Story By: Chad Alan

 

"The Bloodiest 47 Acres" 

 

Missouri State Penitentiary - Jefferson City, Missouri

 

The Missouri State Penitentiary was opened in 1836, a 100 years before a more famous prison, Alcatraz, existed.  It was called the "bloodiest 47 acres in the United States" because of the history of deadly prison riots and those who died while cooped up in the dungeon cells with no light to see and no food to eat with their only meal being a serving of water once a day.  By 1932 it was the largest prison in the United States, housing over 5,300 inmates.  The Gas chamber itself took the lives of 40 felons. The prison was finally closed in 2004 and is now used for tours.  Although the exterior of the buildings and walls look old but serviceable, the inside of the prison is a complete nightmare.  Hard to believe that just 7 years earlier it was still serving as a prison.  Every piece of metal is rusting, paint is peeling from every hard service, and parts of the structure of the ceiling and stairs is being supported by a thread of material.  The floor is covered with so much debris that it looks as if a riot just occurred a few hours prior.  Apparitions of inmates are constantly seen, as well as, that of a former doctor named Jack.  The hauntings occurred while the prison was still in use and the inmates considered it just part of the experience.  Of course, strange sounds and footsteps add to the constant reports of paranormal activity by the current workers and visitors.

 

TAPS co-founders Grant Wilson and Jason Hawes started their investigation in the women's prison.  Both were hearing male voices in the distance on the upper tiers of cells.  Their audio recorders picked up a man saying "Hey, Hey, watch it in here!"  As they moved to other buildings they continued to hear men's voices followed by other strange sounds that should be occurring in an empty building.  Their last stop was the "A" hall.  High EMF readings were coming off the power boxes so this may be causing some of the strange feelings people have reported.  More voices and strange noises got their attention but they simply could not pin point where it was coming from. 

 

Dave Tango and Steve Gonsalves began investigating in what is called the "Control Center" of the prison where "Jack" the ghostly doctor has said to appear.  Their EMF detector was picking up some readings but they were able to trace it to multiple power boxes in the hallways. 

 

Brett Griffith and A.J. McCormick navigated their way down to the Gas Chamber and sat down in the very chairs where 40 people were executed.  Just looking at the chamber sends chills up and down your spine.  Brett volunteered to be locked in the Chamber and tried to drum up some energy for the spirits to feed off of.  A.J. noticed a door leading into the gas chamber open by itself.  Brett reported hearing somebody breathing.  The activity died down so they moved on to the prison Shoe factory where multiple people have reported seeing an apparition walk through the building.  As they were describing the paranormal reports to the viewers, strange noises started popping up all around them and were audible to the viewers. 

 

Amy Bruni and Adam Berry headed to the prison building called the "F & G Hall."  Former guards reported hearing footsteps behind them along with seeing dark, grey shadows.  Both of them noticed a shadow figure that seemed to walk out of a doorway.  They chased after it, but as always, ghosts can easily outrun us living humans.  They headed down to solitary confinement where many a men either died or went crazy.  Many noises got their attention but what was most freaky was the dark cells and narrow walkways that easily brings on feelings of claustrophobia.    

 

The team did have a lot of personal experiences and a lot of the noises they heard did get picked up by their audio recorders.  There is no doubt that the prison is suffering from a case of paranormal activity.

 

Be sure to check out our exclusive interview with Barry FitzGerald, Amy Bruni, Kris Williams, and Adam Berry at this year's Reality Rocks Expo!

 

Ghost Hunters airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on Syfy.  Check your local listings.  HD channels offer different times for the show.

 

(Image courtesy of Syfy)

 

Contact Chad Alan at [email protected]