Meet Real Life Ghostbusters

By Kay Willis Burns

Monday, November 5, 2018 6:29AM

Meet Ghost PRO — an all female, ghost-bustin’, haunt-hustlin’, spirit-rustlin’ team of spit and grit.

Ghost PRO (which stands for Paranormal Research Organization) began investigating paranormal phenomena 10 years ago. The goal of this non-profit group is to assist those who are experiencing unexplained activities in their home or business. Through careful observation, in-depth research, investigative data collection, and unbiased analysis, they attempt to provide an explanation for the events their clients are experiencing. Their vision is to help people who are burdened, concerned, or curious about the paranormal phenomena happening in their lives.

Based in Anderson, Ghost PRO includes Catherine Vinson, Mariel Hunkeler, and Deborah Lewis.

Catherine grew up in a house that was 140 years old. As a child, she frequently encountered mysterious occurrences that other family members did not experience. For example, she would sense that someone had died before being told. And when she told family members of the paranormal occurrences she had experienced, her family urged her not to share her experiences with others because,“somebody will come and take you away to the crazy house," she said.

Both Mariel Hunkeler and Deborah Lewis have their own connections to the paranormal as well, and are driven to explore the mysteries of the spirit world.

With the advent of paranormal television shows such as "Ghost Hunters," " Destination Truth," "Ancient Aliens" and "Ghost Adventures" the interest in the unexplained has increased exponentially in recent years. Amateurs with no training will order EMF detectors (electronic magnetic field) and EVP recorders (electronic voice phenomena) online and head for old abandoned houses and desolate cemeteries to sniff out spirits.

It is because of the pitfalls of the naïve and foolhardy ghost hunters that Catherine designed a course called Ghost Hunting 101. The program has been part of the "Special Interest" courses at Tri County Tech, Piedmont Tech, and Greenville Tech during the past 10 years. In addition to the course, Catherine has presented abridged versions of the curriculum at museums, libraries, and genealogy societies.

The Ghost PRO team has been called to investigate homes across South Carolina including Anderson, Greenville, Taylors, Greer, Spartanburg, Lyman, Wellford, Gaffney, Fountain Inn, Gastonia, Greenwood, Hodges, Laurens, Liberty, Pelzer, Mauldin, Simpsonville, Cateechee, Pickens, Easley, Seneca, Walhalla, Woodru , and Charleston.

Most recently, an Anderson County resident requested the services of Ghost PRO to investigate his property known as the old Anderson/Breazeale plantation house. The owner had been experiencing strange occurrences over the years such as smelling pipe tobacco when nobody had recently been in the house smoking a pipe. Events also included the client coming home and finding the front door open with the deadbolt still turned and no evidence of an alarm having gone off.

Over the past 10 years, the trio has investigated approximately 40 properties.

So if there’s something strange in your neighborhood, who you gonna call? I think you know!