Story/Question: I saw that plane going down. I worked at Touhy & Mannheim in Des Plaines and was coming back from a dentist appt driving west into the parking lot and saw the plane disappear, and then smoke. I did not go back to the office but continued to drive west on Touhy when I heard on the radio that a plane went down there. I immediately turned my car around and drove back to work because one of the girls, Nancy, I worked with lived there and her mother was home. I ran back into the office alerting everyone of what happened. She was hysterical and so I told her I would attempt to get her home to see what was happening. Because of all the black smoke and emergency vehicles the roads were closed. We attempted to get as close as we could and parked the car and walked to Touhy down Elmhurst Rd. It was an awful site and what I saw has stayed in my memories forever. When I had my daughter I needed a babysitter and Nancy said that a neighbor would like to watch her. Many mornings when I would drop my daughter off, as I entered the mobile home park and stopped at the first stop sign and made a right turn, the car would suddently get very cold. The car would be warm before that. It would stay cold until I was leaving the park. This is the area just along side where the plane went down and where the most homes were damaged. This bothered me for a long time. A few years ago I talked to Richard Crowe, Chicago's ghost hunter, about this. He was unaware of any strange things happening there. He had investigated it and found out that very strange things happen in the park. Doorbells ring and there is no one at the door. People ask about where their suitcases are, etc. So there are definitely hauntings in that park. -- Terry

response from Slim Pictures: 

Question: Do you know where anything Else other than where the old Gacy house was, (which we won't even go there) nor the the place where 191 went down. Someone on the internet found a cemetry in the forest perserve around here but I have lived here my whole life and have never found it.

Reply from Slim Pictures:

Story:  I was looking at your site.I love it. only one thing. you guys have one of the sites listed as the flight of 191... des plaines mobile home park. wrong! it was actually touhy mobile homes park. i know because i live there. the plane had crashed in the field next to the park.  The engine was laying on the ground down the street from where i now live. between trailer 67 & 66....... it was a horrible crash. I was not living here at the time. however i- like you guys live to find ghosts.

After living here for quite sometime. i can tell you that i feel alot of the horror here in the park from that crash. i just wanted you guys to correct the web page and say that it was touhy mobile home park.... not des plaines. des plaines is the next park over from  here. if you guys ever get the chance please come out here and check out the crash site......... i think you would find it to be interesting to say the least.....

Touhy mobile home park is located right next to the k-9 place.. the park right next to that one is called Des Plaines mobile home park.. I live on that side on the park ( the left side of the park closest to the k-9 place) The park that everyone lists in books is wrong. always has been. The landlord here is totally against bad raps that this trailer park gets from the airplane crash. When the accident happened I was living in Arlington hts. ( not too far away from des plaines ) When I moved here I had heard about the crash and began asking the local residents about the crash. I have always had a sort of "pull" to ghost sites.  After questioning a ton of people in here. I went to go look around the land behind my house. I can feel vibrations and you just " know" this place has several " ghosts."

But I can tell you that someone needs to come out here and check out this whole area. Over 200 people died when this plane went down. Some of the people were never found. My mother in law did clean up there on that night. I guess children were on the plane as well. I believe that these ghosts are what I call "recording ghosts" every year they repeat the same actions.

I am moving very soon. I bought a home in Antioch, IL. Have you guys heard anything about the history out there at all (Antioch H.S. Abbey Woods, etc.)? I do know the town was founded in 1853 or something like that. and that there was a huge fire around the turn of the century, claiming many lives. Also anything thats around water has some paranormal action to it.  Please let me know if you guys have anything on lake county at all. Esp. Antioch. -- Janet

Response from Slim Pictures:  Janet, as far as Antioch High School is concerned, there is no concrete edivence as to why it is haunted. One student died in the gymnasium and another died during a school-sponcered Halloween function, but it is the art wing in the basement of the school that is haunted. The haunting has been acknowledged by students, teachers, and the principal, although the principal is attempting to keep it quiet, ignore what's happening. Abbey Woods is actually the grounds of monastary, so, technically, even visiting the area is tresspassing. From what I've been told through interviews the area was very often used for "Fight Clubs" ever since the movie "Fight Club" came out. Also, I know one Antioch HS teen attempted suicide on the land, however they did not die. The amount of info on the location I've found so far is really not enough. That's why, after doing interviews, we decided not to include it in the book we put out.

However, "The Gate" (a Lake County Haunt), Antioch High School, and the crash of Flight 191 is in the book. I have not come across any Antioch hauntings relating to the fire, but you are absoluetely right that it's worth looking into further. Places like Antioch, Milburn, Waukegan, and Crystal Lake are really overshadowed in the ghost community by places like Lake Forest, Cuba township, and Justice, IL, and overshadowed in the historical community by Chicago and, again, Lake Forest despite the fact that these smaller towns have a long and rich history.  As far as "The Gate" is concerned, I have a page on my site that has pretty much everything I know on it. Check out www.slimpictures.com/thegate.htm.   Lastly, ghost images on film. I can say without a doubt that we've captured images on still photo film and on infrared videotape that we cannot fully explain. On video in Bachelor's Grove we captured strange lights and even the image of a boy on infrared video. In most images of the type it's a far-off blur, but in this case the boy is standing in front of a tree about four feet from the camera. Also, this image was only descovered upon returning home and watching the video again - we did not notice it at the time.  It's a very safe estimate to say we've visited known haunted locations - always with video and photo equipment - at least 500 times, but we never expect to see/experience/photograph anything unusual. It's rare that we ever do. saying this, we've had the most 'success' at Bachelor's Grove Cemetery (Midlothian) and Robinson Woods Indian Burial Grounds (Norridge).  All the best & keep your questions coming!

Response from Faeriesdust74 (a fellow reader): I am responding to a question about Antioch, IL. I attended Antioch High for a couple of years and never heard of hauntings, but that was back in the late '80s/early'90s. However, while I attended Antioch, many students died in crashes, suicides, and there was also a murder committed by a classmate against another classmate. I lived in Oakwood Knolls subdivision and had been to Abbey Woods often. There was many sighting in and around the Abbey itself. Antioch is also known to have been a retreat area for Al Capone. It's said he owned a house in Antioch and that it's haunted.

Haunted Chatsworth:

I currently live in Chatsworth, IL, which is known for one of the worst train wrecks in American history in 1887. I believe this town has many ghosts. It is a very small town of 1300 people. I bought an old house that was built in the late 1800s or early 1900s. I believe this house to be haunted. Often while taking pictures, many strange things show up in them and while walking on the stairs, people often feel as of they are being pushed. Several accidents have happened on these stairs. The attic door opens by itself and things are heard throughout the house as if people are moving about when I am the only one home. Have you heard of any other hauntings in this area?