NORTH FORK TIMES
Delta County Independent
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
B3
Local team captures the paranormal BY KATHY BROWNING Staff Writer
Many have been spooked at some time in their lives. A woman enters a stately room and admires the antique furnishings and then gets a chill as someone brushes past her. Yet she sees no one. How many times when one lays down to sleep does the house seem to come creepily alive. What are those creaks, footsteps or low moans? Some events can be attributed to a vivid imagination or fears. Others can be found to have a reasonable explanation. But, as for the rest? Those experiences where human senses detect something unexplained are classified as paranormal. Flipping through the channels on satellite TV reveals a variety of programs on ghost hunters doing paranormal investigations in homes, abandoned prisons, at international hotels and historic theaters in the U.S. A new enterprise has started in Hotchkiss known as Hotchkiss Paranormal Investigators (HPI). Founder Hec-
Zeferino and his team members Curtis Beauchamp of Hotchkiss and Troy Benson and Max Seeger of Gunnison do their ghost hunting out of a shared interest in the paranormal and to help people. They charge nothing for their investigations. This summer HPI will be investigating five locations in the old mining town of Cripple Creek. They have an appointment to investigate the famous Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, the setting for “The Shining” by author Stephen King. HPI’s motto is “FindPhoto by Kathy Browning ing Out the Truth.” They Hector Zeferino, (left) founder of Hotchkiss Paranormal Investigators, trains Jimmy Smith (right) in the techniques of capturing paranormal activity. HPI uses night vision video equipment to help in gathering evidence which is then analyzed. tor Zeferino grew up in the North Fork Valley attending pre-school in Paonia and receiving the rest of his education in Hotchkiss. His parents still live in Hotchkiss and his grandmother in Delta. His interest in the paranormal began when he was a child. “I’ve always been
interested in the paranormal,” Zeferino said. He never misses seeing “Ghost Hunters” with TAPS (The Atlantic Paranormal Society) on the SciFi channel every Wednesday. He shares e-mails with members of TAPS to learn from the successful group. Like HPI, they are based in a small town.
Staff Writer
Author Lucinda Delaney Schroeder kept the attention of every Rotarian in Paonia last Thursday as she told of one of her investigations. Schroeder wrote “A Hunt For Justice — The True Story of a Woman Undercover Wildlife Agent” about her adventures in tracking hunters illegally killing trophy bear, moose, caribou and Dall sheep in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. She worked as a special agent for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife for 30 years. “I did undercover work just as a tool,” she explained. “Sometimes cases can be investigated overtly, but sometimes it requires infiltration via a false persona doing undercover work to find out what is really going on,” she said. For the Alaska investigation, Schroeder began building her cover identity over 18 months in Wisconsin with a man who was a bar owner, guide and poacher. The local game warden had heard the man boasting about illegal game hunting in Alaska and wrote Schroeder. She visited the bar owner over a dozen times developing a friendship which would lead to her being able to go to the illegal Alaskan camp.
Photo submitted
All smiles then when these Spanish poachers in Alaska posed for a photo with Lucinda Delaney Schroeder (second from left) not realizing she was an undercover wildlife agent. The three were shocked when she would travel to Spain to complete her investigation against them. She gained valuable evidence while sitting in camp during a fog. She could translate their Spanish for others in the camp. The outfitter, pilot Bob Bowman, was very particular about who he would allow in the camp. “He preferred European hunters who could violate the law in the United States and leave and never be seen again,” Schroeder said. Schroeder was accepted into the camp because as a woman hunter she was a novelty, the bar owner/guide had recommended her and she also had photographs of her with big game she had shot during other investigations. Unfortunately to be accepted as
a poacher while investigating, Schroeder had to illegally kill game. Her game would then become evidence for her cases. “When I was in the Alaska camp, I did not carry any recording equipment,” Schroeder said. “Because it’s not natural for hunters to have recording equipment on them. And had it been found on me, I would have been in serious trouble.” She took detailed notes in a small notebook which she kept in a passport holder under her clothes 24 hours a
Alexis Halbert named Heart and Soul project coordinator The North Fork Vision 2020 project is progressing. The valley received a $100,000 grant to continue to work on a project to help position the North Fork Valley for a future that inspires the best for the community. Whether young or old, a businessperson, a farmer, a coal miner or a nonprofit organizer, the Heart and Soul process is about each one and the North Fork Valley. Since the beginning of this year, a good foundation for the two-year Heart and Soul process has been building. It is intended to unlock the potential of the valley. An essential part of working in the community is to form a Community Advisory Team that represents all facets of the North Fork Valley community. Team members provide leadership, legitimacy, skills, energy, sweat and time. They put the “local” in a local project, and as teammates they pull in the same direction toward concrete accom-
plishments. Anyone interested in joining the team, may respond by e-mail to northforkvision2020@ gmail.com. On March 5th at 6:30 p.m. at Memorial Hall, the Community Advisory Team will have its first gathering. North Fork Vision 2020 is partnering with Delta County Economic Development, the three North Fork towns, and the Chambers of Commerce and the Orton Family Foundation to share the tools and resources for the project. After a search of the North Fork area, a selection team representing the valley hired a parttime project coordinator, Alexis Halbert. She has been in the North Fork Valley for several years. Halbert is the president of the Paonia Chamber of Commerce and brings expertise in project management, organizing and community development. Halbert will be working with Sally Kane and Elaine Brett. Kane is a
well-known Crawford resident who grew up in Paonia and is an expert in leading organizations and in community facilitation. Brett is a Hotchkiss “newcomer” of eight years who has worked on promoting food and ag projects in the valley and is a business consultant and facilitator in organizations all over the world. At the end of February, they will attend a training session with representatives from other Heart and Soul communities including Essex Junction, Vermont; Gardiner, Maine; Polson, Montana, and Cortez, Colorado. The goal is to learn from each other. Together they will be designing a plan that will help guide the project for the next two years and involve all facets of the community. The team is planning a community “kick-off” in April and would like to hear from all those interested. Contact them at northforkvision2020@ gmail.com.
