CityView Magazine

Tom Kuntz, co-founder and an investigator for PROOF, a paranormal investigation group located in Fayetteville, has been to several known haunted Fayetteville sites. haunted Fayetteville sites. The former Marine, said his group conducts their investigations from a scientific standpoint. "We try to look for what would be causing things to happen before we try to explain them as supernatural." Kuntz and his group spent a night at one of the most noted haunted buildings in Fayetteville, the Prince Charles Hotel. Lo- cal legend has it a young bride killed herself there after catching her groom with one of her bridesmaids following their wedding. "It is believed the bride was so distressed she rode the elevator to the eighth floor and then jumped from a window," said Kuntz. Another, historically documented death at the hotel took place in 1935. "It is a matter of public record that the police chief at the time, J. Ross Jones, was found dead in a room. The story of his death is shrouded in mystery; no one knows if he was mur- dered or committed suicide," said Bruce Daws, Fayetteville his- torian. Jones was found in room 401. "There were so many odd occurrences in that room, the management turned it into storage space," said Kuntz. The night he and his group spent in the hotel, they were not disappointed in their findings, which included hear- ing footsteps walking across the ballroom. An eerie photograph they took shows a figure leaning in a corner at the end of a long hallway. "The figure has long white sleeves and is wearing black pants," Kuntz added. Members of PROOF have also spent time in several of Fay- etteville's graveyards. A mist, caught on camera, and the scent of honeysuckle were noticeable the night they visited Cross Creek Cemetery 1, located on the corner of Grove and North Cool Spring Streets. Kuntz said his team searched for honeysuckle or any other flower that may have caused the odor but none was to be found. "The older females in the group would have their elbows grabbed; they would turn around, look down and no one was there," said Kuntz. "This all happens in a specific area. We have the feeling it may be a young girl." As they walked through the graveyard, they also heard whispers behind them. "There were two of us walking and we heard the soft voices; we stopped and saw a third shadow behind us," he said. The group has also inves- tigated at another location at the graveyard where they recorded an older African-American voice saying, "This is Jules," added Kuntz. Another recording made that night was a whispering male voice. When asked, "Do you mind if we walk on your grave?" The whispering voice answered, "Yes, I do." CityViewNC.com | 43 The Prince Charles Hotel is an historic landmark in Fayetteville. It is being converted to apartments, condominiums and retail space. The oldest public cemetery in Fayetteville, Cross Creek Cemetery, contains over 1,100 grave markers and is the burial ground of many of the early settlers and locally significant persons in Fayetteville's history. The cemetery contains graves of veterans from the Revolutionary War all the way through the Spanish-American War. PHOTOS BY AWAKENING PHOTOGRAPHY

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