enacted the same
event or events over and over again. The theory is that events involving
extreme emotions or trauma are somehow recorded into the environment
where they occurred. In these cases, the activity is predictable and
repetitive. The spirit and the consciousness of the person is not really
there, and can therefore neither interact nor perceive living people.
Instead, the activity is just an echo, which replays the same event again
and again.

Yet another theory is that some ghost activity can be explained as a kind
of time-slip. Under this model, ghosts are in fact, living people who are
going about their daily lives in the past, but are somehow being
perceived by people living in the future. This theory is supported by the
many cases of people who have seen ghostly people, ghostly trees and
plants, ghostly structures and even ghostly vehicles, or in rarer cases,
entire ghostly environments.

Whatever the explanation for ghosts, they can no longer be denied. The
popularity of the subject is evidenced by the countless books, television
programs and internet websites on the subject.
One of the most exciting things about ghost research today is that ghost
hunters have been able to identify literally thousands of locations where
ghosts appear. Research has become specialized to the point where the
known haunted locations in each city across the United States have been
pinpointed and recorded for posterity.

The book you hold in your hands presents the story behind many known
and unknown haunted locations in the greater Los Angeles area of
southern California. New information and firsthand interviews with
actual witnesses are provided each location. Some of the hauntings are
famous, such as the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, perhaps one of the
most haunted hotels in Los Angeles. Others are less well known, such as
Universal Studios or Forest Lawn Cemetery. Some have never been
published before, including an area near Glendale where numerous
children have encountered ghostly Native American children, or the case
of a major hospital in Van Nuys, where Several nurses are reporting
incredible experiences in a certain room. There are also other cases of
haunted houses and apartment buildings and much more. Both public
and private hauntings are equally represented. In all of these cases, and
others, you will read incredible accounts of people who come face-to-face
with the unknown all across southern California.

Los Angeles, the City of Angels, could appropriately be called the city of
spirits. Established in 1850, the city today has literally dozens of active
public hauntings and countless residential hauntings taking place within
a few hundred-mile radius. While the majority of hauntings probably
take place at private residences that are haunted by ghosts, there are just
as many public locations, including hotels, theaters, businesses, office
buildings, missions, museums, parks, graveyards, roadways and more
that also experience activity. Los Angeles and the surrounding areas, it
turns out, are extremely haunted.

Why is this area so haunted? The simple answer is because, like any
major megalopolis, there are a lot of people. It makes sense that the level
of ghostly activity would correspond with the size of the population
when you consider the fact that ghosts are, in fact, people.

The ghosts of Greater Los Angeles do have their own unique flavor and
colorful history. Some of the cases involve the spirits of Native
Americans who still haunt the locations where they once lived many
years ago. Some involve long-dead celebrities who remain clinging to
the locations where they led their glittering lives of fame and fortune.
Some involve accounts of sad and lonely child ghosts. All, however,
involve people who suddenly find themselves in the unfortunate position
of having become a ghost.

Although many people regard spirits and ghostly activity with fear and
confusion, the evidence shows that, for the most part, they are us! In
most cases ghosts are just people and need not be feared. Instead of
being afraid, some people, including many ghost researchers, actively
seek out ghosts and hope to catch even a glimpse of an apparition or to
see an object move by itself.

As it turns out, if you want to see a ghost, southern California is an
excellent place to start. This area is literally teeming with ghostly
activity. This book provides all tools you need to see your own ghost.
The glossary at the end of the book provides a comprehensive list of
local public haunted locations that you can visit and perhaps encounter a
ghost. Complete directions are provided. So get your flashlight and
camera and get ready to travel across the southland as we visit the many
haunted locations in Greater Los Angeles.


Augustine

(excerpted from Ghosts of Greater Los Angeles)


Tony Tocco and his friend Mark were excited. They had just rented
and moved into their new home in Inglewood. It was a nice
neighborhood, mostly occupied by wealthy retired people who had
worked at Northrup. Their neighbors on either side were both retired
elderly people.

