Paranormal investigator Jill Foote at the Captain Jenks Mansion in Stillwater. Photo: Tate Carlson
Members of St. Croix Paranormal share some of their abnormal experiences in the area.
Jill Foote and Donna Fjelstad, members of St. Croix Paranormal, are both passionate about ghost investigation. “I’ve had things around me all the time,” Fjelstad says. She started showing abilities at an early age.
Foote, on the other hand, began exploring the paranormal as a way to understand death. “I was afraid of dying and feeling like, ‘If you die, that’s it.’ I couldn’t deal with that,” Foote says. “I had to know for myself. So I ask a lot of questions to them as to what’s going on over there.”
In this most-haunted month of the year, we asked these two paranormal investigators to share the most memorable places they’ve found in the area (read on, below).
St. Croix Paranormal
Was formed in 2010 by volunteers with a passion for the paranormal. They have traveled throughout the Midwest recording and studying paranormal activity. They are looking to explore more throughout the Valley area and into Wisconsin. To report paranormal activity, call 855.744.4478 or visit the website for more information on how to get involved.
Ghosts in the Attic // St. Croix Falls
The owners of this antique store discovered paranormal activity when their motion detectors repeatedly went off. While investigating, the St. Croix Paranormal team not only saw a chair topple over, but also experienced motion detection and heard audible voices, investigator Jill Foote says.
Pub 112 // Stillwater
“We captured on film a shadow figure going across [the room],” Foote says. “When I got home and reviewed the film footage, I realized that it wasn’t normal and it wasn’t human.” Pub 112 has a history as both a liquor store and a bath house; it’s said that in the 1800s a woman died after she was pushed out of an upper-story window.
Pole Barn Studio // Stillwater
While investigating, “We said, ‘If you show us something, we’ll end this, and we’ll just leave,’” Donna Fjelstad says. “Every single one of our devices exactly simultaneously went on. They were all in different rooms.” There is speculation that many of the spirits in Stillwater come from early conflicts with American Indians and a landslide that killed hundreds.
The Warden House // Stillwater
This museum is believed to be haunted by the daughter, grandson and wife of the warden of Stillwater’s prison. “Everything started to shake, and you could hear things moving even though the floor was stable,” Fjelstad says. “A wooden desk shook violently, and we heard it creaking on the voice recorder.”
Fairview Cemetery // Stillwater
Fjelstad and Foote ventured here during the winter, using a night-vision camera, and saw red energy circling a headstone.