their spare time. Anyone who would like a paranormal investigation, may call 872-4426 and leave a message. Hector Zeferino can be found on facebook where he posts updates about his investigations.
HHS offers four comedies Hotchkiss High School’s Drama Club is presenting two evenings of dessert and one-act plays on Wednesday, Feb. 29, and Thursday, March 1. Show time each night is 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $8 for adults and high school students and $5
Undercover agent hunts for justice to stop poachers BY KATHY BROWNING
help people figure out what is happening at their property. Zeferino said he has never been afraid while doing an investigation. In fact, in his last three investigations people have not been afraid of the paranormal activity, but were seeking understanding and confirmation of what was actually happening. HPI has investigated homes, barns and other buildings in Hotchkiss. HPI uses video and audio recordings to try and catch activity. HPI team members have full time jobs and do the investigations in
day, seven days a week. She participated in two illegal hunts over her 11day camping trip in Alaska. She would be flown by plane and dropped off to a site inside the wildlife refuge selected by her guide. Hunters paid thousands of dollars to be flown into the wildlife refuge which guaranteed them a relatively fast trophy kill in a location where all hunting was illegal. For example, the pilot would herd grizzly bears right to the waiting hunter. The bear would have no chance to escape. The poacher would have his trophy photo with the dead bear and its hide to show off. Schroeder gained the confidence of the pilot Bob Bowman, the guides and the other hunters and got the evidence needed to bring convictions to the Americans. Foreigners were not charged because of no extradition between the U.S. and their countries of Germany and Spain. But the illegal outfitter service of Bob Bowman was shut down. Bowman served some time in prison. The poachers had to return their trophies. Schroeder retired from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife in 2004 and wrote her book in the same year. Lyons Press published her manuscript in 2006. Schroeder is now writing a book about one of her other investigations. She and her husband moved to Montrose because of her numerous visits to Colorado. Her husband is a wildlife biologist. “Poaching is violating the wildlife laws. It is exploiting animals. Sometimes people will poach a lot of deer to get a big rack that they can enter into a big rack contest. Sometimes they just shoot deer at night—that’s poaching —just because it’s fun. They like the thrill of riding around the woods at night and coming up on a deer and shooting it. Sometimes they’ll shoot a big sheep and sell the head. Any time there is money involved in the exploitation of wildlife it becomes very serious. The money drives the activity,” Schroeder said. Her book, “A Hunt For Justice,” has been profiled on national television three times, including on “Investigations Discovery.” The book can be ordered by email from Schroeder at ventana@aol.com or online through Amazon. com. Schroeder is available for presentations about her fascinating career.
for middle school students and under. Directed by Lenore Cambria and Susan Hamrick, the students will perform four, one-act comic plays featuring 27 Hotchkiss High School student actors. Don’t miss this entertaining night of dessert and live entertainment, brought by the Hotchkiss High School Drama Club.
Hotchkiss FFA Chapter
WORKDAY AUCTION & ALUMNI DINNER — Tuesday, March 20 — at Hotchkiss High School Commons Dinner • 5:30-7:00 p.m. Featuring All-You-Can-Eat
Rocky Mountain Oysters & Chicken Tenders Dinner $12 Adults • $5 Children (5-12)
WORKDAY AUCTION • 7:00 P.M. Workers sold as singles or pairs to work 8 hours for buyer For more information or tickets contact Teresa Burns at
270-4493
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