SCHRIEVER — The mysterious vision of a man with no lower body and a pair of overalls draped atop his broad shoulders that they saw near a white house built on a reported Indian burial ground raised their antennae that something strange was afoot.
And, one week later, when the members of the local paranormal investigations group H.I.T. MEN went inside 234 Fandal St. in Gibson, they were not disappointed.
While touring the house as prospective buyers last Saturday, Jim Boudreaux and brothers Benton and Frank Lavoi say they found about 100 human bones scattered across the basement floor and notified authorities.
“This guy was trying to correct a wrong,” Jim Boudreaux, 43, said of the ghost. Boudreaux’s American Indian ancestry made him angry the bones were not buried years ago, he added.
Louisiana State University’s anthropology department is examining the bones. Once their analysis is complete, the Terrebonne Sheriff’s Office will determine whether the house should be investigated as a crime scene.
In the meantime, LaRussa Real Estate Agency of Houma has taken the four-bed, two-bath home valued at $125,000 off the market, according to the company’s owner, S.P. LaRussa.
“Nobody’s going to buy this type of house if it’s got these types of problems,” LaRussa said Friday afternoon.
Members of the H.I.T. Men, which stands for Haunting Investigative Team, initially became interested in the house while helping a friend look for property to keep his horses. When they saw a picture of the property, it piqued their interest because it looked like it was built upon an American Indian burial ground, they said.
The Lavoi brothers viewed the property Nov. 14. They walked around the house’s outside and took pictures, as is their custom, but nothing remarkable happened.
Not until they were driving home, that is, and Benton’s son saw a photograph of what appeared to be a man with no legs.
The H.I.T. Men repeatedly viewed the digital image, which was only visible by pressing the camera’s zoom button several times. And what they saw convinced them the ghost wanted them to re-visit the house.
LaRussa said his sales agent, whose name he did not know, had no idea the men performed a paranormal hunt inside the house. After all, they toured the house under the guise of interested buyers.
The H.I.T. Men, who refused to identify the agent, said the woman did not know their intent and say nothing illegal took place.
Once inside the house, the trio walked into the basement armed with digital cameras, handheld audio recorders and courage.
“That looks like bones,” said Boudreaux, who recalled feeling nauseated upon entering the house.
Sure enough, it was.
“I was a meat-cutter for about 10 years, and I know there ain’t no femur bone in a pork chop,” Benton Lavoi, 47, joked. But, he added, “I don’t think we realized the ramifications of having bones in the house.”
The peaceful house soon became the site of a crime-scene investigation.
Authorities initially said that a real-estate agent showing the house had discovered the bones. The H.I.T. Men, however, say they found the bones and have photos as proof.
Now that they’re confident they answered the ghost’s wish, they are hopeful that the bones will be placed where they won’t be disturbed.
