Investigators stand outside Kuhn Memorial State Hospital, in Vicksburg, Miss., where ghost hunters found the body of an apparent murder victim. (Photo by David Childers, via The Clarion-Ledger)
A group of Mississippi ghost hunters made a scary discovery Sunday, when they were snooping around near a shuttered hospital and came upon the remains of a woman who had been abducted from her home, police said.
The body of Wilson was found in a wooded area near Kuhn Memorial Hospital, which has been a favorite haunt of ghost hunters because of the dark maze of rooms and its reputation as a hotbed of paranormal activity. The unidentified ghost hunters called police after finding a body that was determined by the state Crime Lab in Jackson to be that 69-year-old Sharen Wilson, who disappeared the day before.
"Some spirits just need to be left alone."
"They stumbled upon the body, and they took off and reported it to the Warren County sheriff’s office," Vicksburg Police Chief Walter Armstrong said.
Police said they have two Vicksburg men in custody who were stopped Sunday morning in Leland for reckless driving in Wilson’s SUV, a 2012 Nissan Murano.
Akeem McCloud, 20, who was driving the vehicle, was being held Monday in Leland. His uncle, Raphael McCloud, 33, was the passenger in the SUV and was being held Monday in Vicksburg. The men were not immediately charged, but an investigation continued.
Police said the McClouds told authorities they had put Wilson out on the side of the road after robbing her home and kidnapping her on Saturday.
Police said it appeared there had been a disturbance at Wilson’s home, and her death is being investigated as a homicide. She was last seen around 9 p.m. Saturday and was reported missing at noon the following day.
Armstrong told The Clarion-Ledger that Wilson appeared to have trauma to her head. Witnesses said the woman's body was found outside the hospital but blood traces indicated she had been inside, according to the newspaper.
David Childers, co-founder of the Mississippi Paranormal Research Institute, was not among the ghost hunters who found the body, but told the Clarion-Ledger he is very familiar with Kuhn Hospital, and has conducted many ghost hunts there through the years. He said from what he saw inside Kuhn on Monday, it appears at one point Wilson was inside the hospital and was taken outside.
Raphael McCloud, (l.), and Akeem McCloud, (r.), are in custody in connection with the murder investigation. (Photo: Vicksburg Police Dept.)
"Kuhn Hospital has a lot of places inside and out that would be an ideal spot to place a body. In my opinion they should tear it down," Childers told the paper. "It's condemned and is open for things like this to happen. "It's an unsafe environment, there are open elevator shafts, black mold, asbestos, and debris, and people ought to stay away from that place."
"Some spirits just need to be left alone," he said.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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