Doede House - Wausau, Wisconsin

Doede Residence (Old Miller House) Wausau, Wisconsin

Doede Residence (Former Miller House) – Wausau, Wisconsin

History

The property at 1314 Grand Avenue in Wausau, Wisconsin is a historic Queen Ann styled home that was built by John Drisko in 1894 for his wife and family. During the summer of that year Mr. Drisko suffered heat stroke and it was said he wasn’t quite the same after his recovery. Some days later Drisko went to the barn at the rear of the property and hung himself there. After his death his wife Carrie hired a contractor to have the house finished. She then sold the house to Judge Henry Miller in 1898. Henry died in 1920 and his wife followed in 1924. The Miller family then sold the home to the John Sell family. They resided in the home until the 1950’s. During the 1960’s into the 1970’s it was believed to be used as a boarding house. By the late 1970’s the home had become derelict and was slated to be demolished. Thankfully it was saved from the wrecking ball and purchased by Natural Concepts. The house was then moved in 1982 from its original site about 350 feet south to its current location. The house was then used as a business venue until 2014 when it once again became vacant. The current owner Adam Doede recently purchased it and is in the midst of renovating it back to its earlier glory.

Paranormal Activity Reported

The family has experienced the following activity since taking ownership of the property in 2018.

Tear drop shaped light seen in the house that moved across the room and then disappeared.

When the house was used as a business, items would often go missing. When employees would ask for the items to be returned they would be found at another location in the house.

Cold spots or cold areas felt when activity occurs.

Dark shadow seen that appears to be lower to the ground, usually seen near the family’s dog.

Sound of someone working in an adjacent room when no one is present in that room.

Footsteps heard from the upstairs area when no one is in the upstairs area.

Often the sounds of a door being opened in an unoccupied room can be heard. Upon checking the room no door has been found to be moved from its original position.

The family dog has been seen playing with an unseen presence in a particular upstairs room nearer the staircase.

Sometimes a strong feeling of a presence is felt.

Investigation

Blaschka, Williams, Duginski, von Gnechten, Beaudry and Syring arrived at the property on November 16, 2019 at 5:00PM. We met with the clients and they gave us a walk-through of the home while explaining the activity they have experienced. After the tour of the home our team split up to place our equipment for the evening. I opted in this particular case to have the home owners and their pet stay in the house with us on this first visit to their home. I felt that the owners may be helpful in our attempt to communicate with the unseen entities that reside within the home. Also, the family dog has reacted to something unseen on many occasions and it was my hope that the dog could be observed if this was to occur during our investigation.

We decided to use (5) DVR zero lux cameras during this investigation. The following cameras were placed accordingly.

Camera #1 – Placed facing the front door entry way area.

Camera #2 – Placed facing the living room area.

Camera #3 – Placed in the upstairs room where the dog has been seen playing on its own. The room is known to us as the “dog room.”

Camera #4 – Placed in the master bedroom.

Camera #5 – Placed in the 2^nd floor hallway facing the “dog room”.

We conducted several EVP sessions on both the first and second floors of the home. Some of those sessions included the home owners participating with us. During those sessions some minimal results were achieved. Three separate audio recordings were captured during the living room sessions. What was captured is most likely speech but is so faint that it is unintelligible. Another audio recording was captured in the “dog room” where an unrecognizable male voice is heard saying “Kristin”. It seemed to be answering a question that was asked by a group member during the session. It was also in this room around the time of the captured audio that investigator Syring saw a red spot of light appear on the wall for just a few seconds and then disappeared.

Base line readings were obtained of the entire house. Temperature readings and energy levels were all within a normal range with no anomalous unexplainable spikes in the magnet field.

On two separate occasions during the evening investigators Syring and Blaschka noticed the movement of a curtain at the midway section of the main staircase. Upon inspection we found no draft from the window and no heat vents nearby that could have caused this.

Upon review of nearly 100 infrared photographs nothing paranormal could be detected. Review of the DVR footage did not show any signs of paranormal activity.

Conclusion

In closing we did not capture a great deal of what could be considered paranormal activity. The movement of the curtain, the captured EVP evidence and the experiences that the clients have had seems to point to the fact that the homeowners are most likely experiencing paranormal activity. Further investigation of the site would be needed to draw a better conclusion as to who may be haunting this residence.

INVESTIGATION – AUGUST 1, 2020

Once again we gained permission and returned to the old Miller house to investigate further the claims of it being haunted. This time the house would be unoccupied by the owners and the team would be able to do a more thorough investigation of the home. We converged on the site at approximately 7 o’clock PM. Present at this investigation were Blaschka, Duginski, Cruz, Abrams and Beaudry. After a brief walk-thru, we decided to utilize five DVR camera’s in the home. We placed camera #1 at the top of the staircase looking downward. Camera 2 was placed in the living room facing east. Camera 3 was placed in the attic facing northeast. Camera 4 was placed in the basement looking toward the stairs and camera 5 was placed in the upstairs bonus room or what we commonly refer to as the “dog room.”

Once cameras were in place and recording we decided to conduct some EVP sessions. The first session we decided to concentrate on the “dog room”. We refer to this as the dog room because often the family’s dog “Wendy” will go to that room and play with someone or something unseen. We created a list of ten standard questions to be asked and planned to have each investigator go to that room, one at a time with an audio recorder and ask those specific questions. The result we wished to achieve would be twofold, capture any responses to the questions and hoped that by each investigator asking the same questions whatever resides there would have the ability to speak to whom they feel more comfortable with. During those sessions only one response was heard. Investigator Abrams picked up a very subtle male voice say, “Hello” when asked if Mr. or Mrs. Drisko were present.

