For men — even if you don't believe in the supernatural, I'm assuming that you love your partner. If your partner approaches you and claims to have these experiences, take them seriously and listen. You don't necessarily have to suddenly believe that spirits exist, but at least understand that your partner experienced something. She doesn't want to immediately hear things like "oh you're just being silly," or "well I don't believe in ghosts." Maybe what she is experiencing is explainable and non-paranormal, but for the moment, deal with her feelings and concerns. The rest can come later.

For women — If your spouse isn't immediately receptive, give him some leg room to come through. Experiencing the supernatural is weird enough, and for men who may not particularly believe in it, yet they love you, they may not know exactly how to deal with the situation right away. This is why they might start off trying to discount your experiences, to assure you that there's nothing to be afraid of. Most men in the relationship feel the need to be protective. So, for the protective male, hearing their loved ones describe being haunted by some unseen entity puts them between a rock and a hard place because they're not sure how to resolve the situation.

In the end, Cheryl and Bill were able to open up a dialogue of communication, and to my knowledge, were able to come to a mutual understanding about the whole situation.

VALIDATING CHERYL'S EXPERIENCES THROUGH HISTORY
One of the things I am pleased about with this case is that we were able to validate Cheryl's experiences through our historical research. We learned that the home used to be an old doctor's office. We learned that a woman, Emma, had died in what is now Adam's room, giving childbirth. According to Cheryl, Emma was the woman she and her grandson had seen. Cheryl got especially emotional when she learned about Alfred. According to Alfred's descendant, Meg, Alfred had a raspy voice due to throat cancer. He frequently smoked cigars and from a pipe. Cheryl looked at photos of Alfred when he was older, and she was sure that it was the spirit she had seen and heard.

Obviously, these are all subjective experiences that only Cheryl, Diane and Adam experienced. That being said, showing these photos and then learning about Emma and Alfred validated the experiences for Cheryl and Diane. It was emotional for Cheryl, who admitted that, at times, even she thought she was going crazy. But here he was in the photo albums, according to Cheryl, clear as day. It was proof positive for her that Alfred was indeed the man haunting her home.

Because Cheryl was 100% sure that this was the man we were dealing with, I decided to announce to this Alfred that he was dead and needed to move on. I also urged Cheryl to reclaim her home and tell Alfred to either respect her and her space or leave.

THE HAND PRINT
The thermal hand print that we detected ended up being explainable. It was from someone putting their hand on the wall a few minutes before I walked in to that room. We were later able to piece it all together.

THE VOICE
Very rarely do I experience direct paranormal activity. However, I do have to say that this one was rather unusual. I heard what sounded like a "go" or a "no" come from the dark room. It was definitely a chilling experience, because I heard it so clearly, though no one else near me did. Something was picked up on our tape recorders, and we're still trying to determine what the sound is.

REMODELING — A THEORY ABOUT SPIRITS
If we believe in all this spirit stuff, then in theory, an increase in activity due to remodeling makes sense. This is due to the spiritual roaming around what is familiar to them. In Cheryl's case, the alleged spirit of Alfred remained in his home that his family has owned for quite some time. Then, in comes a new family who start knocking down walls, ripping off the wallpaper and reconstructing the home. This could cause a spirit who continuously perceives, even in death, that they are living in their home to become confused. They might also be angered. Think of the movie, The Sixth Sense, with Bruce Willis. After Willis' character died, he constantly had trouble opening up the door to the basement where his old study used to be. Turns out, Willis died and his wife moved on, blocking the basement entrance. This was frustrating for Willis' spirit.

In all honesty, remodeling also opens up a lot of natural explanations, too. Drafts are common, as are sounds that resemble walking or knocking. Rodents might also be roaming around since their hiding spaces have been exposed.

FINAL DIRECTOR'S LOG
Is Cheryl's house haunted by the spirit of Alfred? We do not have any definitive proof of this. I do believe that Cheryl experienced something. Some of it we were able to explain away, but then other things, such as the voices, the touching and the remarkable descriptions that both Cheryl and Diane gave that matched up with Alfred and Emma, are unexplainable.

I later learned from Cheryl, of another unusual event that happened in the home. This time, Bill the skeptic experienced it. They both were sitting in their living room watching TV when all of a sudden, their lamp shade begins to slowly rotate. They both notice this. To their surprise, the lamp shade begins to spin faster and faster. And then it just stopped, as if some invisible hand grabbed on to it. Bill got up and desperately tried to find an explanation. None would be found. Cheryl also told me that Bill had an "experience" in the barn out back. Needless to say, according to Cheryl, Bill is a lot more open-minded when it comes to Alfred and Emma.

UPDATE
Cheryl (and now Bill) continues to experience supernatural phenomenon in their home. Adam claims to hear and see children in the home from time-to-time.

Cheryl has been in contact with Chip Coffey, a medium and frequent PRS consultant, as well as PRS, about the possibility of a second investigation.

So, for PRS, this case remains open and active.