Doug Hogate Jr. - Lead Investigator

Laren Lacy - Investigator

BJ Hoffman - Team Leader

Bonnie Stevens - Investigator

Eileen Bramble - Investigator

Maureen Crossman - Investigator

Jen Raymond - Investigator

Nicole Raymond - Investigator

Jen Hardwick - Investigator

Maggie Dunn - Investigator

Jen Stubbins - Investigator

Kelly Roncace - Investigator

Chris Pew - Guest Investigator

Tabitha Hill - Guest Photographer

The JUMPS team has been very fortunate over the last few years with opportunities to investigate and research some interesting locations throughout New Jersey, mainly in Salem County. From private homes to incredible historic locations, we have had the privilege to attempt to capture evidence of these claims and have been very successful in doing so.

In August of 2012, the JUMPS team was given permission to investigate the Salem County Insane Asylum during a Salem County Board of Chosen Freeholders meeting. After months of preparation, Salem County officials granted JUMPS access to this 140 year old boarded up endangered building on November 9. 

There were a few factors that the JUMPS team had to prepare for before going into this investigation. First, was power. This building, as mentioned, has been boarded up and not accessed for years. Therefore, there is no power or water running to it. As a solution, Team Leader BJ loaned his generator to power all pieces of equipment to be placed inside. Next, because of the cold weather, there was an issue of where base would be set up during this investigation. Courtesy of Investigators Jen H. and Jen S., the team set up base in a Handicap bus from BR Williams. Lastly, because of the condition of the building, each team member was given a respiratory mask for protection while inside the building. With all the issues resolved, the team was able to begin the process of getting this huge investigation opportunity underway.

The team arrived at the Insane Asylum in Mannington Township at 6:00 PM. Once Lead Investigator Doug and Team Leader BJ arrived with the generator, they positioned the bus and the generator so that equipment set up could go on as usual. Once all members were accounted for, the team entered the former Insane Asylum to get a better understanding of the layout, safety issues, and where equipment would be placed.

Lead by Team Leader BJ, the team began placing the camera and audio equipment throughout the location and running camera wire from the building into base inside the bus. After a 45 minute equipment set up and an issue with one of the cameras not wanting to send a signal back to the DVR at base, the team had the entire building set up and the investigation could finally begin.     

Four night vision IR cameras were placed throughout the building to record any visual activity that may occur within. 

The cameras were placed in the following areas:

•     Camera 1 - Basement

•     Camera 2 - Second Floor Room

•     Camera 3 - Third Floor Entrance Area

•     Camera 4 - Second Floor Entrance Area    

Audio recorders were also placed with cameras in the basement, third floor, and second floor. 

At approximately 7:45 PM, the team began the investigation. For the first sweep, Investigators Maggie, Kelly, and Guest Investigator Chris proceeded to the third floor area while Investigators Bonnie, Jen R, and Nicole investigated the first floor and basement area. The rest of the team of Maureen, Eileen, Jen H., and Jen S. began doing sweeps throughout the grounds in the rear of the Insane Asylum and in areas surrounding where the Salem County Almshouse once stood. 

On the third floor, Maggie, Kelly, and Chris began attempting to make contact with any possible spirits that may be present. With no activity and the atmosphere feeling very calm, the team proceeded to the second floor. Again, using the K-2 and digital audio recorder, they attempted to make contact with any spirit that may be present. Not long after they began an EVP session they heard a sudden high pitch scream. Immediately, they radioed to base and the other teams asking if anyone made any kind of noise that may have been similar to that. It was confirmed that no one on the outside or inside made a noise. Taking this experience into account, they continued with their investigation. With some minor EMF fluctuations, no other experiences occurred.

One and two floors down Bonnie, Jen R, and Nicole investigated the basement and first floor. Like the team above them, they conducted EVP sessions and took readings with the EMF devices. They also attempted contact through the K2 meter, however no experiences occurred during their time in these areas. 

After approximately 1 hour inside the historic building, the teams returned to base to regroup and prepare for the second sweep.

Next in to see if they might have some success in experiencing some activity were the teams of Eileen & Jen S. and Doug, Laren, & Chris. Eileen and Jen proceeded right to the basement to investigate while Doug, Laren, and Chris proceeded to the third floor. Jen R and Nicole remained on the first floor to attempt to record any possible activity that may be occurring where the other teams were not.  