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Another session was conducted in the attic by investigators Cruz and Blaschka. During that experiment a burst of light or energy was witnessed by Cruz immediately followed by an audibly recorded voice that sounds like a female sigh or moan. Further EVP sessions were conducted in the basement, staircase and living room with no results.

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Several dozen photographs were taken in all areas of the home. Some with just a plain digital camera as a “control photo” and the rest were captured with an IR and infrared camera. Later review of these photos produced one photo that may be paranormal in nature. It was taken in the attic from the top of the stairs. You can plainly see a white mist at the base of the stairs. I cannot say it is absolutely paranormal in nature but also can’t reasonably explain what may have caused the image.

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Mist At The Bottom Of The Attic Steps

Review of the DVR footage obtained did not show anything in the way of paranormal activity. Orb’s were seen moving in the upper main staircase area as well as in some other areas of the home but were more than likely dust particle refractions from the IR lights. On various occasions our vibration detectors were set into alarm in the upstairs area but I feel that it was caused by the heavy traffic that passes by the house. Our Rem Pods did activate at times of which I have no reasonable explanation for that activity.

In conclusion some paranormal evidence was obtained and I certainly do believe that something other earthly resides in the old mansion. Based on our EVP capture in the “dog room”, I feel confident that the original builders of the house (the Drisko’s) still reside within. We plan to continue to conduct investigations in the coming future at the site with the client’s blessings. Upon follow up with the owners, I was told that activity had increased after our visit to the home. Normally this is not our goal with our client’s but in this case the client was pleased to have the activity once again more interactive within the home. The client stating that they had missed the paranormal activity within.

INVESTIGATION – JUNE 11, 2022

We again gained permission and returned to the former Miller house to investigate any further paranormal claims since our last visit in August of 2020. On this investigation the house would be unoccupied by the owners and the team would be able to do a thorough investigation of the premises. We converged on the site at approximately 4 o’clock PM. Present at this investigation were Blaschka, Brown, Coscio, Christiansen and Beaudry. After a brief walk-thru, we decided to utilize four DVR cameras in the home. Investigator Brown had recently purchased a wireless DVR system. Therefore, we decided to try this new piece of equipment out for this case. We placed camera #1 looking west through the dining room toward the back hallway of the house. Camera #2 was placed in the attic facing west toward the stairs. Camera #3 was placed in the attic staircase and aimed downward to capture the second-floor staircase as well. Camera #4 was placed in the upstairs sitting room, panning across the room toward the stairs.

In speaking with the client, I was made aware of a few new paranormal events that had occurred since our last visit. The client explained to me that one evening while walking down the 1^st floor hallway that led to the back of the house, he heard a young girl’s voice say, “Be careful”. He did not see anyone in the area, and he was quite alone at the time. It should be noted that the area he was walking through used to be the original opening to the basement staircase. We feel that possibly the spirt girl was warning the client so as not to fall.

On another evening, the client was home alone and sleeping on the couch in the living room. Suddenly in the middle of the night he was awakened by the sound of many people moving and talking in the 2^nd floor area of the house. He stated that he listened for several moments and then placed his feet on the floor to investigate. The moment he did the sounds ceased. He went upstairs and found nothing out of place and no one present.

Once the clients left for the evening, we placed several other pieces of equipment throughout the house. Motion sensors were placed toward the hallway going to the back door, one angled up the stairs to the attic, one facing the stairway in the attic and one facing the bathroom near the 2^nd floor sitting room. A vibration detector was placed on the midpoint landing going into the attic. One Rem Pod with a K-2 meter was placed in the dining room next to several trigger objects that belonged to Mr. and Mrs. Miller. The other Rem Pod was placed in the hallway leading to the back door of the house. We also used a Paranormal Puck throughout the night in various areas of the house.

We began to conduct several EVP sessions in different locations during the evening. Sessions were kept to one at a time to not contaminate each other’s sessions. Our first session was in the basement. No paranormal activity was captured there. Our 2^nd session was in the upstairs sitting room. During that session we captured very faint male speech nearer the beginning of the session. Unfortunately, the words captured were so faint that nothing can be clearly heard. Our third session was conducted in the attic and nothing was captured there. Our forth session was conducted in the living room and the Estes Method was used, During the session a young girls voice was heard giggling and various other child voice or sounds were detected. Also some minor responses were captured on the Paranormal Puck.

After the session was complete some other personal observations were experienced. Investigators Brown and Blaschka both felt and odd vibration sensation. Brown felt if in her right hand and seconds later Blaschka felt the sensation in his left chest area. The sensation was comparable to a phone on vibration mode. Just minutes later, investigator Beaudry felt a very strong pressure against his tailbone making him fall slightly forward. The incident left him with a tingling sensation for several minutes afterward.

Our fifth and final EVP session was conducted in the dining room. For this session we decided to use some trigger objects. We had several books that belonged to Judge Miller and his wife. We also had a ladies purse watch that was given to Judge Miller’s wife in 1874. Unfortunately, no results were obtained during the session.

Review of our DVR footage nothing of interest was captured.

In conclusion, we did experience some events that could not be explained reasonably, especially the activity in the living room. Also it should be noted that several pieces of our equipment suffered a complete drainage of battery power. Both Rem Pods had drained batteries and a Go Pro camera lost its power very quickly. I feel that paranormal activity is present in the home but not harmful to anyone. We hope to continue our research as the site from time to time with the blessings of the owners.