DYER | For years, students have roamed the halls of Kahler Middle School alongside rumors that the ghost of its namesake, Agnes Kahler, still haunts the building.
Kahler taught at the school for more than 50 years.
When she died, she was laid to rest in a cemetery on the hill just west of the school.
A year later, strange things began to happen in the school, local author Mark Marimen said.
"People who are there honestly believe the place is haunted," Marimen said. "They kind of take pride in it."
Marimen is the author of the "Haunted Indiana" books. He's heard plenty of stories about Agnes Kahler and another a lesser-known spirit who supposedly haunts the school.
They call him Billy.
"He's been sighted probably much more than Agnes has," Marimen said.
Billy has been heard, too.
Years ago, the volleyball team was practicing in the gym early in the morning, and a boy's voice came over the speakers and said, "Good job everybody."
When the people in the gym turned to see who was talking, there was no one there. The microphone wasn't even plugged in, Marimen said.
Awhile back, the school had a problem with someone leaving footprints in the freshly waxed floors. One day, a custodian thought he found the culprit, a little boy in jeans and a sweater standing near a locker room.
The child ran in the locker room as the workers blocked the exits. When they went inside, no one was there.
"There are stories of Agnes, but Billy seems to be the more active one there," Marimen said.
Some odd happenings in Agnes Kahler's former classroom are attributed to her.
The door has swung open, paused and then swung shut. Things have flipped off desks. A map on the wall once unrolled itself, Marimen said.
Tim Doyle, assistant principal of the middle school, said that one night about seven years ago, the motion detector was tripped in the school near the door that opens to the cemetery.
He reviewed the tape, slowed it down and saw something exiting toward the cemetery.
"You could just see a blur exiting the building," he said.
Mike McDowell, president of Indiana Ghost Trackers, said he hasn't investigated the school, but he's heard plenty of stories about it.
"There are so many stories that have come out of that Dyer middle school that it wouldn't surprise me if there were something to it," he said.
The geography of the area makes it difficult to study. The school is on U.S. 30, and noise from the passing cars is disruptive, he said.
Investigating a site means trying to rule out all other explanations.
Ghosts don't want to scare people, McDowell said.
"Ghosts just want to be remembered," he said. "They just want people to know they're there."
http://nwitimes.com/articles/2006/09/05 ... 0d8c5a.txt
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