Case-Active 20140504

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Active 20140504

Daytona, FL

This is an active haunting in a residence. The Client and children are scared by unexplained activity.

Written by Kyle T. Cobb, Jr.

Nos tibi credere.

Active Investigation

The case is near Deltona, Florida.

Moved into rental house in February 2014.

4 kids are scared

2 male, 4 & 14
2 female, 10 & 12

Client statements:

Shadows seen moving from closets and in children’s rooms. Shadow man frequently seen in 12 year olds room.
Audible “Hello” heard several times in empty house.
Children claim to have seen “faces” under the bed.
Sounds of rattling chains reported
White mist seen in and out of house
4 year old reported sounds of screaming from outside of the house.
Object thrown across room.
Shelf dumped and displaced over an unusual distance.
Yard is considered uncomfortable.
3-fingered claw marks found on tree
3-fingered marks inside window of car
Self-illuminate object seen in yard

This is a referral case from another investigator presently working out of country.

Site History:

When Spaniard Pedro Menéndez de Avilés explored the St. Johns River in 1565, the area was inhabited by small villages of the Timucua and Mayaca Indians. These tribes had inhabited the area for almost 1000 years but vulnerability to the diseases and abuses of the Europeans decimated the tribes. By the early 1760, both tribes had disappeared been destroyed. The Euchees (or Uchees) moved into the abandoned area and settled near Spring Gardens.

The British first occupied the section surrounding the Lake Beresford, Florida region in 1763. The first settlement of in the area was created by Reverend William Beresford from the 20,000 in land grants he had received to create an indigo and sugar cane plantation. While the settlement never attracted a large number of settler, it provided a landing for steamships traveling the St. John’s River.

Around 1765, William Crowle was granted 10,000 acres south of Lake Woodruff, with the Beresford Plantation acting as the southern border and the St. John’s river acting as the western border. Charles Bernard was hired to locate the land in 1767. Bernard wrote in January 8, 1768 that the land held "a mountain pretty high to make an exceeding pleasant summer House." While there was a large scale farming on the southeast side of the river at the Beresford Plantation, the Crowle grant remained undeveloped through the British period.

One of the first British settlers along Lake Beresford was Andrew Henderson Alexander. His work to establish docks in the area attracted the first cluster of homes to the area and allowed Deerfoot Landing to become key stopover for river traffic.

On 22 February 1819, secretary of state John Quincy Adams and the Spanish minister Luis de Onis, signed a treaty ceding Florida to the United States and establishing the boundary with New Spain (Mexico). Once the United States Ratified the treaty in 1821, the first two counties in Florida, Escambia and St. John were established.

By 29 December 1824 Mosquito County, created out of St. John's county, was established with its seat in Enterprise. In 1845, the county name was changed to Orange County in recognition of the importance of the citrus crop when Florida became a state.

While the area was sparely populated from its founding, the Second Seminole War from 1835 until 1845, left the official population of the county at Zero. The few unofficial residents were living in the communities supporting the military outposts of Ft. Gatlin, Ft Christmas and Ft. Maitland. By 1850, the population had ballooned to 466.

One of the first settlers in the Deland area was Ruben Marsh, a scout during the Second Seminole Indian War. In 1841, Marsh had camped along one of the lakes and declared that, “If I come out of this war alive, I’m coming back here to settle and raise cattle.” In 1846, Marsh got married and moved to what is now known as DeLand.

In December 1854, Orange County, Florida was divided and Volusia county was created. At the time the largest community was named Volusia and the county took its name from the community.

In 1874, John Rich built a cabin in Persimmon Hollow to the east of the St. Johns River in an area that would become the city of Deland. But it was Henry DeLand that provided much of the impetus for the settling of western Volusia County by developing the town of DeLand. Henry Addison DeLand, a baking soda magnate from Fairport, NY, visited the Rich family in March 1876. Deland bought the Hampton homestead (159.1 acres of land) and envisioned a citrus, agricultural and tourism center.

First Deland bought and cleared the land for the town. On December 6, 1876, at 2pm the settlers of DeLand met in the Rich cabin, at this meeting the settlers voted to name their little community “DeLand” in honor of Henry Addison DeLand. By 1882, it was incorporated. In 1887, the city of Deland became the seat of Volusia County. After James Prevatt, founder of the Prevatt Settlement, died in 1883 Deland bought his estate of 340 acres with the idea of creating "one of the prettiest and pleasantest towns in Florida." Berlin H. Wright surveyed and laid out streets of hiss next town, Helen that was to be named after his daughter. In April 1884, a post office was opened. By 1885 DeLand had acquired over 1,000 acres. The 1885 town plan, which measured two miles square, was designed around the largest of the lakes in the area.

The first train service in the area began in 1884 and saw the creation of a first of six depots in Deland for the Orange Ridge, Deland and Atlantic Railroad. The sixth and only surviving station is the Amtrak about three miles south and west of downtown Deland at the junction of a rail spur to downtown and the main line. This Craftsman style station was built in 1918 for the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad.

All indications are the land of the current investigation remained undeveloped until the early 1950s.

In 1957, the 2-bedroom residential house was constructed.

As of December 1981, the House was occupied by David and Susan [Additional information redacted] (according to tax records).

In November 2003, the house was sold for $90,000.

From 2010 until 2012, Raymond [Additional information redacted] lived in the residence (according to voting records).

[Additional information redacted]

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