Beginning in the basement, Eileen and Jen S. began speaking directly to any children that may be present. After discovering some left over pamphlets that gave advice on handling mentally ill children, they wanted to attempt to see if any remained in this forgotten building. With direct questions to younger children, the investigators explained that they were not there to scare off anyone but only to communicate and help them. The team did experience some unexplained sounds of movement in areas throughout the basement. They also witnessed some K2 responses to questions, but were unable to determine if the cause was actually from a child or another spirit presence. After witnessing these experiences for approximately 45 minutes, they moved to the first floor where investigators Jen R. and Nicole were positioned.

During the investigation of the basement by Eileen and Jen S., the second team of Doug, Laren, and Chris began attempting to make contact on the third floor. They began with observing the condition of the building and getting a feel for their surroundings. Using the Mel Meter, Doug took readings of the entire third floor and determined a base reading of 0.2 - 0.4 milligauss. Laren manned a K2 to monitor if there were any disruptions in the electromagnetic energy already present in the area, and Chris operated the digital camcorder to record any experiences or activity if they occur. Doug began using some minor provoking to try to 'stir up’ any spirits that may be hiding or angry at the team’s presence. After a few attempts, no experiences occurred and the EMF levels of the floor remained in the base reading range. They, then, proceeded to the second floor to attempt the same techniques as they had used on third. Again, nothing occurred. During this time, it was decided that the stationery night vision IR camera placed on the second floor be moved to observe the bathroom where some small noises were heard. However, at this time, the team was unable to determine that these noises were being caused by a spirit presence. After approximately 45 minutes, they returned to the first floor to switch positions with Eileen and Jen S.

Proceeding down to the basement area, Doug, Laren, and Chris immediately began investigating, what appeared to be, the ‘creepiest’ area of the entire location. Entering into one of the rooms located there, the team began reading some papers laying on the floor covered in brick dust and dirt. These papers were determined to be old reading material and pamphlets that were left behind from the offices that once occupied the building prior to being boarded up for good. Again, they established a base reading of 0.2 - 0.4 milligauss. Doug proceeded to conduct an EVP session attempting to make contact and find alternative explanations for the unexplained noises experienced by the previous team. After a thorough search, no explanation could be found that could cause the movement sounds the other teams heard. Also, they observed that no EMF fluctions occurred on the Mel Meter or the K2. After an additional 30 minutes, the team returned to base.

The first team of Eileen and Jen S. proceeded to the second and third floors to investigate. Using the same exact techniques as were used previously in the other areas, they again had no experiences to report after a 30 minute sweep. Therefore, at this time, they returned to base.

As Doug, Laren, and Chris passed by the first floor team of Jen R. and Nicole, they stopped Doug to explain some experiences they had during their time sweep. The first experience took place in the first floor hallway leading next to the staircase that leads to the basement door. Located almost midway down the short walkway is a door to the outside that is sealed off like the rest of the building. Along the floor next to that door is a metal piece of trimming that has detached from the wall over time. Nicole reported that while conducting an EVP session in the other room where the kitchen appeared to have been, she heard the metal trim move then vibrate as if someone brushed it as they walked past. Doug immediately began checking the metal to see if movement on this floor or the upstairs floor could cause this experience to occur. Half of the trim remained attached to the base of the wall and no movement anywhere on either floor caused the trim to move. Next, Nicole reported that shortly after the trim experience she heard the sound of crunching as if someone was walking up behind her and stepped on the paint chips that had fallen from the wall to the floor. Again, unsure if that was the cause, Doug began stepping in various locations to try to recreate the experience. After determining that the sound was that of someone stepping on paint chips; Doug also determined that there was no one else on the floor during the times these activities occurred. After this sweep, everyone returned to base on the BR Williams bus to regroup. 

During these second sweeps, Maggie and Jen S., made their way to the back grounds to see if they could contact any spirits that may be present there. Holding the Mel Meter, Maggie did begin noticing some minor fluctuations. However, not enough to conclude that it was caused by some sort of spirit presence. They returned to base to join the rest of the team because of the weather and quiet atmosphere. 

At this time, since everyone had a chance to investigate, the team took a short intermission to let the atmosphere inside calm down and also everyone was able to warm up in the bus. With no teams inside, team leader BJ continued to monitor the cameras in case anything significant occurred.

