Chad Lewis, author

An author who calls himself a “paranormal investigator” will give what promises to be a bone-chilling lecture in Iowa tonight (Friday) about some of the state’s unexplained mysteries and alleged hauntings. Chad Lewis has traveled all over Iowa, taking pictures, doing interviews, researching spooky incidents and trying to make sense of them. He’s compiled a book called, “The Iowa Road Guide to Haunted Locations.”  “When you hear stories of people being haunted by gypsies in Algona, you need to go there to see what they’re experiencing, see the atmosphere, see the conditions, and then come to your own conclusion as to whether or not they’re haunted,” Lewis says. “Traveling to these places is half the fun.” Several spots in Iowa are known for phantom hitchhikers, including near a certain cemetery in Estherville. Lewis says he talked with several people who’ve encountered a spirit-woman on the roadside.

“I even had a gentleman who said he gave her a ride and went to ask her where she was going and she had disappeared from his front seat,” Lewis says. “He was so convinced that she was real, he spent the next hour scouring the countryside looking for her, thinking she must have snuck out.” Lewis investigated the Ghost Train near Boone and the story of Kate Shelley Bridge. He’s also been to Iowa City and Council Bluffs to probe the tale of haunted “black angels” in city graveyards. “Legends have been brewing for decades that if you go there, sometimes you have to follow some of the conditions, like if you go there at midnight, the black angel will come to life and you’ll be cursed with bad luck,” Lewis says. “If you have a kiss in front of the angel, it will come to life and you’ll have bad luck.” He notes there are never predictions of good luck, like you’ll win the lottery, but it’s instead something like you’ll lose your sight or your life.

Of all the places he’s visited in Iowa, Lewis says only a few really gave him the heebee-jeebees, including a haunted bridge in rural Webster County, which was supposedly inhabited by a werewolf — though he didn’t actually see the creature.  “Another place that really creeped me out was the Villisca axe murder house in Villisca where eight members of a family and a couple guests were brutally killed with an axe,” Lewis says. “The case was never solved. Now, if you have a macabre sense of adventure, you can spend the night in the house where they were tragically murdered.” Lewis has a Masters of Science in Applied Psychology and has studied the paranormal for 14 years. His talk is scheduled for tonight at 7 o’clock at the State Historical Building in Des Moines. Learn more about the book at: “unexplainedresearch.com”

(Matt Kelley/Radio Iowa)

GLENWOOD, Iowa (AP) – Seven horses at a rescue farm in western Iowa had to be rescued again after  saboteurs cut wire fences and knocked down wooden ones at the farm.  The horses were seen running loose on a highway Thursday, near Glenwood. That’s where the Hooves and Paws Rescue farm is located. Owner Genea Stoops says she received a call from the Mills County Sheriff’s Department informing her that the horses were loose.

She says she was away from the farm at the time. After returning and corralling the horses, Stoops discovered that a wire fence had been cut and her wooden fence had been knocked in. No horses were injured.

Officials with the Harlan Police Department say two persons were arrested, and two accidents were investigated over the course of the past couple of weeks. In a report issued Thursday, the H-P.D. says 33-year old Robin Hensel, of Harlan, was arrested October 13th following a traffic stop, on a charge of Driving Under Suspension. Hensel plead guilty to the offense Tuesday in Shelby County District Court. He was ordered to pay a fine of $250.    And, 48-year old Christina Hansen, of Harlan, was arrested October 15th following a trafic stop, for Driving Under Suspension, Operating a Non-registered vehicle, and for Failure to Prove Security against Liability.  

Harlan Police also report non-injury accidents occuring on October 3rd and 5th caused a total of $14,000 damage, and resulted in two separate citations. Anita Dargy, of Harlan, was cited for Failure to come to a complete stop in an assured clear distance, following an accident October 3rd in the 1000 block of Chatburn Avenue.  During the accident, Dargy’s vehicle rear-ended one driven by Adam Phifer, of Harlan, as he was about to turn into a bowling alley driveway.

Kaitlyn Ladehoff, of Templeton, was cited October 5th, for Failure to Yield to a vehicle on her right, following an accident at 9th and Laurel Streets, in Harlan. Her vehicle collided with one driven by Peggy Ahrenholtz, of Manilla, at the uncontrolled intersection. The impact spin Ladehoff’s car around 180-degrees.