Case: 019 Pocahontas Presbyterian Church

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"We are the light that cuts the darkness. Therefore, when you see... truth must be honored."

Final Report and Analysis

Case 019

Pocahontas Presbyterian Church

March 27, 2010

Pocahontas, Virginia

Investigators

Rodney Shortridge, Mike Brown, Amy Flick, Matt O'Quinn, Heather Lamantia & Nathan Rasnick

     On March 27, 2010 the BDPS team investigated the historical Pocahontas Presbyterian Church located in Tazewell County in the town of Pocahontas, Virginia. I would like to take this moment to thank the Pocahontas Presbyterian Church and the Historical Pocahontas Society for giving us permission to investigate their beautiful church. We decided to use three teams to investigate this site. The first team consisted of Mike and Heather. The second team consisted of Matt and Nathan. The third team consisted of me and Amy. We started our investigation around 8:00 p.m. and finished around 2:00 a.m. We started the investigation by investigating the main area of the church while team two was watching the monitor and team three was outside of the church investigating. Each team worked on a rotation. This was a huge experience and very helpful in our training of the new investigators.

     Equipment used at this site included (4) DVR's (Digital Voice Recorders), (1) Microcassette Recorder, (4) Zero Lux low lever IR (infer red) cameras, (1) digital camera, (1) Nikon camera, (1) K2 Meter, (1) EMF (Electro Magnetic Field) Meter and (1) Laser Thermometer.

     We placed (1) DVR (Digital Voice Recorder) in the front of the church on the pulpit, (1) DVR (Digital Voice Recorder) in the back of the church near the pews, (1) DVR (Digital Voice Recorder) in the back room of the church, (1) DVR (Digital Voice Recorder) in the balcony, (2) IR camera was placed on the balcony to cover the entire left and right side of the church, (1) IR camera was placed on a piano in front of the church to cover the entire back of the church, (1) IR camera was placed in the basement of the church, (1) Microcassette Recorder was carried by each team during their investigation. Also, each team carried along with them during their investigations one of the following: K2 Meter, EMF (Electro Magnetic Field) Meter or Laser Thermometer.

History: Interview with Tom Childress about Pocahontas Presbyterian Church in Pocahontas Virginia

There's no center aisle and that's on purpose so there can be no processionals up and down. There is a stained glass window and that's very plain. It was meant to be that way. The church quit being a Presbyterian church about 1970 sometime at the point and was rented to Free Will Baptist and then went into dereliction and then Historic Pocahontas was promised the church by the surviving members of the congregation and we had to go through all kinds of legal niceties, a judicial deed because anytime you are in VA and you dispose of church property you go through all requirements of the law of that church and then file a petition with the circuit court with that county or city it's in and ask them to approve the deed that transfers the property and we didn't get the property until 1982. As far as Mr. Childress knows no-one has ever died in the church but there have been funerals in the church over the years. We restored the church over a number of years.  

Q: do you know what was there before the church was built in the 1800's, no other buildings or graveyards or nothing like that?

A: It was an empty lot

Church is owned by Historic Pocahontas.

Reports & Claims:

Personal Experiences: None.

Photo evidence: There was photo evidence of unexplained shadows, red mist, and blue light streaks.

Video evidence: There was no video evidence

Note:  BDPS does not support the idea of orbs as evidence of the paranormal because most orbs can be explained away as dust, bugs, rain, mist, fog etc. There are cases that the orbs we photograph seem to move with some type of intelligent intent. We post these photos because we feel that there needs to be more investigation into the Orb Phenomenon and we shouldn't be so quick to dismiss this phenomenon without further investigation and explanation. So we show these photos in an attempt to add another piece to the puzzle and leave this decision up to you to accept or dismiss orbs as evidence. It is also my opinion to show all evidence so we all can learn from what might be an area of the paranormal that may be getting over looked by researchers.

EVP's (Electronic Voice Phenomenon)

We heard the following EVP's (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) and unexplained noises on our DVR's (Digital Voice Recorders) & Microcassette Recorder:

 Church:

Unexplained - Childs voice inaudible

Unexplained - Female voice "Hey"

Unexplained - Female voice "Rodney"

Unexplained - Male voice "That's hot"

Unexplained - Older Female voice "Saved"

Unexplained - knock

     We have come to the conclusion that the Pocahontas Presbyterian Church has low paranormal activity in the forms of EVP's, shadows, mist and unexplained blue and red light streaks with the photographic and audio evidence that helped us to determine our conclusion. We look forward to one day coming back to investigate the Historical Pocahontas Presbyterian Church with more advanced equipment. This was our nineteenth investigation and it was a great success. I feel honored to have had the success we've had and to be working alongside such a professional team.

     I look forward to our next investigation. If anyone would like for us to do a paranormal investigation of their home, business, church, property or a family cemetery please contact us. If you would just like to speak with us about any paranormal activity you may be having we would love to hear from you. No problem is too small. We would be honored to help and we do not charge for our services. Contact BDPS to set up a time and place for us to discuss your paranormal questions and or problems.

            I feel honored to be working with such a great team. Without the team's hard work and professionalism BDPS would not be what it has become today.

*Check out our NEW!! Website:

www.blackdiamondps.org

BDPS NEWS

1st Annual BDPS Poker Run June 12, 2010

For more information contact us at the numbers below.

I would like to thank all of the BDPS members for all their hard work. To all of our clients, a special ‘thank you' for giving us the opportunity to be able to come in and help to the best of our abilities. I know with the team that I have formed we will have exciting investigations in the future. I would like to let everyone know that our members have become more to me than just investigators, they have become my family. Without them BDPS would not be possible. Just like a family we sometimes agree and sometimes we don't agree but each and every member of BDPS is very special to me. Thanks guys you kick ass!!!

     I hope everyone enjoys the photos and the analysis sheet along with the new video we are providing. Also we will have our EVP's, photos and any video evidence on the website for everyone to view and listen to. You can judge it for yourself. If anyone has any questions or comments we would love to hear from you. Let us know what you think.

Thank you,

Rodney Shortridge

Founder/Lead Investigator

Heather Lamantia

Case Manager

Black Diamond Paranormal Society

276-988-6690