The house was exactly what they were looking for. The only thing
wrong with it was that it did need to be cleaned up and the yard was
badly overgrown, but otherwise, it was perfect. As they had hoped, it
was quiet and homey. Tony took one bedroom and his roommate Ron
took the other.

They spent the first few days unpacking their stuff and setting up
the house. It was during this time that Tony began to notice
movement out of the corner of his eye. Each time he looked,
however, nothing was there, so he didn’t thing anything of it.
On the third day, they were cleaning up the house. Tony was
cleaning the kitchen when Mark announced that he was going to the
store to get some beer, and he left. Tony remained at the kitchen sink,
cleaning. It was then that he had his first of what would become
hundreds of encounters with a ghost. Says Tony, “Just after he left, I
see this lady walk into my front room from the kitchen door, kind of
out of the corner of my eye. She had dark hair, a little Mexican lady.”

Tony jerked his head around and looked. Nobody was there. He
shook his head and thought, “Maybe I imagined it.”
The figure, however, had seemed so real, so detailed. He wondered
if maybe Mark had come back in looking for his car keys or
something. But finding nobody in the house, he just shrugged his
shoulders and returned back to cleaning the kitchen. Then the lady
appeared a second time.

Says Tony, “I had my back turned, then I see her again. This time
she walked into the kitchen and I turned – and as I turned and looked,
she looked at me. I said, ‘Hello, excuse me, can I help you?’”
At this point, Tony did not think he was seeing a ghost. He
assumed he was dealing with a living person. Says Tony, “She looked
totally solid. I thought it was somebody who had come in. I said, ‘Can
I help you?’ And then she just looked at me like she was ignoring me,
turned and walked back into the front room. So I walked in to tell her,
‘Hey, what are you doing in my house?’ And there was nobody
there.”

Tony immediately searched the entire house, but he was alone. He
thought to himself, “Now that’s kind of weird.”
A few minutes later his roommate, Mark, returned. Tony asked
him, “Did you come in here a minute ago?”

“No,” Mark replied.

“Were you expecting someone to come over?” Tony asked.

“No,” Mark asked. “Why?”

Tony decided to tell Mark what happened. He said, “You know

what? I think this house is haunted.”

“No, no, no,” Mark shook his head. “Why?”

“I’m telling you,” Tony said, “the last couple of days I’ve been
catching movement out of the corner of my eye. And now – I thought
it was my imagination, but I just saw this lady.”

“No, you’re kidding!” Mark said.

“No, I swear,” Tony said, and promised his roommate he was
telling the truth. Mark, however, remained skeptical.

It wasn’t long before Tony had a third encounter. It was about a
week later. Again, Tony was alone in the house in the kitchen when
he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Says Tony, “I turn and
I look and I see this lady standing in the front room. She’s standing in
our dining room, looking at me in the kitchen. She was looking right
at me and I was looking at her.”

This time, Tony decided he would try to just remain calm and
observe the apparition instead of trying to confront it. Says Tony, “I
just kind of stopped and looked at her. And she just stood there and
stared at me for a second. And then she turned and walked into the
front room. So I walked in and followed her and she’s gone. When I
walked in, she was gone. So I thought, ‘Okay, that’s weird. Our
house is haunted. That’s cool, but I’m not telling anybody.’”

It was just a week or two later that Tony and his roommate began
to notice another phenomenon. Objects around the house would be
missing, and then turn up in strange places. On the first occasion,
Tony was missing his car keys. He looked for them everywhere and
finally found them in the refrigerator. Soon other similar incidents
occurred. His wallet would suddenly be missing, and he’d find it in
the closet.

Usually, however, it was his car keys, which he kept finding in
weird places all over the house, but usually in the refrigerator. Tony
confronted Mark, who denied moving his keys.

Tony said, “Then this house is haunted.”

“No, no, no,” Mark shook his head.

Tony repeated, “No, this house is haunted."

Time went by, and strange incidents continued to occur. At one
point, Tony decided to trim the overgrown rose bushes. First he
purchased a book on the subject and read it. The one morning he
brought the tools out, and began working on the garden. Shortly after
he began, he set the pruning shears down and when he bent down to
pick them back up, they were gone. He stopped trimming the bushes.
Later on, he found the pruning shears in the closet.

