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Phantom Inmate

 

In 2007 at the facility I work in we had a suicide. A young inmate hung himself in his cell and was unable to be resuscitated. The coroner's report would list time of death on the way to the hospital by suffocation or more general, lack of oxygen. In the short amount of time the inmate had, he managed to crush his larynx with a bed sheet made into a rope, so no matter what help he was being given nothing could revive him from his goal of death. I know this is very common amongst prison settings and is seldom remembered years later. Some say ghost have unfinished business and that is why they hang around. I only write this because I knew the inmate and the fellow Officers, who knowing me brought the story to my attention. Bear with me while I try and lay the scene and the occurrence as best as I can remember.

Several Officers run the housing units were the inmates are housed this particular inmate was in the mental health dorm of the Maximum confinement unit where I used to work. The housing unit is a two-story unit with individual cells housing at most two inmates per cell, generally in mental health the inmates are housed alone. Only trained Officers are assigned to these units, meaning they have some degree of knowledge in mental health, human behavior and have a calm demeanor. The dorm has two Officers assigned to mental health dorm and they are relieved by a Sergeant or Officers with similar training usually the same Officers will work the dorm for years at a time.

During a count Officer Jones was checking all cells and noticed that in cell #10 that an inmate was standing in the cell looking out the window towards the stars. Officer Jones checked his clipboard to see which inmates were being housed in the cell being as there were two inmates asleep in their bunks and one standing. He recognized the names and knew both but did not recognize the inmate standing observing the sky so intently. He called down to Officer Smith and asked who the third inmate was in cell #10. Officer Smith checked his computer and logs and told Officer Jones that there were only two inmates assigned to the cell.

Officer Jones went down to the officer's desk and began looking through the "head" sheet, which shows all inmates names and a mug shot photo. The inmate in question could not be found on the sheet; both Officers decided they needed to check the cell. Upon arrival at the cell door they both only noticed two inmates, still asleep in their bunks and the third was no where to found. They opened the cell door checked the walls, vents and anywhere else a tunnel could have been dug to no avail. Officer Smith then asked for a description of the inmate that Officer Jones had seen. Officer Jones described a slender build, medium height, black male possibly in his late teens or early 20s. They had several inmates fitting that description so they went cell by cell and checked every bunk. All the inmates were accounted for, all asleep in their bunks.

A few nights went by and Officer Jones was telling his story to a fellow Officer who had stopped by the zone to get some coffee and "chew the fat". The Officer thought it was funny that full grown men could still believe in such fairy tales and proceeded to poke fun at the Officers and the ghost in question. When all the Officers present noticed a black transparent cloud move from the lower staircase, linger for a few seconds then enter the supply closet. They each said as the objected moved the lights would dim but the wall and brick could still be seen through the dark smoke. The next night they noticed the black transparent cloud in the visitation area on the upper tier in the housing unit moving through the rooms one by one, then it would descend the stairs and enter the supply closet.

As I began writing this I had the opportunity to work on this pod for a night and figured it would be a good chance to see if anything out of the ordinary would happen. Nothing did but I was told by several inmates that there has been a little girl roaming the housing unit and they called her Dixie. I asked the inmate why they called her that and he said due to her having deep blue eyes and a pale white completion. The inmate even went as far as to show me a picture of her that he had drawn. In the picture it shows a girl possibly about 7 years old in clothing that could only be described as Sunday dress clothes, medium height and slender build with long hair that the inmate said was black. He told me she never speaks but she walks the floor every night and she has been turning on showers and lights on and off.

I will stick with this one because it has caught my interest not so much the black cloud being as I could understand why it would be at this place. All the "dark" energy surrounds a place like this so it is not so far fetched to see a negative entity. But the little girl makes no sense at all, why would it be here and what connection does it have to this place: perhaps a victim coming back to haunt its tormentor in life or just a wondering lost spirit or possibly maybe just a figment of the inmates imagination?

The names of the Officers in this story are generic names that I just plucked from the sky; I will not post the real names even if they wanted me to.

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The following comments are submitted by users of this site and are not official positions by yourghoststories.com. Please read our guidelines and the previous posts before posting. The author, Sapper, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will read the comments and participate in the discussion.

