Rafetown Bridge Investigation

This was originally a wooden truss bridge built in 1923. The bridge was originally 190 feet long and 14.1 feet wide. It was replaced by the current concrete bridge in 2000.

There were apparently multiple suicides before the original truss bridge was dismantled. Snider also related a story about an individual that apparently dove off the bridge, hit his head and drowned in the river. There were so many suicides and loss of life here that it was nicknamed, “Suicide Bridge” by the locals for a time.

Address: GPS 38°51'24.0"N 87°58'57.0"W in Jasper County, Illinois on County Road E50 and the bridge spans the Embarras River.

Numerous EVPs and disembodied voices have been recorded and heard while people visit the bridge. A number have actually heard the guardrail make a loud clank for no apparent reason.

The Ghost Research Society investigated Rafetown Bridge August 4, 2018 and the team members included: Jim Piscopo, Mike Rosario and Dale Kaczmarek, with help from Jason Snider, Jason Dickerson, Riley Miller and Courtney Bowen from Crawford County Illinois Ghost Hunters

Equipment setup: All that was used here at Rafetown Bridge were hand-held equipment; digital recorders, Ovilus X, Phasma Box, digital cameras and camcorders.

Experiments performed: A full EVP session was conducted with first the Ovilus X and then a shorter session with the Phasma Box.

Personal encounters:

Dale Kaczmarek: I and others in the group heard a very loud bang on the guardrail when absolutely no one was anywhere near the guardrail. We, at first, thought it could have been caused by the metal contracting after being in the summer sun all day, however upon touching the metal; it was only slightly warm to the touch and was probably not the cause of the sound.

Via the Phasma Box several interesting phrases came through including, “him falling?” and “sober account.” There were some indications through research that some that died here may have been intoxicated and Snider’s recorder picked up a voice saying, “help me.”

Evidence collected:

Help me Rafetown.MPG – while conducting an EVP session, Snider’s digital recorder picked up a whispering voice say, “Help me.”

Him falling Rafetown.MPG – while conducting a Phasma Box session, a question was asked, “What was the guy’s name who fell off the bridge?” Before the entire question could be asked, a voice is heard saying what sounds like, “Him falling.” I cannot be positive of the first word, but falling is very clear.

Knock on guardrail Rafetown.MPG – while conducting an EVP session, a loud bang was heard by all coming from the guardrail and nobody was near it at the time.

Man Rafetown.MPG – a static camera on the bridge picked up a weird-sounding male voice saying, “Man.” I cannot be 100% sure that this wasn’t caused by one of the group.

Sober account Rafetown.MPG – while conducting a Phasma Box session the phrase, “Sober account” is heard very clearly.

Words spoken by the Ovilus X in dictionary mode: Gender and building and in phonetic mode a single word was heard, “Here.”

Conclusions: With all the accidental deaths and suicides that have occurred here throughout the past, it’s no wonder that this location is still actively charged. Part of the bridge actually spans part of what is called Dead River.

There were at least three very audible bangs that were heard by members of the group while EVP sessions were being conducted. It is my personal opinion that these disembodied sounds were attempts for the spirits to communicate with us while we were there. The sounds may be residual in nature or some intelligent way to have let us know that they were still around and quite active.