Ghost hunt of the Congress Hotel, Tucson, AZ

Investigation Report

Location: Congress Hotel, Tucson, AZ
Date: 29 March 2003
Personnel Participating: Cody Polston, Bob Carter, Teams 1,2 &3
Weather Conditions: Clear
Humidity: 16%
Geomagnetic Storm Activity: Unsettled
Temperature: 71
Number of Photos taken: 987
Number with possible targets: 6
Average EM Readings: 8 mg
Average M fields Readings: 1 nt
Average E Field Readings: 1 vpm
Cold Spots detected: None
Hot Spots Detected: None
Olfactory Phenomena: None
Visual Phenomena: None
Type of Investigation: Ghost Hunt

Location Description and History

In 1919, Hotel Congress was built to serve the growing cattle industry & railroad passengers of the southern pacific line. The Congress of the 20s was the perfect shelter for genteel travelers and high-rollers fresh from the east. Hotel Congress could have continued it's charming existence as just another place of lodging for road weary guests, except that the date of January 22, 1934 has forever stamped it's historical mark upon this edifice.

A fire started on the basement of the hotel and spread up the elevator shaft on the third floor. This fire led to the capture of one the country's most notorious criminals John Dillinger. After a series of bank robberies, the Dillinger Gang came to Tucson to lay low. The gang resided on the third floor under aliases. After the desk clerk contacted them through the switchboard (still currently in operation), the incognito gang escaped by aerial ladders.

On the urgent request of the gang, and encouraged by a generous tip, two firemen retrieved their heavy luggage. It was later discovered that the bags contained a small arsenal and $23,816 in cash. Later these astute firemen recognized the gang in true detective magazine. A stakeout ensued and they were captured at a house on North Second Ave in the space of five hours, without firing a single shot, the police of small town Tucson had done what the combined forces of several states and the fbi had tried so long to do. When captured, dillinger simply muttered, "well, I'll be damned".

Reported Phenomena

One of the rooms in the hotel is haunted by a man who had a heart attack and died. He has been seen looking out of the window. Room 242 is known as the Suicide Room, a name given to it a few years ago, when a troubled woman shot herself in the bathroom after a standoff with the police and a SWAT team. People staying in this room hear strange noises that are quite creepy and they often have nightmares.

The ghost of this woman has also been seen in the bathroom and in the hallway outside of her room.

The Investigation

Everyone met at the hotel at noon. The hotel is creaky, old and spooky. During our investigation it seemed like a train roared past every five minutes, making the hunt more difficult. We immediately moved up to the top floor and worked our way down. The only area where we found anything of interest was Room 242.

Room 242 is quite interesting for several reasons. first of all there is still evidence of the suicide. If you look into the room's closet, you can see the bullet hole in the upper left side. Apparently, the woman was in the bathroom when she shot herself in the head. the bullet passed through the wall and into the next area, the closet.

Secondly, we acquired an interesting D/C electromagnetic field near the doorway. Photographs taken during this event have a "mist-like" structure in them as well as a few "orbs".

Photographs

Click on the thumbnails to view the larger image.

Initial Conclusions

The animated gif (far left) shows the sequence of the photos taken at Room 242 while investigators are reading a D/C electromagnetic field of 38 HZ, 7.2 milligauss.

The thumbnailed image (near left) was taken inside of Room 242. the blonde woman is looking at the bullet hole inside the closet.

The EM readings coupled with the photographs and historical events make this a very interesting location that is quite possibly haunted.

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