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Ghost Hunter
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Roundtree Park's Hostile Ghost
Fall 2004
by Norman Gagnon
Folklore: Sightings of an apparition of a woman holding her baby, when fog rises.
History:
Local historian consultant Mr. K. Tyrrell recalls seeing a barn and a silo that once stood where the open plan area of the park, near the Annandale Road entrance, during early 1970s. Mr. Tyrrell also showed me an 1879 atlas map depicting Dulin Farm (Frank Dulin) occupying a large area covering north of today's Lee Highway, south of Route 50, and west of Gallows Road. There are old stonewalls throughout the entrance that I believe dates to the early/mid 1900 hundreds. I have also contacted an employee of the Fairfax County Cultural Resources Protection Group, to obtain a little history of this park, this is what I received in part: There was a quartz quarry that was associated with Native Americans. In the1860s, a dam that was associated with a mill called Holmes's Run Grist Mill, stood on Holmes Run Stream Valley Park, and became Mason's Mill by the late 1880s, owned by James M. Mason. Records also shows that Mordecai Fitzhugh could have owned a mill since he owned the track of land in and prior to 1824 - Fitzhugh's Mill.
1st Investigation: October 3, 2004, Sunday afternoon.
I believe to be the first agent to conduct an investigation at Roundtree Park, in a paranormal research capacity. A daylight exploratory walk through was conducted to get a feel of the park's terrain. The overall park region consists of Roundtree, Holmes Run Stream Valley, and ending at the far south end is a smaller area called Valley Crest Park. There is a wide creek that flows from north to south via the outer edge of Roundtree Park, which may be a tributary of the larger Holmes Run Stream.
2nd investigation: October 8, 2004, 06:30PM:
Joining me on this second park's visitation are Times Community Newspapers reporter Jason Jacks and photographer Shamus Fatzinger, featuring me, during which the investigation was conducted mostly in the park's northwest entrance area. Photographs and EMF readings were taken but results were later found inconclusive. Two additional visits were also conducted within the month, one of which an orb was photographed. Based on the Springfield Times 10/13/04 article, a regional paranormal research group mentions "woman and her baby were killed in a round-shaped clearing near the back of the park during a satanic ritual", but this information have not been substantiated yet. "I have lived in this neighborhood most of my life" a local man states, "and I never heard of a ritual murder that was commited in this park, I mean, people would have talked about this". I have spoken to Detective J. Miller of the Fairfax County Police Dept., and he do not recall a woman & child murder case within this area, not within the last two or three decades.
Upon the release of the [Times article], two readers that had experienced rather disturbing incidents within the Roundtree Park, have contacted me to share their experiences:
Report 1- Oct. 16 email:
An employee of the US Department of the Treasury, contacted me and said that his team of boys were performing a community service clean up along the stream bed, suddenly one of the boy felt a push on his back that caused the rest to fall into the creek; no one got hurt. I interviewed one of the boys and he stated that his friend (too distraught to be interviewed) felt an abrupt "shove" from behind and after the fall, they were shocked that no one was around! Note: daytime "paranormal assalts" are infrequent.
Report 2 - Oct. 26 email:
A young woman emailed me and stated that she read the same article and wanted to share a disturbing incident with me. In the Halloween spirit, "Lissa" and her friends made a late night visit to Roundtree Park in October 25. They walked down towards the athletic play fields and "Lissa" took numerous digital photos of the creek area. "I have three photos in a 24 second span (different angles) that show the same orb in the same spot, a minute later, a great chill came over me"! She also wrote that as she and her friends ran back to the car, she managed to snap a couple more photos, one of which was a white mist that encircled her. "I felt like it was chasing us up the hill, as my chill did not let up"! See photo A.
5th investigation: December 7, 2004, 06:15 PM
Weather condition: Extremely Foggy, 58 degrees, ceiling 300ft
I've patrolled the muddy grounds for about 45 minutes, taking digital photos and surveyed the darkened fields with a Moonlight Night Vision - infrared illuminator enhanced, monocular. Took 18 shots, especially near the creek where "Lissa" was chased out. Most photos revealed…well, "foggy" photographs. Fog consists of visible aggregate of minute water vapor suspended in the air and when the camera's flash reflects this mist, it will produce what seems to be a whirlwind of tiny orbs. See photos B for samplings.
Although I have not detected or felt any strange anomalies, my investigation did defininitely reveal a presence within these fields, indicating poltergeist type activity. There's a sign at the entrance that reads "Park Closed At Dusk", curious seekers should heed to this wise monition.
Update - 10/2006: I have also asked Fairfax PD Detective L. McClenahan about looking into this "occult killing" within this park and he later stated that there were no reports.
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Graphics / Illustration by Norman Gagnon (C) 2004
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Photo A
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Photo by Norman Gagnon (C) 2004
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Photos B
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