INVESTIGATION REPORT  Location:  Las MañAnitas, Albuquerque, NM Date:  August 15, 2004 Personnel Participating: Cody Polston, Julia Brown, Bob Carter, Carrie Hamil, Ross Potter  Equipment Used: IR thermometer, various EMF detectors, Nightscopes, Sony Marvica digital camera, 35mm Cameras, Sony handycam camcorder

Investigation Data Weather Conditions: Clear Humidity: 64% Geomagnetic Storm activity: Inactive Temperature: 84 # of photos taken: 126 # with possible targets: 5 Average EM Readings: 4 mg Average M field readings: .5 Telesa Average E field readings: 1 vpm Cold Spots detected: None Hot spots detected: None Olfactory Phenomena: None Visual Phenomena: None

"Las MañAnitas" is a folk song of celebration that is traditionally sung on a person's birthday or Saint's Name Day.

There is no written record of when the adobe structure standing on the northwest corner of present day Indian School and Rio Grande, Albuquerque, NM. was built. Legend and word of mouth has it that parts of the building are over 300 years old.

Paul and Linda took over Las MañAnitas in 1991. Before Paul and Linda, it was a restaurant operated from 1985 to 1990 by a previous Albuquerque Mayor.

Before becoming a restaurant the property was owned and used as a residence by Sheila Garcia, The Kinney's, The Harrison's and the Gilstrap's. There are stories of huge social parties held by previous owners. Before its use as a residence, verbal history has it remembered as a brothel, saloon and billiards hall. Reportedly the structure was originally built as a stagecoach stop along the historic El Camino Real.

Neighbors and previous owners have told Paul and Linda some of the events and history of the building. At one time there was a farm and a blacksmith located on the property as well. Neighbors would hear the bang and clang of the blacksmith at work.

Original wooden ceiling beams and kiva fireplaces still exist. When the building was renovated in 1991 over five tons of dirt was removed from the original sod roof. There are light fixtures in many rooms and medicine cabinets in both bathrooms that were saved from the famous Albuquerque Hotel Alvarado. (The Alvarado stood from 1896 to 1945.)

Hauntings:

Paul and Linda were told when they took over the restaurant in 1991 that it was haunted.

In their fourteen years at Las MañAnitas, Paul and Linda have witnessed and been told first hand of several occurrences. There does not seem to be any pattern. The building will be quiet for months at a time then there will be a flurry of unexplained activity for several days in a row.

Reportedly, one previous owner, Mrs. Kinney was plagued by what she thought were 'evil spirits'. She stated that plates flew out of the oven at her and that the doors inside the building would slam shut after she walked through them. The slamming doors unnerved Mrs. Kinney so badly that she had all of the interior doors removed and to this day they remain stacked in the garage.

Supposedly Mrs. Kinney brought in members of the church to perform an exorcism to no avail.

The wait staff employed when Paul and Linda took over the restaurant told them to be sure that they "left toys out for the kids". They were told that the ghost's of a boy and a girl were often seen playing out on the patio or heard playing in the house. Linda leaves toys in hidden areas of the building and then returns to find that they have been somehow broken.

One evening after closing, Paul entered the dining room to find the metal chandelier swinging wildly back and forth. All of the windows and doors were closed in the building, the heat and air conditioning were turned off, and there was no breeze or air flowing in the room. Paul called for Linda to come look. When Linda entered the room she too saw the chandelier swinging from side to side and asked Paul, "What are you doing?!" Paul stated, "I did not do a thing! It was moving when I walked in!" They could not explain the chandelier's movement. Guests seated in the main dining room have witnessed "something flying in and out of the fireplace". Witnesses state that a "cloud" or "ball of smoke" shot out of the fireplace then moved extremely fast into the center of the room where it dissipated in front of everyone's eyes. One of the guests asked afterwards if they could perform a séance in the room but their request was denied. Paul and Linda's cat often runs throughout the building as if it is playing with someone. It looks like it is chasing someone or being chased.

Several times Paul and Linda heard what sounded like a squeaky rocking chair rocking bath and forth, in what is now their office, when no one was in the room. A few months later a psychic visited Las MañAnitas. She asked if she could look around as she felt the presence of "spirits". She walked into what is now their office and told Paul and Linda that she saw a "sewing room with a rocking chair".

The psychic also stated that she felt that a man was hanged in one of the back, older rooms of the building. This is the only mention Paul and Linda have ever heard of a murder or death in the building. The hanging can not be proved but Paul and Linda state, "given the building's sordid past, it would not surprise us if it were true!"

