GHI Recap: San Lucas Prison

SAN LUCAS ISLAND, COSTA RICA, SAN LUCAS PRISON

From 1873 to 1991, San Lucas Island was a penal island for some of the worst criminals in Costa Rica. It is often erroneously cited as the largest prison in Costa Rican history. It was founded by the dictator Tomás Miguel Guardia Gutiérrez. Being sent to San Lucas Island was a terrible prospect as prisoners lives were short and often spent in torture. Ironically, Guardia abolished the death penalty a year after establishing the prison. The former buildings of the penal island are considered "Patrimonio de Cultura," or cultural heritage sites. The buildings include a historic dock that is still in use after the first dock was destroyed, a church, a medical building, temporary holding cells, a three story main office, a large concrete disc used to hold a water tank, and water pumps. In addition, there are prison cells of varying security levels depending on the prisoners' crimes. The prison cells contain the typical graffiti of older Latin American prisons, such as religious phrases, pornographic images, signatures, and drawings. There are also several water pumps and a cemetery under excavation on the island. (Wikipedia)

Dustin does not join the team on tonight’s investigation. San Lucas Prison is known to be the equivalent of Alcatraz Island, and has a very dark past. The prisoners were tortured, thrown in solitary confinement, and wore very tight shackles causing gang green. Some of the prisoners killed each other, and there are stories of a priest and nurse being murdered as well. It is an hour boat ride from the main land to the island which has just been recently opened to the public for tours. The gang meets Craig, the island manager, and then they all hop on the boat to the island. He has been giving tours for about three years and many or the tourists have reported strange activity while visiting the prison. Barry asked if there had been any escapes from the island and Craig said that there were only two prisoners that were never accounted for. He tells them that the average sentence for a prisoner was about seven years, with the average life expectancy being five years.

They arrive on the island and Craig starts the tour in the main central courtyard. There are seven cells that face the courtyard with a torture circle in the center. The prisoners would be punished especially if they were against the warden and thrown in the holes at the center of the circle. Being sent to San Lucas Prison was usually a death sentence. He next shows them inside one of the holding cells where about 17 prisoners could be held there at one time. In cell 5 he shows them all the graffiti and said that many of the tourist felt a strong pressure while in there. Craig shows them the nurse’s cell next and points out the two drawings of women on the walls. One drawing is of the nurse that was raped by five inmates and then cut to pieces. The story is told that the red bikini is made out of her blood but Craig doubts that story. A local fisherman reported hearing screams coming from that cell late at night. After touring the cells, they next head off to the church. There are stories that a priest was murdered in that church but Craig found no evidence of this. Robb asked if he was murdered wouldn’t it have been reported but Craig said probably not. The next place is the engine room which is a small walk from the church. This room was used to generate electricity for the entire prison. One eyewitness reported hearing the engine starting up and the voices of workers coming from that room. When he climbed up to the engine room and peeked in, he saw an apparition standing by the engine. He turned and quickly ran back to his office. After the engine room they were taken to the slaughter house. The door was locked shut so they were unable to get inside. There were numerous stories about stabbings in the slaughterhouse by the prisoners who had access to very sharp knives. Now that Craig has taken them to all the hot spots, they are ready to rock n’ roll and start investigating.

INVESTIGATION: They are plagued by the elements while setting up such as numerous bats, thunder and lightning. Robb and Barry head out first with the thermal camera and start in the main prison yard checking all the cells. Barry thought he saw something running through the prison. He said it looked like a pig. They decide to head down to the nurse’s cell when they hear a loud crash behind them. They flash the thermal camera around the area. They hear raindrops and a female voice moaning. They walk back to check it out and see a black mass.

Paul and Brandy start in the engine room with an EVP session. They both experience the feeling of being watched and heaviness around them. Brandy hears footsteps coming from the jungle and up to where they were standing. Paul then quickly turns around because he heard a male voice but sees nothing there.

In the torture circle we see Ashley and Barry doing an EVP session. They separate and they hear many noises on Ashley’s side of the circle. Ashley then hears a woman’s voice from her left side where the nurse was murdered. She hears it again which sounded like a woman crying. They investigate the area where the voice was heard and now Barry is hearing it. They find the drawing of the nurse, ask questions but get nothing.

Robb is now with Joe in the dispensary where the nurse worked. Robb speaks to the spirit in Spanish and English to see if he can get a response. They both hear a “psss” sound from behind them. Robb then sees something white move across the room. It looked like a form that moved from the door to behind Joe.

Having lots of activity in the dispensary, Robb sends Brandy and Paul in there. Immediately Brandy hears noises and Paul hears footsteps. Brandy then hears a female voice saying something next to her. That was about it, so they wrapped it up.

Robb and Joe head to the slaughterhouse but are unable to get inside because of the locked door. They do an EVP session outside the door asking for the spirit to let them in. Right afterwards they hear the door rattle but nothing else happened so they head off to the church to investigate it. While doing an EVP session, Joe hears a whisper and then they both hear a loud bang. Then they hear a female voice coming from another room but see nothing in there.

RESULTS: While Paul and Brandy were in the dispensary and asking a question, get got a reply that appeared to be saying, “It’s keeping me”, which sounded female. While Robb and Joe were in the dispensary he saw a white figure move across the room. Craig tells them that others have seen a white apparition of a young girl in that same area. Brandy and Paul picked up another voice in the dispensary after Paul said, “Can you come forward”. The voice replied “Yes”. The recorder picked up the door shaking at the slaughterhouse when Robb and Joe were outside. While in the cell with Ashley and Barry and the bats, they picked up a voice saying “Agua”. A still camera set up in the cell area caught a voice when no one was around. Robb felt the place was haunted but didn’t feel that there was any danger by the spirits that are still there.

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