Kreischer Mansion

FBI agents scoured a storied - and supposedly haunted - mansion on Staten Island for human remains yesterday after a tipster told them mobsters had stashed a body on the property, a law enforcement source said.

Another law enforcement source said the murder apparently took place in March 2004 and is believed to be tied to the Bonanno crime family.

"We're looking for blood evidence or anything that tells us there really was a killing," the source said.

Investigators in protective suits carried several boxes and plastic bags from the Kreischer Mansion on Arthur Kill Road during the day-long search.

The feds also called Ron Victorio, an architect who oversaw recent renovations at the Victorian landmark to get a list of people who had worked on the project.

"The FBI contacted me and said they had some sort of lead that a body or body parts were hidden in the house," said Victorio, 49. "They wanted to know who had access to the mansion for the last six months to a year."

FBI officials would not identify who they believe was slain and stashed in the mansion, saying the victim's family had not been told of the informant's tip.

The search focused on a detached two-story garage about 40 feet from the mansion, which according to neighborhood lore is haunted by the ghosts of a woman and her son who died in a fire at a second home on the lot in the 1800s.

"That's a common rumor," the mansion's owner, Isaac Yomtovian, said yesterday.

"People have shown me pictures claiming that they have evidence of ghosts."

Yomtovian, who is not the focus of the federal investigation, said he authorized the FBI search.

He said he hoped it would not delay a plan to build 120 units of senior citizen housing on the property near the mansion.

Building permits could be issued within a few months and part of the grand home would be renovated into a community club house, he said.

In February 2004, FBI agents looking for the corpse of the late gangster Gabe Infante dug up a parking lot at the Fence Warehouse farther down Arthur Kill Road. But sources said yesterday's search was not related.

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/406477p-344058c.html

The Amityville House

Long Island

New York

Basic Information:

This wouldnt be a New York hauntings blog without having one of the most famous unexplained accounts in the country on it. The house resides at 112 Ocean Ave, Amityville, New York and has created controversy for decades. The infamous house was build around 1924 for John Moynihan. Several decades later, the Defeo family moved into the house. On the night of November 13, 1974, the oldest son named Ronnie Jr. supposivly went insane. He used a rifle to shoot every member in his family while they were sleeping. He later told officials that a person "with black hands" gave him the gun and told him to kill his family otherwise he would do the same to him. Defeo still inhabits a cell in Green Haven Correctional Facility in Dutchess County, NY. On December 1975, the Lutz family moved into the house with an even lower pricetag. Even though its above what they can afford, and even though they also were told about the murders, they still agreed to move into the house. Over the course of the month they spent in the house, they experienced a terrible haunting. At first, the sourceless noises in the house seemed normal. But after Christmas, scrapping and banging began. Each family members personalities changed. George Lutz became constantly cold and became obsessed with keeping the fireplace going. Flies infested a room that a priest was asked to come bless, young missy started talking to an imaginary friend named Jodie. Lutz also claims that he awoke at 3:15 almost every day which was around the same time that the DeFeo's were believed to have been murdered at. After only 28 days after they moved in, the Lutz family fled the house, leaving their clothes in the closets, and food in the refrigerator. They believed if they hadn't left that something horrible would've happened. Today, people still live in the house which now has a different front and number, but the families live in peace there.



Legend:

The legend of the Amityville house is two-fold. The first legend that started it all, was the legend that the house was built on an ancient indian burial ground. People believed that on the site of the house, the indians would kill people and make sacrifices. They put a curse on the land which made its way into the house once it was built on the property decades later. Its believed that the spirit possessed Ronnie DeFeo to make him kill his family. The second legend is the legend that the DeFeo families spirits still roam the house. Their restless spirits try to warn people of the evils in the house. Such as young Missy's 'imaginary' friend named Jodie. Of course there is still a lot of controversy about wether or not the hauntings that happened in the Amityville house where real or a hoax.



News Reports:

August 24, 2000 - Facts surrounding the "Amityville Horror House"

Clinton Road

West Milford

New Jersey

Basic Information:

Clinton Road is a ten mile-long stretch of curves winding through thick woodland, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Well, at least it seems that way, because as you drive down the spooky roadway you feel as if you are a million miles away from any civilization. There are many stories about Clinton Road, which is the truth (if any) is up for you to figure out.



The Legend:

This particular road has many different legends that go along with it.