The building is made of adobe and retains heat extremely well. In fact, on hot a summer's day the temperature inside can be quite unpleasant. But at times, the staff will walk through what they describe as unexplainable "really cold spots".

One winter's morning Paul and another employee arrived at work, driving across the virgin snow, almost four inches high, in the parking lot. They were the first to arrive that day. The ground was beautiful with the untouched coating of fresh snow. As they entered the gate to the courtyard they noticed very large footprints in the snow in front of them, walking in a sort of oval route towards the house. However - the tracks seemed to just start and stop with no visible trail leading to or away from them. Paul says the footprints were "Huge - at least a size 14." And that it was "almost as if the person had been placed then lifted off of the ground and disappeared."

One busy afternoon Paul and an employee were frantically cooking in the kitchen. One of the waiters reported to them that they were out of clean coffee cups. The sounds of the dishwasher running and the rattling of dishes could be heard coming from the sink area of the kitchen. Paul assumed that Linda was in back washing dishes and he was a bit upset that she was not out waiting on customers. Just then, Linda walked into the kitchen from the dining room. Paul and the employee both asked, "Well then who is back there doing the dishes?" All three of them heard the noise and rattling coming from the back. They went to look but no one was there. However, they found that all of the coffee cups had mysteriously washed themselves and were drying in the rack.

Customer's often ask, out of the blue, if the building is haunted. They state that they 'feel' a presence and that they 'know' it is haunted. Once, a male customer sat out in his car for over an hour and would not join his wife inside for dinner because he felt so uncomfortable. A professional photographer, Allencort, once visited Las MañAnitas. She took a few pictures around the property. A copy of one of these photos now hangs in the hallway. The copy was sent to Paul and Linda from a Wisconsin Art Gallery where the original photo is on display. Many people report seeing the faint, hidden image of a Grandmother and a Cat in the photo. Allencort returned to Las MañAnitas several times attempting to take more pictures. However, every single photo she shot on subsequent visits never turned out; these photos were completely black. Paul and Linda believe that there are two main ghosts who haunt Las MañAnitas.

The first is a woman they call 'Priscilla'. Paul and Linda both state that they can "feel her presence". "You know when she is here", they say, "because you can smell her perfume throughout the entire restaurant." The building will be closed with only them in it and the over powering, strong, perfume will fill the air. At other times, customers have even complained about the strong smell.

A Mariachi who often played in the restaurant stated that once he entered the back dining room and saw a woman in a big, fancy, white dress. He looked away for a moment, and when he looked back, she had vanished.

A busboy once saw a blonde haired girl wearing a plaid colored sweater enter the men's bathroom. The bus boy waited and waited for her to exit the bathroom. He knocked on the door and got no answer. He tried the doorknob but it was locked. He waited outside the door for almost an hour then knocked and tried the door again. Now the door was unlocked and when he entered he found the room empty.

The second ghost is that of a large young man. "He is very, very big," states Linda, "But you can tell he isn't that old; he's a young man." He is often seen out of the corner of her eye and Linda often mistakes the shadow for one of the waiters. She will see someone walk by and will call out to who she thinks it is, then she realizes that no one is really there.

Often Linda and other female employees will feel a light breeze blow by them then they feel the touch of fingers on their hips, a friendly and flirty sort of gesture. They will turn around to see who is behind them and no one will be there. Linda even tells the new female wait staff in advance "not to freak out" if this happens to them. One time, a customer felt a hand on her shoulder. When she turned around, no one was there.

The young niece of a frequent customer said that she often talks to 'someone' while in the bathroom of Las MañAnitas. The girl states, "a boy is in there under the floor. He talks to me." When asked how she talked to this boy under the floor she just said, "I don't know - but we communicate." The girl had never heard any of the stories about the shadow of a young man seen in the building.

One afternoon the young girl ran out of the bathroom squealing in excitement, "He told me his name! He told me his name! His name is Joaquin!"

It is believed by many that Priscilla, the woman seen in the fancy white dress, once worked in the brothel that is now Las MañAnitas. Priscilla became pregnant and had her child on the premises. Sadly, Priscilla died while giving birth her son, Joaquin. To this day, Priscilla wanders the halls looking, in vain, for her son just as Joaquin still searches for his Mother.

Photographs

Click on the thumbnail to view the larger image

To view an interactive movie of the patio area of the building, click here.