| Detective's hobby a real shocker: Feketik moonlights with World Paranormal Investigators group Feketik moonlights with World Paranormal Investigators group October 25, 2007 by Ashley Heeney Reporter Twinsburg -- For some people, being spooked might only happen at a haunted house or while watching a scary movie. But for the World Paranormal Investigators like Greg Feketik, it's a full-time hobby. A sergeant detective in the Twinsburg Police Department, Feketik and his wife, Kathy, live in Maple Heights, where it's not unusual for them to sit and watch 25 hours of a video recording where something -- or maybe nothing -- happens in the darkened room of an allegedly haunted house. In 2004 the Feketiks joined WPI, a non-profit organization founded by John and Bea Brugge of Kent a few years ago. Greg Feketik's daughters, who grew up in Twinsburg, are also involved. "Since we joined, we've probably investigated about 30 different places," Greg Feketik said. "In the last month alone we did three investigations." WPI doesn't go into a ghost-busting zone empty-handed. After taking a tour of the site, they set up their high tech equipment -- audio, video, digital, 35mm cameras, electro-magnetic field detectors and thermometers. "Everybody on the team has their own equipment," Feketik said. "When we do a full-blown investigation, we use four stationary video cameras and a hand held camera, as well as a [digital video recorder]. We have a lot of scientific equipment." Most recently, five members of WPI were invited by property owners to an abandoned building in Barberton and 11 members took a weekend trip to Prospect Place Hotel in Trinway, which the Feketiks said was "real intense." "There was one room in the servant's quarters where almost everyone had a [paranormal] experience. The house was built in the 1850s and was a stop in the Underground Railroad. I was standing in the middle of the room under 12-foot-high ceilings ... and it felt like a spider web was on my face." "People say if you come in contact with a ghost, you feel like you walked into a web. "Another investigator, as they were leaving the room, said 'ow, ow!' and that their stomach was burning. When they lifted up their shirt, they had four scratch marks across the stomach." The group's audio specialist also got an electronic voice phenomenon, or EVP, which sounded like a little girl. "There's no mistake the feeling you get, it's like an electric shock -- even when there is no electricity in the room," he said. The Feketiks said, prior to joining WPI, they investigated famously haunted places in Gettysburg and New Orleans. But they decided to join the group "to get into places the public couldn't," Greg Feketik said. "I used to read about haunted houses since I was a kid," he added. "I'm afraid of the dark," Kathy Feketik said, "but it doesn't stop me, it's a challenge." After an investigation, members write up reports of their findings before sending them to Greg Feketik, who then compiles a detailed, comprehensive report. "If we have evidence, we will show [the site's owners] what we have, at no charge. It's strictly a hobby," he said. The Feketiks said WPI has been featured in books, television shows and radio programs. They also recently went to Bloodview Haunted House in Broadview Heights as part of a meet-and-greet. As for investigations here in Twinsburg, Greg Feketik said he is still waiting for the first one. More information about WPI can be found at www.wpiusauk.com. E-mail: aheeney@recordpub.com Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3172 |
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