The prospect of an anniversary ghost seemed too good to pass up. So, on January 8, 2000, a group of A.G.H.O.S.T. members, consisting of Ross, Patricia, Mark, Barbie, Dina and Dana, decided to drive over to Des Moines Beach Park to have a chance to see Diana, the little girl seen swinging and playing on the beach every year on this date.

We arrived at around 7:00 pm. Ross, Mark Dina and Dana parked in the parking lot near the pier, while Patricia and Barbie drove to the parking area nearest the park, near the Senior Citizen Center. We unpacked the necessary gear and started our investigation. We decided to break into two groups. Ross's group decided to check out the beach area, while Patricia's group stayed near the area of the swings.

Nothing much seemed to happen at first, but there was something that drew us to the last swing on the right side of the swingset. As Dina drew closer with the EMF detector, it went off...very strongly. As she moved to the other swings, there were no readings at all, but going back to that swing, the detector went crazy every time. Could this be the one that little Diana liked to swing on?

After a few minutes, Ross's group came back from the beach area and, along the way, had met up with a group of four or five others that had read about the anniversary ghost and decided to check it out for themselves. We chatted for a while as we continues the investigation in the area of the swing, where a tape recorder was set up to see if there might be any EVP.

After a few minutes, Mark, Barbie and Patricia walked to the beach area to check it out. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary and, after a few minutes, someone screamed that Patricia needed to move her car, as the gates were being locked.

Patricia left to move the car and, after a few minutes, there seemed to be a disturbance. One of the caretakers, who apparently lives in the park area, drove up in his pick-up truck. We had noticed that the truck had been driving back and forth for a while, but now he stopped and told us all that we had to get out. He seemed very hostile and yelled that there were strange things going on that night and we needed to leave.

It seems that, up the road on the other side of the Senior Center, someone had started a small fire with a fire bomb, made out of a pop bottle.

So, at around 8:00, we packed up our gear and headed back towards the cars. All the while, the caretaker was watching us from his truck and, as we approached him, he speeded away quickly, as if he was afraid of us.

Back at the cars, we packed our equipment back into the trunk and headed for home, disappointed that we were unable to stay longer, possibly seeing Diana as she played.

Was it her presence that set off the EMF detector?? We'd like to think so. Upon reviewing the pictures taken by Ross with the digital camera, one looked particularly interesting. In one taken on the beach, there seemed to be a figure standing in the sand. As there was no one else around at the time, could this be the figure of little Diana, playing on the beach, as she is reported to do every year on this night? Check out this photo on the photo page and tell us what you think.

There were also orbs present in photos taken at the swing that set off the EMF detector.

The evening was exciting, though cut short. We'll have to wait until next January 8th to continue this investigation. In the mean time, we would like to conduct more research involving Diana and why she haunts this park. Did she die here, or is it just someplace that she liked to be?? We'll pass on any further information we obtain.