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Showing posts from October, 2021

Unexplained Cases | Historic & Haunted: Hotel San Carlos

Written by:  Darren Dedo Case Filed: 10/31/21 Executive Producer:  Rick Garner   The Hotel San Carlos in downtown Phoenix is historic and many say this grand old place is haunted. It opened in 1928 -- before it was the location of Phoenix’s first school. Even before that, ruins of an ancient Hohokam Village. A little cool factoid: The hotel can be briefly seen in Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film Psycho opening shot, as the camera pans the then-skyline of downtown Phoenix. Over the years the San Carlos has hosted political leaders and movie stars like Marilyn Monroe and Spencer Tracy. But, the most famous guest or I should say ghost -- was 22-year-old Leone Jensen. The story goes that Jensen checked into room 720, and later jumped to her death from the top of the San Carlos. She was supposedly distraught about her abusive boyfriend, who was a bellboy at a nearby hotel. Some say she was pregnant and was pushed to her death. The one thing most people agree on when it comes to Leone,

Unexplained Cases | Forever Home of the Abandoned and Forgotten: Forest Haven

Written by:  Rick Garner Case Filed: 10/1/21 Executive Producer:  Rick Garner   When one hears the word “asylum” … especially when paired with “haunted” or “abandoned” … dreadful images come to mind of decaying buildings, sinister hallways, and forgotten lives. Forest Haven in Laurel, Maryland, has all of these and much more. Walking these grounds, Rick Garner felt a similar sadness...the kind he felt at Pennhurst but perhaps something more...something darker. The facility opened in 1925 as the District Training School for the Mentally Retarded. It was a farm-like institution designed to provide patients with useful skills. In 1928, the first of many on-ground burials occurred. In 1963, the property was named Forest Haven but during that decade, the property would begin its decline. Funding was cut, the population of residents grew to include people with epilepsy, but the worst happened in 1974 when a nearby orphanage called “Junior Village” closed and its 20 souls were moved into F