After a 20 minute break, lead investigator Doug directed that only one team go into the Insane Asylum at a time. Leading the way, Doug was joined by investigators Kelly, Maggie, and Jen. Armed with two K2 meters, a Mel Meter, digital thermometer, and digital audio recorder, the team of four proceeded into the basement. Once they arrived, Doug placed the pieces of equipment on an old drum positioned in the center of the basement. Once in place, the investigators stepped back and began conducting an EVP session. Right off the bat, Doug instructed any spirit present to use the lights from each K2 meter to answer a series of YES and NO questions to get a better understanding of who was present. In between both K2 meters sat the audio recorder and Mel Meter. Therefore, the instruction was were if the answer to the question was YES to make the left K2 meter light up and if the answer was NO to cause the meter on the right to light. Doug opened up with letting any spirit know that they were not there to cause any harm but to make contact. For the first 5 minutes, nothing occurred. It was when Doug instructed the spirit that all they had to do was get close to the meters to make the lights light up that every meter began flashing for approximately 5 seconds. Although this happened, it was still not a sure thing that it was caused by a ghost presence. So Doug asked that if it there was someone in fact causing the meters in react, to do it again on demand at the count of three. When he reached the number 3, all meters again lit up as instructed. Immediately, Doug radioed to BJ who was observing cameras at base that he was repositioning the basement camera to watch the meters to record their reaction. Once in position, the team apologized to the spirit for moving around and asked that if it were still present to cause the meters to light up. Again, the meters lit up as instructed. Doug then reminded the spirit how to answer YES and NO questions using the left and right K2 meters. The next question asked was if the spirit had lived in the building because they were said to be ‘insane.’ No meters reacted. The next question was if the spirit had lived in the building. The left K2 used for YES answers lit. It was then asked if the spirit was a child, adult, or teenager but the K2 meters did not react at all. Instead, with a base temperature of 42 degrees in the basement, the thermometer on the Mel Meter suddenly dropped to 35 degrees. At this exact moment, investigator Jen S. felt her right hand begin to get hot. Using the second Mel Meter, Doug checked the area around Jen and EMF level surrounding her increased from a 0.4 to 0.9 for approximately 8 seconds while Jen reported the warm sensation began to feel like it was burning. Immediately, the team checked her hands and arm to see if any red or scratch marks were present. From past experiences, burning sensations on the skin has usually results in scratch marks appearing. Nothing was visible. Doug then asked the spirit if they were touching Jen. The left K2 meter lit up immediately after the question. Then, Jen reported the burning sensation slowly decrease before completely going away. Doug then asked if the spirit was angry because the team was there trying to communicate. There was no response to this question. At that point, Jen S. stated she began feeling like someone was standing behind her. As she was telling this to the team, she suddenly felt like someone put their arm around her quickly then moved away. Again, Doug checked the surrounding area with the second Mel Meter and the normal reading of 0.4 did not increase. The investigators began explaining again that their intentions for being in the building were not to cause harm and that there was no reason to be afraid to communicate. It was at that moment that investigator Kelly felt someone brush her hair. Jen also stated that she did feel the same thing moments before however disregarded the experience because she was wearing a hat and could not be sure if it was caused by a spirit. Kelly then asked if the spirit touched her hair and also kept touching Jen. The left meter lit up for the first time in minutes suggesting that the answer was YES. Doug then asked if the spirit was angry that the building had been boarded up and forgotten over the past couple of years. Before he could finish his question, he heard a noise coming from the area located on the side of the basement stairs that sounded like feet dragging across the dirt on the floor. For the remainder of the time, the team continued to ask questions attempting to get responses from the K2. What concluded this session was when Doug asked the spirit if it wanted the team to leave. At first, both K2 meters flashed at the exact same time. Again, Doug asked if the spirit could be more specific and answer the question again. At that moment, the K2 meters all lit up at the exact same time and the Mel Meter EMF level increased to 1.0. Respectfully, the team thanked the spirit for the cooperation and left the area, leaving the K2 meters, Mel Meter, and digital audio recorder on the drum with the camera positioned on them. The team returned to base.

When the team of four returned to base, they observed the camera placed on the same meters they were just working with to see if anything occurred while no one was present in the building. For the next 5 minutes, no meter lit up in any way.

