Haunted Houses - Indiana Dunes State Park

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2011-07-23 21:01

Indiana Dunes State Park


Why did we rate this "Confirmed"? Because multiple sources off the internet sites have experienced paranormal activity at this location & therefore warrants a rating of "Confirmed".

What's the tale? Diana of the Dunes as she is known was actually born Alice Mable Gray. The daughter of a well-to-do Chicago doctor. After a tumultuous break to a long-term love affair Alice moved to the remote dunes living on the sand of the dunes for a few days before finding an abandoned fisherman's shack. She moved into the shack and lived quietly. She traveled into nearby Miller, Indiana on foot for essentials and library books. The inhabitants of Miller found Alice to be a quiet, polite, kind woman but the same could not be said for those who came across Alice in the dunes. She was a naturalist and often swam in the nude. After a few stray fisherman found this and word spread voyeurs began to make Alice's tranquil life a living hell. Wives of the men who traveled to see her nude confronted Alice and she warned them away gun in hand. Sometime in the year 1920 Alice moved a man named Paul Wilson into her home. He was a wild hair himself and the two made a perfect match. He was an ex-con but did well living off the land. It was June 1922 when a few hikers found the rotting remains of a man. He had been strangled and authorities wasted no time in pointing their fingers at Paul Wilson. They went to arrest Paul and both Paul and Alice put up a fight. Paul was shot in the foot and Alice was cracked in the skull with the butt of a pistol. Paul was transported to jail and Alice to Mercy Hospital in Gary. The dead man was never identified and due to lack of evidence Paul was exonerated. Alice recovered and the two returned home to see their shack had been vandalized and their belongings gone. They moved to Texas but after a short stay they returned to the dunes. Shortly after their return Alice contracted uremic poisoning. On February 11, 1925 Alice died in the arms of Paul Wilson. Before she died she asked Paul to cremate her and spread her ashes over her beloved dunes but the authorities refused to let Paul build a funeral pyre so she was buried in Gary's Oak Lawn Cemetery. No one is sure where her body lies and at last Alice has found privacy. The site of her home is now covered by the homes of the development known as Ogden Dunes BUT a naked woman bathing at the dunes is still seen to this day. How she came to be known as "Diana" is unclear but Alice lives on at her beloved home.

What do we know as fact? Alice Mable Gray was a real woman born in Chicago, Illinois in 1881. She moved to the dunes in 1915 and lived there for seven years. She was not a complete hermit and there are articles in Indiana & Illionois (Chicago) papers about her. She provided guided tours of the area to those interested in learning about the dunes and she was among the first to participate in having the dunes declared a state park. However, the newspapers declined to focus on her mind & social contributions; instead they concentrated on the sex angle and while she was reported to swim in the nude they made it sound like she roamed the dunes constantly naked. The papers nicknamed her "Diana of the Dunes" and there used to be a beauty pageant held in her honor. She did live with a man named Paul Wilson beginning in 1921 and the two had a turbulent relationship. He was a furniture-maker who was rumored to have a short fuse and start fights. There was a murder in June of 1922 and the discovered body of a man led to Wilson being accused of being the murderer; he was later absolved of the crime. The fight was rumored to begin between Wilson & Eugene Frank who had been bringing curious sightseers to Gray's cabin. Wilson and Frank began fighting and Gray was badly injured in the fray. She died on February 11, 1925 and the exact cause of death seems unsure, it is reported as uremic poisoning but it is not fact. It is also unclear whether or not Wilson was holding Gray when she died. There are accounts Wilson had been arrested the night before and was in jail when Gray died.

Thoughts: There are many accounts of paranormal activity in the dunes by multiple sources, for that reason this location is confirmed haunted.

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