Jasmin314 (13 stories) (210 posts)
 
15 years ago (2009-06-22)
ok so I have read all of your stories and you deserve the spot on my fav posters list! Cant wait for the next story! BTW your commentor Randcan freaked me out. ❤ Jas
Sapper (7 stories) (19 posts)
 
16 years ago (2008-12-28)
At this time I have not been on that side of the facilaty but I will get with the Officers that are working there. One is the Officer who origanlly told me about this. I'm sure he will be all to glad to tell me if anything new has come up. Sorry for such a long wait I have been very busy as of late and don't have much time to get answer on the post as I used to. I've also been working on writing a book so between work and work there's not much time. Also its hunting season and I'm in the woods as much as possible this time of year. But if anyone wants to ask a derect question my email address is jps_cobra1 [at] yahoo.com feel free to email me and I will answer as soon as I can.
JP
Valencia78 (1 posts)
 
16 years ago (2008-10-31)
Wow! Of ALL ghost stories that I've read on this site, this one has interested me the MOST! I don't know why but there's just something about this one! Can you tell us more? And has he appeared any other time afterwards?
Randcan (62 posts)
 
16 years ago (2008-10-30)
To: Nevadaghosthunter... Appreciate your comments. Would like to know what you personally think about whether ghosts are a deception. Think of a child who has been molested in life/treated miserably and murdered at say 7,...then is found to be haunting a house crying all the time and all alone. What kind of creation did God make (if there's a God) where a precious child continues to be alone and afraid after death. QUESTION: Are dark entities imitating the dead to make us think that God is a prickk? Please reply. (p.s. There's a 17 year old who takes singing lessons from my 26 year old cousin, and all her life in her house she's seen a woman who answers the door and sends her friends away, a fully dimensional shadow man covered in blood ((she says demon)) who sits and stares at her, and a child who comes to her bed at night crying, and she let's him in to sleep with her. NOTICE never does more than 1 appear at any time. I think they are all... The demon. Anyway, people love haunted houses where there's a ball bouncing against the wall in the hallway and are told it's a little boy playing. Or one guy had a little boy appearing on his couch, and harrassing his wife by hiding her things and placing them in the tub. They moved and he follows and their marriage suffers. Other kids are fun ghosts to have around. BUT... ALL are a situation where a child is alone/wanting their mother. I can't imagine a world/this reality, where children are alone and afraid afterwards. AGAIN QUESTION TO YOU: What do you think? Are these human children? 'Cos if so, God IS a...prickk. There's no way around it. PLEASE REPLY. (Mostly people don't want to answer honestly, because ghosts are fun and to say that their all "religious" demons, is a downer on the whole ghost hunt adventure. Are we lying to ourselves for the sake of continued fascination and fun?
Nevadaghosthunter (1 stories) (20 posts)
 
16 years ago (2008-10-29)
Wow,
Very interesting. I have a lot of family in law enforcement and they have seen a lot of things other worldly so to speak. I have to agree that the little girl is from another period. It would be interesting to find out what was on the land before the prison was built.
As for dark energy and poltergeist activity, of course there is some. You are at a prison where all of the inhabitants are very unhappy or very disturbed. All that pent up rage and unhappiness is going to develop into all sorts of paranormal stuff.
Stay safe and stay alert.
Nevada Ghosthunter
Randcan (62 posts)
 
16 years ago (2008-10-28)
Hi "Sapper," I work in a prison too (Calif.) and have heard stories. To answer your question, why there'd be a little girl walking around in such a place... The answer is probably because she is from another period. Perhaps she doesn't see the prison, but rather what was there, back in her time. Whereas, the ghost of a recently demised inmate is in the present, and the two are likely not aware of each other. The showers and lights going on/off are likely poltergeist activity that accompanies apparitions (not necessarily her, delibertately playing with them). Lastly, she may be only an impression. An actual ghost is conscious of people, and will usually interact/try to communicate in some way. Hope this helped. (p.s. Both my parents have seen ghosts. A friend o'mine thinks ALL ghosts are demons making you think God is that much of a prickk to make a child suffer/wander around alone in death, for example. Sounds logical. I'd hate Him for that. But really, I don't know what to think). How 'bout you?
ghostseer (41 stories) (408 posts)
 
16 years ago (2008-10-27)
Wonderful story. Kept my attention. You are privy to the other worldly, and if you felt a dark energy... It was truly dark. I never question what I see or feel. Only if I am becoming fearful, and if I should flee the area. Thanks so much for sharing this interesting experience, Blessings, Ghostseer
rhodes68 (14 stories) (1596 posts)
 
16 years ago (2008-10-27)
Sapper, thank you for another great story-I love reading your encounters!

One question this time:why did you call the "cloud" dark energy? Were there reports of disturbing events taking place during its manifestation? Isn't it possible that the cloud was dark as the spirit couldn't acquire enough energy to fully manifest?

Concerning the girl's apparition, unless there was another older construction on the land before the facility was built-one that the girl would be attached to for some reason-it might be a good guess that she first appeared there as a drifter and, having her existence acknowledged by the officers was enough to keep her coming back.

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