The last team grouped together and made their way into the building for a final sweep. Lead by Doug, Team Leader BJ Hoffman, investigators Bonnie and Jen H. made their way into the basement to attempt to capture the same responses as the first team. After introductions were made of the new investigators now in the basement, BJ began asking the spirit to make the meters light up as a sign of their presence. With no response, he explained what to do to make them go off to respond to the line of questions. BJ then asked again if someone was present. No response. He then asked if there were any children present in the basement. The meters began to light up. To verify if he would get the same response, BJ asked again if the spirit was a child. The meters lit up again for the second time. He continued to ask questions such as what the child’s name was and if they lived at the Insane Asylum or former Almshouse. With no responses, BJ then instructed the possible child spirit to cause the meters to light when he stated their age. Beginning with age 4, he slowly increased the age by 1 year every 10 seconds, giving any possible spirit enough time to respond. Once he reached the age of 6, all meters lit up. Therefore, each new question was phrased in a manner for a 6 year old child. The team received consistent answers to every question, including if the child was left there alone, if people thought they were sick, even if they were mad at their Mommy and Daddy for leaving them there. These questions all received a YES answer on the K2 meters. The other questions asked either were answered with a NO or were inconsistent. During the questioning, all investigators heard a noise come from a far room of the basement behind them that sounded as if an object slid across the floor. The team asked if the spirit was causing the noises however no response was given. Approximately 2 minutes after hearing the nose, all members of the team heard a similar noise, however, in a different area. This time when asked if this noise was caused by the child spirit, all K2 meters lit up. For the remainder of the time, no other experiences occurred and no more consistent responses were being received. After approximately 35 minutes, the team of investigators moved to the second floor.

Once they arrived on this floor, they attempted the same type of spirit communication as the basement. Unfortunately, no significant responses occurred during the 20 minutes in this area.

After hours of investigating the Salem County Insane Asylum, lead investigator Doug and Team Leader BJ decided to bring the investigation to a close. On a long and cold night inside a location that no one has been inside of for a few years, the JUMPS team worked very hard conducting a thorough investigation with no claims of activity to work with which resulted in some interesting experiences. The team packed up the gear and departed the location carrying several hours of audio and video evidence to review.

Conclusion

    Opportunities to investigate locations like the Salem County Insane Asylum do not occur every day. With this location listed as one of the Top 10 most endangered historic locations in New Jersey, time is running out to get the chance to investigate activity and communicate with the spirits of former Salem County citizens who were once said to be insane. Once part of a much larger establishment known as the Salem County Almshouse or the ‘Salem County Farm,’ the Insane Asylum now stands off of Route 45 in Mannington Township in the area of the Veteran’s Cemetery and other Salem County departments. Boarded up so nothing gets inside, this lonely brick building is now a decaying mysterious unmarked location that people pass by everyday with many not knowing exactly what it is or what it was once used for.

    Built in 1870, this building was added to the former Almshouse to provide a suitable home for individuals who could not live with the general public because of various types of mental illnesses. Once these individuals passed away, they were buried in the Pauper’s Cemeteries with other residents of the Almshouse located approximately one quarter of a mile down the road. One cemetery located on the corner of Route 45 and Cemetery Road next to the Veteran’s Cemetery and the other located a quarter of a mile down Cemetery Road next to the Salem County Department of Emergency Services. With no headstones or memorials, these individuals lay at rest in an area that is only an open grassy area. According to FindAGrave.com, there are approximately 243 names on file of the individuals buried at these two locations. However, unless you are a local historian or like conducting research of local history as a hobby, there is nothing showing who these individuals were or even anything marking these cemeteries.

    The JUMPS team has conducted some research after the investigation and found some great information about some individuals who did live in the insane asylum including two pages from a census conducted in 1870 of some names of these individuals and what their conditions were. In addition to this historical research, the team was also able to capture some incredible evidence. It appears that every EVP that was recorded during the investigation was never the same voice. Between male, female, and even a child’s voice, it appears that some of the residents still live in this building today. One EVP even gives a name that is believed to be saying ‘Edna.’ Could Edna be a family member, a fellow resident, or even the spirit’s name? Unfortunately, we were unable to find any names of any female with the first name of Edna who once lived in the Insane Asylum or Almshouse. The closest match found was a gentleman by the name of Ebanezer Brown who resided at the State Lunatic Asylum at age 31 then was listed as residing at the local insane asylum in Mannington Township at the age of 53. 

    Between the Class A EVP’s recorded at this location, the experiences that occurred during the investigation, and the incredible endless history of this location and the former Almshouse, it is concluded that the building formerly known as the Salem County Insane Asylum has a few intelligent spirits still living inside. 

    It is very important that local history be shared and never forgotten. The memory of these individuals, whether adults or children, are slowly being forgotten. The next time you travel past the area of the Pauper’s Cemeteries or the boarded up Insane Asylum remember those individuals who lay at rest inside an open grassy area and once lived in this decaying building. After our research and investigating, it appears that some may still be residing there. There is one thing that is for sure, the JUMPS team will never forget the night they spent inside the Salem County Insane Asylum.

Respectfully Submitted,

Doug Hogate Jr.

JUMPS Founder / Head of Research