On another occasion, the same thing happened. Tony went out to
trim the rose bushes. Halfway through, the shears disappeared. When
the same thing happened a third time, Tony recognized a pattern.

Says Tony, “I would go out and start doing gardening, and the
gardening tools would disappear. If you set them down, they’d be
gone, and you’d have to look around for them. You’d usually find
them someplace in the house, or someplace weird, like how the hell
did that get there?”

Tony realized in hindsight that the lady ghost might have become
annoyed because he was messing around in her garden. Even though
the rose bushes began to bloom again, the gardening tools continued
to be the target of activity.

Up to this point, Tony was the only one who had seen the ghost.
His roommate Mark remained skeptical. Then came a day when Tony
invited his friend John (pseudonym) over to visit. They sat together
on the couch talking when Tony realized that John was no longer
looking at him, but instead was looking behind him into the hallway.
And furthermore, John had an expression of surprise – his eyes
became large, and he turned deathly pale.

“Are you alright?” Tony asked. John didn’t answer, but continued
staring.

“Are you alright?” Tony repeated. John stood up and Tony whirled
around to see what John was looking at. Nothing was there.

“Did you see that!?” John asked. He ran over to the hallway. “Did
you see that? Did you see it?”

“See what?”

John hesitated, and then blurted out, “Tony, there was a lady in
your hallway. It was the weirdest thing.”

“What did you see?” Tony asked. “Because you looked weird.”
John told Tony, “While I was talking to you, I could see what
looked like smoke coming into the hall, like mist. At first I didn’t
think it was anything, but as I was talking to you, then I thought
maybe there was a fire in the kitchen. Because it was getting a little
more misty. And as I was watching this mist, it started taking shape,
and all of a sudden this lady was standing there.”

Tony was amazed and asked John, “Was it an old lady?”

“Yes!” John replied. “Some little old lady.”

Tony realized he had to tell John about his ghost. “I’ve seen her,”
he said. “I didn’t want to tell you this, but I think my house 
haunted.”

“I know your house is haunted. I just saw it. That was the weirdest
thing. That freaked me out.”

Tony was glad that finally, someone else had also seen the ghost.
He wasn’t crazy. His house was haunted. Still, he had no idea who the
ghost was.

Then one day Tony’s neighbor, Ruby, came over to visit. Without
any prompting from him, Ruby began to talk about the former owners
of the house. She said that an older couple lived there. First the
husband died, and the wife lived there alone for several years. Then
one day she fell down in her bedroom. “You know,” said Ruby, “
died in your bedroom.”

Ruby explained that the old lady – whose name was Augustin
had fallen down and wasn’t able to get up. When her grandson came
to visit a week later, she had already died. She had been dead fo
several days before anybody noticed.

Ruby apologized, and said, “I probably shouldn’t have told you
that because it makes some people kind of scared.”

Tony shook his head. “Well, you know, that explains a lot because
this house is haunted by her.”

“You’re kidding!” Ruby exclaimed.

“No,” Tony said. “I’ve seen this old lady in the house a few times.

A friend of mine saw her. There’s somebody in this house.”

“Wow, that’s really interesting,” Ruby said. “Because she really
loved her house.”

Now that Tony knew the identity of his ghost, he became even
more intrigued by her presence. Whenever there was activity in the
house, he would call her by name, saying, “Hey, Augustine, how are
you doing?”

Interestingly, Tony noticed a corresponding increase in activity.
More objects would be mysteriously moved or missing. He started
smelling the scent of lavender perfume floating around the house.
Lights would be turned on when he was sure he had turned them off.
A few times, he’d be watching television, and it would suddenly turn
off by itself, or it would turn on when he was in the other room.

Around this time, his old roommate Mark moved out and his new
roommate, Rick (pseudonym), moved in. Tony told Rick about the
ghost shortly after he moved in. To Tony’s surprise, Rick admitted
that he had already noticed that things were being moved in the
house.

