Ruth Ann's Bridge Investigation

According to the Banner-Graphic of Greencastle, Indiana newspaper on September 26, 1973, a Shelburn man was being held in Sullivan County Jail on a preliminary charge of first degree murder in the death of Ruth Ann Whitson, 28, Rt. 1, Shelburn. Eugene Gubala, 29, charged with the killing, was arrested on Monday and appeared before Sullivan Circuit Court Judge Jesse H. Bedwell. A court-appointed attorney was named for Gubala. No bond was set at the hearing. He was ordered held pending Sullivan County grand jury action. Mrs. Whitson’s body was found by two squirrel hunters Sunday, floating in a creek in northern Sullivan County. Indiana State Police said she had been strangled. Gubala was arrested at Terre Haute and brought to the Sullivan County Jail on Monday afternoon. The disposition of this case is not known at this time.

The bridge that most of the local teenagers go that is all full of graffiti is not the correct bridge. The correct bridge is an old metal bridge that is closed off for vehicular travel.

Hauntings: Reports of strange sounds on the bridge and EVPs of a woman and screams at night. It appeared to come from down the creek. Snider said he couldn’t be certain if that was paranormal or not. Almost all of the phenomena are auditory and not visual but so much has been collected there in the past by CCIGHS.

Address: Sullivan County, Indiana along the Busseron Creek and northeast of Sullivan, Indiana

The Ghost Research Society investigated Ruth Ann's Bridge on August 3, 2019 and the team members included: Mike Rosario and Dale Kaczmarek, with help from Jason Snider from the Crawford County Illinois Ghost Society and Joann Wade

Equipment setup: Only hand-held devices, digital recorders, cameras and camcorders were used.

Experiments performed; a single EVP session was conducted here right on the old metal bridge.

Personal experiences:

Dale Kaczmarek: We visited this location during the day. My love for haunted bridges coupled with phenomena reported there in the past was definitely contributing factors for investigating this location.

It very extremely hot that day with a lot of insects and horse flies buzzing around. I thought I heard something come into contact with the metal bridge or possibly even the gate that prevents people from driving across this.

This was an extremely isolated location along a rural road in Sullivan County, Indiana. This was much more than an urban legend as there were articles in the local paper. Besides a few EVPs, I did not feel anything out of the normal while visiting this location.

While we were conducting our EVP, I noticed that the record levels were moving even though none of us were talking at the time and there was no wind present. I also witnessed bridge sounds in response to our questions and not when we were asking questions.

Evidence collected;

Knock on rail Ruth.MPG – while conducting an EVP session on the bridge, the rail make a sound so, a question was asked, “Can you do that again?” The bridge made another sound.

Oh wow Ruth.MPG – while conducting an EVP session on the bridge, I noticed that the recording level meters were moving as though the digital recorder was picking something up and recording. I mentioned that fact and in the background a high-pitched female voice said what sounded like, “Oh wow!”

Response Ruth.MPG – while conducting an EVP session on the bridge, a question was asked “Is there anyone here that wants to talk with us; if so, can you tell us your first name?” Almost immediately after the question, a response was heard that could be made out and followed by a boom on rail.

Ruth unedited Snider Ruth.MPG – while conducting an EVP session on the bridge, a question was asked, “Are you a male or a female?” Snider’s digital recorder picked up a female voice saying, “Ruth!”

Ruth Ruth.MPG – while conducting an EVP session on the bridge the group was commenting on the sounds they heard and from where they were originated from when a voice came through that sounds like it says, “Ruth.”

Conclusions: We definitely need to come back here during a nighttime investigation and set up cameras and other devices. Considering an actual murder occurred here, there is a distinct possibility that more evidence could be collected.