Legend 1: The most known is the the ghostly story of the bridge at the dead man's curve in the road. Local legend says that years ago, a little boy was playing on the bridge and tragically fell to his death on the jagged rocks below. They claim his ghost haunts the lonely spot where he died, and if you throw a quarter over the edge of the bridge down into the water below, moments later it will be tossed back at you.
Legend 2: Their are also accounts of people saying that they've seen a grayish white wolf with red and yellowish eyes that will sit in the bushes along side of the road and chase after cars.
Legend 3: Another well known legend is that the KKK and satanic worshipers gather in the woods right off of Clinton Road in the woods. Fires with people dancing around them have been said to be seen. They have also been said to chase after cars.

News Reports:

.........................................

My View:

Clinton Road is one of the scariest places I have been too. So even though it is in New Jersey, I had to put it on here. Me and a bunch of friends took 2 cars there to test out some of these legends we had heard. We threw quarters off the bridge but none came back. However, you could get that distinct feeling that something was watching us. While riding the rest of the way, me and my friend realized there was fires in the distance up on a hill. There were also things running around it. Just as we looked from where that was, a man ran from the woods at are car. We all screamed and sped away as fast as we could. We thought it might have been someone playing a prank on people, but when we returned, he was gone. And I dont know why someone would be sitting in the woods in the pitch dark. Since then, I havnt gone back. Just thinking about that night gives me chills. So yes, I think that there is definatly going on at Clinton Road. Either supernatural or a cult, Im not sure. But that road is definatly not safe. Be careful if you wish to investigate it.

The Salesian School

Goshen

New York

Basic Information:

The history of the Salesian School begins with a man named David Haight. He first built the mansion on the property around 1834-1864. When he passed away in 1876, he was buried in the nearby Haight Mausoleum, which was built for his family in 1872. The property eventually foreclosed in 1922. In 1925 the Salesian Fathers purchased the property for approximately $61,000 and opened it as a Catholic resident school for boys. The mansion served as an administration building, and the main schoolhouse was constructed in 1931. On the night of August 9th, 1964, a nine year old boy named Paul, fell to his death after falling 36 feet off the roof. For some reason, the case has only been re-investigated last year. The new coroner's observation is that the distance from the boy's body to the wall seems too far to suggest he had simply fallen off the roof. Disputes over the time of death, uncooperative staff, and student records missing in a 1970 fire, have all been dilema's in solving the cause of the boy's death. After the boy's death, the school's enrollment declined, although nothing points to the boy's death being the cause, and it was closed in the fall of 1985. It operated as a youth center afterward, until the campus closed in 1991 when the order sold the property. The mansion has since been condemned after a collapse on one side.

The Legend:

The legend of the Salesian is indeed based on fact. A 9-year-old boy attending a summer camp in 1964 at the Salesian School in Goshen, climbed to the roof at night and mysteriously fell off. Village police suspected foul play, but had run out of leads, especially since a fire six years after the death destroyed records of all those at the camp that summer. Thus, it is believed that the spirit of the 9-year-old boy still haunts the school. Stories have circulated for years about the abandoned school building, causing mostly teens (like me) to trespass on the site late at night.






News Reports:

The Salesian School has appeared in many Times Herald Record articles. Some of these include:

October 02, 2002 - 'Priests accused of abusing kids years ago at Salesian center'

June 12, 2003 - 'Two teens charged in Salesian school fire'

November 13, 2005 - 'Searching for spirits at school'

^^ That last such newspaper article, talks about 4 detectives that visited the Salesian School after dark with a camera. The video footage included flying orbs, thermal measurements of cold pockets in the basement air, pictures of a pentagram drawn on the floor of a room, and audio recordings of subnormal sounds.

My View:

I thought it only natural to start this blog with my first and most loved haunted places. It is in fact, the place that sparked my interest in chasing ghosts and finding the unexplainable. Tacked up on my wall, is a newspaper article from May 7, 2005 titled 'Spirited Demolition'. It is talking about the demolition of the old Salesian School in order to build something new in its place. This is still taking place, and it just broke my heart. Do I believe that something ghostly lives here? Yes, I do. I spend many summer nights here with my friends, trying to find something to show us that the stories are true. What we found was the distinct laugher of a little boy even though we were out very late, and the Salesian School is located in a wooded desolate area. We also seen orbs in a video tape we made, and could sware we heard footsteps every now and again. The death of the boy is still unknown and the case was just recently re-opened, but with no success. Thus, the case of the 9 year old boy from Salesian is still unsolved.