For Tony, it was mostly his car keys. One time they turned up
missing again. After a quick search, Tony realized it would take him
twenty minutes to find the keys, which would end up being in some
location where he would never put them. So this time, he talked outloud
to the ghost, saying, “Augustine, I’m kind of in a hurry, could
you give me my keys back?”

The keys showed up right by the door. Tony says this is only one
of several instances in which Augustine seemed to react to him and
his roommate. Both he and Rick learned to enjoy having Augustine
around. They never feared her, and instead felt comforted by her
presence. They even joked with her, trying to get her to clean up the
kitchen dishes (which she never did!)

For the next twelve years, Tony, Ron and Augustine lived together
peacefully. Augustine continued to perform her usual tricks, moving
objects around, turning the television on and off, hiding the gardening
tools. Although it was much more rare, Tony and Ron would catch
occasional glimpses of Augustine. Says Tony, “I’d be sitting around
watching TV and I’d see her in the kitchen. I’d see her turn and look
into the front room, and then turn and go back into the kitchen…I’d
only see her in the house, and usually most of the time, it would be in
the kitchen, or in the living room or dining room area that I’d see her.
And she’d usually come in and she would look around. I think it was
like she as just checking to see how things were the way she liked
them. That’s what I think the whole thing was – she wanted things the
way she liked them.”

Augustine became a member of the family, and the three people,
two living and one dead, lived together in peace. Then – after twelve
years – finally the day came that Tony and Rick had to move out.
They found a new place to live and were ready to move. After they
had everything packed up, and were doing their last walk-through of
the house, the subject of Augustine finally came up.

“Well?” asked Rick.

Tony decided that they should at least say goodbye to her. Talking
out loud to her, he said, “Hey, Augustine, we’re moving. We’ve got a
new place, and you’re welcome to come with us if you want. It’s been
really nice living with you for the last twelve years. If you want, you
can come with us to our new house. If not, it was nice living with
you.”

Tony and Rick walked out of the house for the last time. Rick
turned to Tony asked, “Do you think she’ll come with us.”

“No,” Tony said. “I think she’ll stay at her house. This is her
house. This is where she likes it.”

“It was kind of cool having her around,” Rick sighed.

“Yeah,” said Tony. “It was.”

“I felt like I could leave the house unlocked, and she’d keep an eye
on things.”

“I know,” Tony said. “Me too.”

Tony and Rick never saw Augustine again. However, as far as they
know, their disembodied roommate continues to haunt an innocent
looking house located in an affluent suburb of Inglewood.



Ghosts of San Fernando Mission

(excerpted from Ghosts of Greater Los Angeles)


The San Fernando Mission is one of the many well-known haunted
locations in the Los Angeles area. Built in 1797, this mission is more
than 200 years old, so it should come as no surprise that it is famous for
its ghosts. It’s almost a rule in ghost investigations: the older the
building, the more likely it will be haunted. Now surrounded by the
densely-populated suburb of San Fernando, the mission was one of the
first structures built in the area.

Today, the structure still retains its old-time charm. Walking
among the property is like stepping back 200 years into the past, to a
time before California was a state, and the area was populated by Native
Americans, Spanish settlers, missionaries, miners, outlaw bandits,
pioneers and settlers, and other colorful characters. Of course, the San
Fernando Mission’s reputation for being haunted didn’t come until much
later.

Currently the structure is said to be haunted by an unidentified
ghost. Numerous witnesses have reported seeing an apparition roaming
among the premises. The majority of the sightings have occurred along
the corridors and archways surrounding the building.
Evidence that the mission is still haunted comes from a new
witness. In the late 1980s, Kelly (not her real name) decided to visit the
mission with her friend, Daniel (pseudonym). They arrived and began to
explore the outside rose gardens, fountains, statues and other features.

On this particular day, the mission was crowded with visitors who were
planning their future wedding, which would take place at the mission.
Kelly and Daniel walked around and tried to stay out of the way of
the wedding planners who were going in and out of the mission, and just
enjoy their surroundings. After several moments, the wedding party
went back outside, so Kelly and Daniel decided to go inside. This
decision led to one of the more unusual experiences in Kelly’s life. She
had no idea that the structure was allegedly haunted, so what happened
next came as a shocking surprise.

