Brownsville building attracts interest of paranormal investigators

Brownsville building attracts interest of paranormal investigators
June 15, 2010
Laura B. Martinez
The Brownsville Herald

BROWNSVILLE — Any historic building in Brownsville is bound to have a ghost story or two.

It’s enough to make nonbelievers believe and individuals who work in the buildings leave before dusk.

Built in 1912, the historic Dancy Building on East Monroe Street is one of the buildings that has its share of unexplainable occurrences. Stories have floated around that the late County Judge Oscar C. Dancy himself wanders the three-story building. Dancy served as county judge for nearly 50 years.

Elvia M. Alatorre has worked inside the Dancy Building, which houses several county offices, for about three years. She has heard and seen things that are unnerving at times.

Alatorre, who works in the county judge’s office, said she has seen shadows pass by and heard doors open and close when no one was around. She even has heard someone call her name.

“I would see shadows,” Alatorre said. “It was like someone wearing a hat. At first it freaked me out, but then I would just ignore it because I knew I had to come back to work” the next day.

Alatorre has no explanation for what she has experienced and she has learned to deal with the appearances.

“It doesn’t bother me anymore,” she said.

The Cameron County Commissioners Court hopes to get some answers about these strange happenings from RGV Paranormal Investigations. The group is requesting to conduct an overnight investigation of the Dancy Building.

The investigators want to do a walk-through on June 26 to gather photo and video evidence and monitor the area using its electronic voice phenomena, or EVP, equipment. The group said it would share its findings with the county. The Commissioners Court is expected to vote Thursday to approve RGV Paranormal Investigations’ request.

One of the city’s first cemeteries was unearthed in a parking lot across the street from the historic structure.

The gravesite on East Monroe Street dates back to 1848. Historical records indicate the graves were moved to the city’s new cemetery at the intersection of Fifth and Madison streets in 1850. But some graves remained behind, and bones were discovered in September 2004 during a project to renovate the Dancy Building.

County Judge Carlos H. Cascos said he has even heard things in his office when no one was around. They are sounds others have heard as well, he said.

“The toilet in the bathroom that is adjacent to my office every once in a while will flush by itself,” Cascos said. “I’ve heard similar stories that bathrooms will flush.

“I think (what the investigation reveals) would be interesting so people would know if there is paranormal stuff like that going on,” Cascos said. “If anything, it will make for good conversation.”

Maggie Perkild has worked at the Dancy Building for several years, including in the basement and at night sometimes.

“I was alone for hours and hours and I never heard anything,” she said, adding that maybe the ghosts were afraid of her.

Cameron County Precinct 2 Commissioner John Wood also said he has neither seen nor heard anything unusual in the building, although he has noticed a filing cabinet out of place when he walks into his office in the morning.

“There’s nothing out of the ordinary,” Wood said. “Sometimes there are things that happen in here and we wonder,” but we just go on with our work.