
Lightspirit13 (Kneeling in center, wearing scarf) poses with Mark and Debby Constantino, groups: 3AM Paranormal, APRA Paranormal, LA Paranormal; and Stacey Jones, Moebanshee, Gian Temperilli and the Dragon Man among others.
On September 11, 2009, I had the honor and the privelege to be included in a private ghost hunt led by Mark and Debby Constantino on Alcatraz Island. Because all of my previous experiences with the Constantinos were so profound, I cut short a European vacation to be present and flew directly to San Francisco from JFK Airport in New York to join the group. I could not carry much equipment with me to collect evidence. Therefore, what I will share with you is not evidence but a description of just a few of my experiences.
The Constantinos, as well as the groups and other individuals, collected some solid evidence. We have included one video here by 3AM Paranormal, which could also be found on YouTube. This video is extremely good and truly captures the flavor of my experiences as well.
We took a private ferry to the island and began by seeing a video on the history of Alcatraz and the life of the men. What struck me while viewing that video was a quote by a former inmate who said that on the day of his release, he was scared as he stood in San Francsisco. Everyone had somewhere to go in that busy metropolis but him. I wondered as I watched the video if the same feeling of being disoriented overcame some at the time of death, because their lives had been structured for so long.
The life of the inmate was highly regulated and quite monotonous. There was no incentive for good behavior only punishment for bad. Everything seemed designed to break the spirit of the individual, most likely for safety, as well as control. Even Al Capone was known to have said that Alcatraz had gotten to him. Inmates who created problems for themselves in the general population were moved to the Treatment Unit Cell Blocks, where freedom became even more restricted. (This is also where our group slept; each individual was given a cell.)
We were also given a behind-the-scenes tour by Federal Rangers and given additional insight into the lives of both the men and the staff who lived on the island. I was surprised to find that family members, including children also lived there. The children took the ferry to San Francisco to go to school. I later found out that on a previous investigation of Alcatraz, Mark and Debby encountered both female and child ghosts as well as male ghosts.
