Only 96 hours after the media broke a story about a mother in Gary, Indiana, who had told public officials she and her family were possessed by demons, the home in which they had all lived at one time was bought for $35,000. It was purchased by Zak Bagans, who is best known for being the host, but is also the executive producer of the spooky show Ghost Adventures on the Travel Channel. He made an offer to buy the home on Wednesday. It is located on Carolina Street in the city of Gary.

There have been numerous cries for interviews with Latoya Ammons from media sources in over a dozen countries since her story broke, which told of strange events that happened to Ammons and her three children, along with the local government’s response to her. Her demon story caused the first set of a series of exorcisms to be performed by the current bishop of the Catholic Church’s Diocese of Gary. However, such feeling about Ammons’ situation has taken almost everyone who is closest to the state of affairs by complete surprise.

Ammons stated that she expected there would be some kind of attention from the story, especially in her hometown, but that she never dreamed it would go viral. She now resides in Indianapolis and said that even there she has had strangers show up at her front door, barraged her Facebook page and have pretended to be a friend of hers. She was looking into accepting interview requests from national media venues, such as CNN as well as talking to some movie producers but, as of Wednesday she had only agreed to talk to Inside Edition.

All the attention has not been good, explained Ammons. She now refuses to look at any of the social media sites after she saw all the negative comments about her and her family. She added that people could post whatever they wanted to but she was tired of all the backlash. Rev. Michael Maginot who serves as a priest in Merrillville, was the pastor who investigated the Ammons house and, in due course, directed a series of exorcisms on LaToya herself. He stated that he was actually surprised that the case has stirred up so much interest. Rev. Maginot has decided he will give a series of interviews on television, including one on The O’Reilly Factor.

Gary, Indiana police Capt. Charles Austin, who was one of the police authorities who investigated Ammons’ statements, declared that he actually expected such attention and believed the story would likely be turned into a movie. He added that was because of his knowledge in law enforcement and the things he had done through his police career and what he saw at Ammons house that he had never seen before in his life. Some of the things that supposedly went on in the demon house were the kids would growl, their eyes would roll back in their heads and they would threaten people. One was said to even move backwards up a wall and then flip over. Yet another was said to levitate. There were numerous witnesses to these happens, not just other family members. Austin, members of the Department of Child Services and also child psychologists were there to see a lot what the children went through, so much that there was an 800-page record kept on file of the family. Ultimately, police gave up and actually called in the Catholic Church.

The events actually seemed to begin with flies showing up on the porch in the winter. After that, more strange things occurred, such as shadowy figures moving around rooms, and boot prints showing up on the floor. The family would hear footsteps in the basement when no one was down there. One evening Ammons heard her daughter, age 12, screaming for her from her bedroom. When she got there, she found the girl levitating over her bed. After this, all the kids, ages 7, 9, and 12 become “possessed”. Their eyes would bulge out. They would speak in scary voices and give evil grins.

Various people were called in to help, such as doctors, police and paramedics. DCS was also called but the events kept happening. When DCS was at the home, the youngest boy growled and rolled his eyes back in his head. He also began strangling his brother and had to stopped by an adult. Finally the priest was called and asked to perform an exorcism on the 9-year-old. Rev. Maginot investigated further and spent hours interviewing the kids. When police were going through the demon house, they had strange things happen to them. Their audio recorders messed up and cameras took weird photographs. The hardest of cops were now scared. Rev. Maginot also received permission from a Bishop to perform an exorcism on Ammons. So he ended up doing at least three exorcisms on her alone. Finally she and the kids moved out of the house when she had enough money and moved to Indianapolis.

Austin, who explained that at first he was a skeptic but has become a believer, has been contacted from the media in over 20 countries, including the United Kingdom, France and Australia. He admits that he is enjoying this short taste of fame. But he explained that he would not go back into Ammons house unless it was required for an investigation. He said that he knows that there is evil in that house, and that evil is always there. A person has no idea what he or she may run into if they go back inside.

However, numerous psychologists have evaluated Ammons and all her children and have come to a different decision. They believe that her fascination with demons is a part of a “delusional system” and have attempted to teach her other ways of understanding how her children behave. Bagans stated that he has yet to decide what he will do with the house once the sale has gone through, although it is most likely he will be doing research into the claimed paranormal activity. He added that what he does on television is not just entertainment. He actually does have a strong passion for the paranormal and the researching part. Charles Reed, who was the owner of home up until Bagans bought it, also stated that the media attention for the home was unbelievable. However, now that it has sold only 96 hours after the media broke the story about it, the demon home is really going to get noticed.

By Kimberly Ruble

Sources:

USA Today

The Belfast Telegraph

The Indianapolis Star

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