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Real life ghost busters

The Columbia Paranormal Research Society team investigates Missouri haunts.

Published Oct. 29, 2010

Water, spiders and heights all terrify Columbia resident and veteran Holly McGee. But if there's anything that doesn't keep her up at night, it's the spirits she encounters in her home and throughout Missouri on a daily basis.

McGee is just one of eight members on the Columbia Paranormal Research Society team. Along with her children, Allan and Faith Bojorquez, McGee works with five retired veterans to explore reported paranormal happenings around Columbia and throughout the state. Since its beginning in 1998, the society has grown to 150 spirit-loving members.

"We all have the same interest: to prove or disprove the plane of existence between the living and the dead," McGee said.

Since her childhood, McGee has had an interest in the supernatural. She remembers visiting cemeteries at the age of 6. From there, her passion for the unknown led to a love of abandoned houses and spirit chasing. Interactions with her grandfather's spirit during her last weeks of boot camp defined her belief in the unknown. Her background as a Navy cryptologist, writer and private detective fuels her curiosity and investigations.

In her countless years of spirit chasing, McGee noted she's never dealt with any demonic spirits, but she nonchalantly exhibited scratches she received from a paranormal fiend at a residential investigation earlier in the week.

"We're there to help, not to aggravate or agitate," McGee said. "We're there peacefully and to learn more about our connected worlds."

For McGee and her cohorts, helping those plagued with nuisance spirits includes identifying the plausibility of paranormal activity. Arriving at twilight, which the team has determined as the best spirit-sighting time, they peruse the haunted area, asking spirits to present themselves while recording any suspicious activity.

"There's always something different," McGee said.

Spirits announce their presence in their own ways, whether it be tapping or singing, object movement or laughter. Smells with no known source or cold touches are other methods spirits use to alert the team of their presence.

Although many areas of suggested paranormal sightings prove to be active, Faith Bojorquez ensured not every encountered area is reliable.

"One out of 10 houses are totally dead," Bojorquez said. "We've had cemeteries with no activity at all."

When working with private residences, the research team found the majority of spirits residing with families are friendly. Families with spirits often allow spirits to stay, as opposed to asking for the home cleansing the team might perform for those uncomfortable with spirit disturbances. Oftentimes, hauntings occur when spirits have no knowledge of their existence, especially in cases of traumatic deaths. McGee and her teammates help these spirits to recognize their state and pass through to the unknown.

Haunting sites are recommended to the team in a variety of ways. Often, the team's van, decorated with ghosts decals and a telephone number, draws attention to the team's spirit-haunting abilities.

"We've had people chase us down in gas stations or through cemeteries," McGee said.

Each investigation the team performs is free of charge, and many tours are open to the public. Unlike other paranormal investigation squads, the Columbia Paranormal Research Society team focuses on lesser-known haunts in small towns.

"We're just there to help people," McGee said. "Most want to know they're not nuts, but there's really something happening there."