Forest Hill Cemetery Investigation
This blog post was written by Whitney Dankemeyer, one half of Two Halves of a Soul.
Mechanical failure, apparitions, and the faint echoes of phantom babies crying… a few of the many reasons why Forest Hill Cemetery is rumored to be flooding with paranormal activity. Having been established in the 1800s, this Wisconsin Rapids cemetery has more than 12,000 memorials, including the famous Grim Natwick, who was the creator of the well-known Betty Boop. It can be found off of Highway 54 on Spring St. on your way out of town towards Stevens Point, but it cannot be visited after dark. Due to many break-ins over night, you will find the local police department chasing you out of this popular cemetery if you’re caught on the grounds during the night. A previous police report from 2015 is a perfect example why a close eye is now kept on the cemetery:
At 8:18 a.m. Tuesday, an employee at Forest Hill Cemetery, 631 Spring St., reported someone had damaged headstones.
Besides, leaving before sundown… Come on, that’s just common sense.
Usually the story follows with eerie vibes and traumatic events that caused the cemetery to be so haunted; however, we don’t have one of those stories here for you today. In fact, aside from the weird vibes radiating off the woods surrounding Forest Hill, this place may actually be one of the most peaceful places in town.. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t crawling with spirits.
Throughout the beginning of our spiritual awakenings, Swan and I visited this cemetery often. What started as investigations later became a place to visit, lay in the grass, and collect our thoughts. The random spirits we’d encounter became acquaintances who from there became friends. Friends who rush to greet us at the entrance the moment we arrive. Because they’ve spent so much time telling us about their life on Earth and their loved ones, well, we just had to introduce them to some of ours.
On Saturday, October 15, 2022, Swan and I brought a few close friends to Forest Hill Cemetery for our third investigation of October. This time we brought Nicole and Amanda (the regulars on investigations) and Swan’s coworker Anna. As an additive bonus to us, she surprised us by bringing her daughter Ella along for this trip as well.
We rolled into the cemetery around quarter to five and started with pictures. We did a quick sweep of the entrance, and once settled in, we walked our group over to a couple headstones we typically visit each time we come by. Because one of the headstones had a death date within the last twenty years and had been decorated recently for Halloween, we decided to leave this part out of the investigation. You know, respect for the family.
We went on with our investigation after introductions were given, and this time decided to try out a new method we haven’t yet used before. This experiment was conducted using a pendulum. With the pendulum, our plan was to open a line of communication with someone residing in the cemetery and ask them to lead them to us. Our previous methods included using an iOvilus, which processed words from a word bank but made it more difficult to find headstones rather than the swaying pendulum guiding us in the right direction. Our only concern was if the wind would be a bit much, but with a body on each side of Amanda holding the pendulum and not too much wind during our investigation, our new method worked. When asking the pendulum to show us where to go, it led us straight to the grave of B.F. and May.
The responses we received were consistent with our questions when we used the Spirit Box as a form of communication, but it was obvious there was a male and female both talking at the same time. We assumed they were together, though their last names on the headstone were different from one another. The only clear response we were able to capture was B.F. at one point saying “War.” Because it was so hard to hear clear answers, we set up the P-SB7T Spirit Box with some headphones and conducted an Estes Method session instead.
Having no spikes on the EMF reader and no words on the iOvilus during the time of the Estes Method, it appeared that B.F. and May’s attention was focused solely on their session with Amanda. As she said while performing the Estes, the word “help” kept coming from a man and a woman following with a disembodied voice. We gathered this was a residual story regarding B.F.’s passing. At one point of this session, the temperature gauge went off on the spirit box. Swan had mentioned that it sounded like a flat line the moment Amanda shouted “Save me!” This only confirmed our gut feelings regarding the residual event even more.
We wanted to make our way to another headstone at some point, and Swan’s coworker had mentioned seeing boots in the grass the last time she was there. Amanda pulled the pendulum out, and it swayed in the direction 90 degrees from where we were already walking. As soon as we switched courses, we came in contact with the exact pair of boots. Small, worn-down steel-toed boots sitting in the grass on a chunk of cement. No headstone was even present. Just these boots and a U.S. Army ornament poking into the Earth next to them.
When we started the Estes Method, the young man was very communicative. We asked him if he would like to speak with us, and his response was “here.” Going further into the session, he gave a response to Swan she couldn’t understand. When she said aloud that she was unsure what she heard but that she heard it over three sweeps, you can hear the faint sound of a man saying “hmm” in our EVP recording (which is shared in our Forest Hill Photo Album on this website). For us, this evidence was compelling.
Proceeding with the Estes, we asked the gentleman if he knew his name. We didn’t get any responses the first time we asked, so I rephrased by asking if he forgot what his name was. Immediately, Swan responded “Angel.” We are still unsure if he meant the name Angel or that he was an angel, but by gut feeling, we believe his name was forgotten or that he didn't want to share it. That was when Swan’s coworker Anna sputtered, “I wonder why he doesn’t have a headstone,” and he responded, “I was young.”
This young man may have gone terribly, but he definitely enjoyed speaking with us. So much that he didn’t want to go. It seemed as if spirits were ushering him on the whole time, but when Anna said, “It seems like he doesn’t want to go,” Swan shouted, “Hold your horses!”
After a few minutes, the angel boy decided to part ways with us. Our overall session with him was very heavy and emotional. Having no headstone and dying so young really weighed on our hearts. At one point in the session he said “not gone,” and of course we had to remind him that he would never be forgotten. This was also why we didn’t rush to send him off. We wanted him to feel like he was still seen and heard after so long.
Our friend Amanda, who was our psychic mentor when our spiritual journey began, picked up on the energy of the young man very early on. Her take on the situation:
"The boots.. the soldier.. he didn't want to give a name but he did want it known that he fought in what I saw as Korea or Vietnam. But Korea felt strong. And he was very young like he fudged his enlistment papers almost. He doesn't fully understand why he died and from what I could see, it happened quickly. He doesn't have any specific message and also doesn't feel right about moving on. He feels in some ways that he never completed his duty. And until that duty is done, he doesn't want to leave, even with others on the other side asking him to go."
When he said his goodbyes, Swan yelled, “We’re outta here.” It was at that moment when raindrops fell on Nicole. She asked, “Is it raining?” and the young man responded with, “You can come.” Seconds later it started to rain. A perfect exit.
Our investigations in cemeteries are always heavy despite the comfort we feel walking through them. Though most are laid to rest, some were buried with stories they didn’t get to share. Others, they just want an ear to listen. Someone who can see them, feel them, understand the things they went through. Sometimes these things weigh on their soul so heavily that sharing their truths is all they need to finally lay to rest. We at least owe it to them to give them that.
Supporting Links:
Forest Hill - Cemetery Photo Index - WoodCoWI (rootsweb.com)
Forest Hill Cemetery | Wisconsin Rapids Wisconsin | Real Haunted Place (wisconsinhauntedhouses.com)
Forest Hill Cemetery in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin - Find a Grave Cemetery
Wednesday log: 2 cemeteries vandalized (wisconsinrapidstribune.com)
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