Says Kelly, “We walked into the mission, and I’m standing there
looking all around, and off to the left by this beautiful window I see this
figure. And I told Daniel, ‘I don’t think they’re done here, there’s still
somebody looking around.’”

Daniel looked at Kelly with a confused expression. “What are you
talking about?” he asked.

Kelly looked around in confusion. The figure was gone. She told
David, “There was somebody over there,” she pointed. “I just saw
somebody standing over there.”

David was still standing in the doorway, so he peered inside and
looked around. Nobody else was in the room. He said, “Kelly, there isn’t
anybody over there.”

Kelly reports that she didn’t get a look at the figure because it was
on the other side of the room. Says Kelly, “It was a male. It had its back
to me like it was looking out the window…So I walked down the aisle to
the back, and I looked along the wall, and there wasn’t anybody there.
So I walked down the middle aisle and looked where the pews were.
Nothing, not a thing. And I thought, okay, that’s strange.”

David and Kelly were still talking about the encounter several
moments later when the wedding party returned. Kelly and David
decided to exit the building. They both assumed the encounter with the
ghost – if that’s what it was – was over. They were wrong.

Kelly describes what happened next: “We were standing out in
front. I was looking over the roses because they had little walkways that
you could walk through, and I saw that figure again, standing there
looking at me. It had a black jacket on, black pants. This time it had a
black hat on. It didn’t have a black hat on in the church area. But when I
looked at it, I looked right at it, and the male looked Hispanic. He had
light skin, black hair, black blazing eyes, black eyebrows. You could
really see the eyebrows. But it had this hat on and this white shirt. The
clothes was a suit-type, but it wasn’t a suit from our times. And the hat
wasn’t a cowboy hat, more kind of like a gaucho. The rose bushes were
there, so I couldn’t see the bottom half, but the jacket was kind of a
shorter jacket. I couldn’t see a cumber bun, but it had one of those really
thin bolo-ties.”

Kelly realized she was seeing the ghost again. Like the first time,
she felt almost as if she was paralyzed, and had somehow slipped into
the past. Says Kelly, “It was like I was in tunnel-vision. I didn’t hear
people talking. And all of a sudden I feel somebody tapping heavily on
my shoulder, ‘Kelly! Kelly!’ And I’m watching this figure, and all of a
sudden, it turns and it just fades out. It starts to walk away, slowly,
smiles at me, fades out and walks away. And Daniel is standing there,
saying, ‘Kelly! Kelly!’ Where have you been?’”

Kelly replied, “I just saw the ghost again! It was a man in period
costume, a black hat, white shirt.”

“What did he want?” Daniel asked.

“I don’t know,” Kelly said, “but he smiled at me. He just smiled at
me.”

Kelly is not a shy person, and she wanted some answers about the
ghost she just saw. She decided to ask some questions. The wedding
party was just beginning to leave. She walked up to a group of them and
began talking with them. As she suspected, they were planning a
wedding. They explained that they had visited the mission many times in
the past, and sometimes held their events there.

Kelly congratulated them and then dropped the question. She
asked, “Have you ever seen a gentleman here dressed in a black jacket
with a white shirt, a black hat, a full period costume…like a ghost?”

To Kelly’s surprise, one of the young women stepped forward and
said, “Did he have black hair and big black eyebrows?”

“Yes!” Kelly exclaimed. “I saw him inside standing by the
window. And then I just saw him out here, standing in the rose garden.”

The woman replied, “You know, I’ve never seen him, but my
grandmother has seen him. He has appeared to my grandmother. We
didn’t believe her at first.”

“Is your grandmother here?” Kelly asked.

“No, she’s no longer alive,” the woman told her. “But this figure
used to appear to my grandmother and she never knew why, but it would
always smile at her.”

Kelly thanked the lady for the information and returned to tell
David. They were both delighted and surprised to find confirmation of
Kelly’s sighting so quickly and easily. They spent a few more minutes
exploring the location and then left. Kelly remains convinced that she
saw an actual ghost.

Today the San Fernando Mission remains open to the public, and
tours of the estate are given on a regular schedule.

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