Shannon Kingrey, Ghost Hunter

[VincenzoV]

Published May 24, 2006



Somebody You Should Know: Shannon Kingrey, Ghost Hunter
Who you gonna call? Try Shannon Kingrey. She ain't afraid of no ghosts.


:: Shannon Kingrey
Age: 24
What she does: Leads investigations with DIEPART, the Des Moines Iowa Extreme Paranormal Advanced Research Team ? also known as "The Iowa Ghost Hunters."
Info: diepart.com.
On TV: DIEPART has a cable-access television show on Mediacom channel 15 at 7 p.m. Sunday nights. Watch DIEPART's promotional video.

Do you see dead people?
Kingrey said there are many signs your house may be haunted. Here are some of the most common:

?Unexplained noises (like cries and whispers)
?Unexplained shadows
?Pets behaving strangely
?Feelings of being watched
?Mild psychokinetic phenomena (objects moving on their own)
?Unexplained hot and cold spots
?Unexplained smells

She said if you notice these things happening, keep a journal of the activity to see if any patterns develop. Obviously, the existence of any of these signs does not necessarily mean there are ghosts roaming your home, Kingrey said.

?In most cases, any suspected activity can be easily explained,? she said. ?There?s usually a rational explanation for everything.?

But if you can?t find an explanation and are spooked, Kingrey suggests calling a team of experts like DIEPART.



by tim paluch
juice staff writer

Shannon Kingrey says she grew up in a haunted house on Des Moines' east side. The ghosts of two young girls often appeared. They didn't harm or frighten anyone. The whole family saw them.

Now she chases ghosts and paranormal activities on the weekends.

Kingrey, 24, is a lead investigator with DIEPART (Des Moines Iowa Extreme Paranormal Advanced Research Team), a unit of about a dozen central Iowans who search for unexplained paranormal activities in homes throughout the state.

On the weekends, Kingrey and the other team members head to houses owned by people who think there are unexplained things happening inside. It's an all-night investigation, which DIEPART does for free. They buy all their own equipment and pay for their own trips.

"Some of the home owners are really afraid of what's going on," Kingrey said. "Others are just curious and want to find out the cause of what's happening."

What's happening are unexplained noises, voices, moving or disappearing objects, and even visions.

Kingrey tests the temperature with laser thermometers. A sudden drop or rise (not caused by an open window or vent) could signify something paranormal, she said. She uses parabolic microphones that amplify sounds the human ear wouldn't pick up. Then she'll play back the recording through a high-tech audio program and search for EVPs, or Electronic Voice Phenomena.

She's played back recordings and said she heard voices saying things like "I'm going to get you," "Leave the house," and "Here I go."

"We hear EVPs about every place we go," she said.

Kingrey estimates that 99 percent of the time, the group will find a rational reason for odd happenings in people's homes.

"It's that one percent that makes us keep digging," she said.

Kingrey became a ghost hunter last fall, after hearing DIEPART founder Joe Leto in a radio interview. Curious about paranormal activities since her youth, she called him up. Anyone can join the team, comprised mostly of people in their 20s and 30s.

DIEPART is getting busier. The team has a cable access show on Sunday nights. They inspect a house nearly every weekend, usually in central Iowa, but sometimes as far away as Nebraska.

This weekend, Kingrey and the rest of the team will head to the "Super Bowl for Ghost Hunters": Waverly Hills Sanitarium in Louisville, Ky., a former tuberculosis treatment center where more than 60,000 patients died. It's supposedly haunted. Very haunted.

Ghost-hunting can sound a bit ridiculous. Kingrey knows this, but she said DIEPART is not a team full of sensationalists.

"We're all skeptics," she said. "Everyone in the group wants to find out the explanation behind things."