BELMONT COUNTY, OHIO (WTRF) – Halloween is Sunday night, which means we’ve come to the end of our Haunted Ohio Valley series. For our final installment, 7News traveled out to Egypt Valley with two local paranormal investigators to learn about one of the most gruesome chapters in the history of Belmont County….The Tragic Tale of Louiza Fox.
On an old gravel road in Belmont County, bathed in moonlight, I traveled out to Salem Cemetery investigate the local legend of Louiza Fox. I joined up with Tamara Hess and Tracy Johnston of the Belmont County Spirit Seekers, two experts on the paranormal, and local history.
“Louiza Fox was a thirteen year old girl, that had been more or less stalked by Thomas Carr, a gentleman that wanted to marry Louiza. Louiza’s family was completely against marrying at that young age.”
Tamara Hess, Belmont County Spirit Seekers
Local lore says that Carr was a Union soldier with a history of alcoholism and violence. Sadly, the good judgment of Louiza’s family wasn’t enough to save their daughter from her grim fate at the hands of the 22-year-old coal miner.
“Thomas Carr, back in 1869, stalked her, on her, she was walking on her way home with her brother, and she was murdered by Thomas Carr out on Starkey Road, and there’s another monument that also shows the site where she was murdered.”
Tamara Hess, Belmont County Spirit Seekers
Many have claimed to see Louiza’s ghost at the site of her death. As for Carr, he attempted suicide before he was caught. After being treated, he was sentenced to death just days later. Thomas Carr is said to be the first person hanged in Belmont County.
As though to add insult to injury, Louiza’s grave was desecrated upon my arrival. The headstone knocked to the ground. There were also decayed tokens left by fellow visitors. We used a variety of ways to try and contact Louiza, and on this night….the dead were not quiet. Something set off one of their devices.
“We’ve gotten responses to questions, it’s electronic voice phenomenon, and that’s EVP, so we have caught many, many things.”
Tracy Johnston, Belmont County Spirit Seekers
“And you just never know. You’re not always going to catch something every time when you’re ghost hunting, but you have to be patient, and every once in a while you will catch something that is very interesting.”
Tamara Hess, Belmont County Spirit Seekers
So did we encounter the tortured soul of Louiza Fox in that graveyard? Was it another spirit? A glitch in the matrix? We’ll never know, and perhaps we shouldn’t. Some answers just aren’t meant for the world of the living.
But what is clear is that on Halloween, everyone’s entitled to one good scare.
