Uncovering Oshawa's supernatural side
Group seeks to find city's haunted spots

By Jessica Verge
The Oshawa Express

Footsteps. Whispers. A rush of cold air through an otherwise warm room. It's all in a day's work for Rachel Cross. Cross, 22, pours over an online photo album of images marked with strange blurs and unexplainable figures. She taps the computer screen, which displays a snapshot of Parkwood Estate's exterior.

"It's him," says Cross, running her finger over a shape in the window she believes to be the ghost of Colonel Sam McLaughlin.

McLaughlin is just one of the spirits Cross and the rest of the Paranormal Seekers claim to have encountered at the mansion.

Brenda Montgomery, the group's resident Psychic, experienced a poltergiest in the library and watched as a few ghostly bathers take a dip in the long-empy indoor swimming pool.

"I still get excited," says Cross, 22, of much expeditions.

It's been two years since she and Montgomery started up the group, which now includes three other members. Together, they've investigated historical buildings, museums, cemeteries and supposedly haunted sites throughout Ontario.

The Seekers aren't out to debunk phony haunts or expel spirits from the places where they linger. Instead, the group aims to get to know the ghost a little better. Armed with video and digital cameras, walkie-talkies, thermometers, digital voice recorders, microphones and a gauss meter, they're often invited to sites by curious owners, employees and residents.

"They've heard things, they've seen things already," says Amanda, 25, a member who didn't want her last name published.

One of the groups most memorable investigations was at the Canadian Automotive Museum in downtown Oshawa.

Upon entering, Montgomery says she felt a hand brush across her face and was approched by a ghost who called himself Cameron and said he'd be their tour guid for the evening. While she was the only one in the group to see him, she wasn't the only one to have a paranormal experience that night.

Around 1:00 a.m., the Seekers wre taking a break from the investigation, Cross was sitting with one of the two walkie-talkies in her lap. The second walkie-talkie had been packed away after the batteries had died. Suddenly, the walkie-talkie in Cross' lap came alive.

From the static, the voice of a young girl began calling out the name Cameron, which can be clearly heard on video recordings from that evening.

It was an unusual experience for those present, all except Montgomery. She's been seeing and hearing spirits since childhood.

"I though it was a curse," says Montgomery, who has since come to see her abilities as a gift.

While the Seekers, who never charge for their services, have had trouble getting more places in Oshawa to allow them to investigate, other municipalities in Durham Region have welcomed them with open arms.

They have also Investigated the Whitby Courthouse Theatre, the Bowmanville Museum and Ghost Road in Port Perry.

But the Paranormal Seekers know ghost hunting isn't for everyone. They are open to new members but want to operate seriously and professionally, requiring prospective investigators to go through an interview and provide a criminal check.

For more information, email Rachel Cross at paranormal_seekers@yahoo.com or visit www.angelfire.com/creep/paranormal_seekers.