Pinebox Paranormal Joins The Raven’s Report

We are pleased to announce that two investigators from Pinebox Paranormal are now contributing reporters for the Raven’s Reort.  Pinebox Paranormal runs a book and music store downtown and also work as Paranormal investigators and have had their own magazine for the past 15 years.  The company was started by Dr. Austin Slade, professor of Investigative Journalism at East Texas University.

“We need to know what’s out there.  You can see the truth if you keep your eyes open,” Dr. Slade discussed many issues at the announcement party.  “Writing the Pinebox Paranormal Report is easy.  Suffice it to say that it practically writes itself these days: never a shortage of material in this small town.”

Besides Dr. Slade, we are also welcoming Paranormal Investigative Reporter Patty Wak.  Look for their selected stories in future issues of The Raven’s Report.

Naked Man Causes Accident; Gets Busted Headlights

After 15 years of chasing stories around Pinebox, one came right through our front door on Saturday . . . literally.

Jack Bonner, a Pinebox resident, decided to strip free of all his clothes and race into the middle of Main Street in an attempt to throw himself in front of a 2005 Suburban driven by David Grant.

Mr. Grant swerved to miss the naked man and Mr. Bonner was not struck by the Suburban, however he was unable to miss our storefront. At this point, no one had been injured and the damage caused by the now totaled Suburban was structurally insignificant.

Mr. Bonner stated that his actions were not an effort to commit suicide, but rather an attempt to ‘scare’ a possessive entity from within his body. “It worked.” He said, when asked about the success of his plan. “I feel better than I have in months!” I wish we could say the same for Mr. Grants Suburban.

Though we here at Pinebox Paranormal can appreciate Mr. Bonners’ predicament, Mr. Grant was less understanding and left Mr. Bonner with a broken nose and dislocated jaw.

Both men left in the custody of the Pinebox Police Department.

Elevator in Applied Sciences Building Malfunctioning

photo by: Jake Miller

photo by: Jake Miller

While city fire crews cleared all security and electrical systems for normal operation in the Applied Sciences, students are still reporting odd behavior relating to the building’s north elevator. Since Sunday’s power loss, students and faculty using the elevator have reported flickering lights, sudden movement while going up and down floors and as many as four complete failures have been reported.

Additionally, students have reported travel time for the elevator becoming unpredictable. “Sometimes going from the first up to the fourth takes half a minute, sometimes it takes five minutes. Even with no stops in between. I might as well just take the stairs!” reported an exasperated student rushing to class after exiting the North elevator.

ETU Building Services has also informed the Report that they’ve received reports of electrical devices such as laptop computers and portable hard drives have been erased after taking the elevator. Additionally, both digital and mechanical watches are acting erratically after a short trip.

The elevator has been shut down until it can be complete diagnostics are performed. Students are advised to use either of the two other elevators or the stairs to get to their classes on time.

Cushing Estate to Auction Valuables for Charity

The estate of wealthy Pinebox former resident Phoebe Cushing will be auctioned off this July and the proceeds will go to various charities in and around Golon County. The auction has been anticipated since Cushing’s death in September, but legal challenges by her surviving children have delayed the event. A recent out-of-court settlement between the survivors and the Cushing estate has cleared the way for Dallas-based Chelsea Public Sales to make its announcement.

Phoebe Cushing was a longtime resident of Pinebox and was the heir to the Golon Lumber Company fortune and 99 years old at the time of her death. Her husband, Max Cushing, passed away in 1993 from complications from an auto accident. She spent her final years administering several charitable organizations in Pinebox.

The estate sale will take place July 23 at the Cushing residence and will be available via the Internet on the Chelsea Public Sales web site. Harold Biggs, chief auctioneer, also anticipates that several bidders will observe via closed circuit television and have agents present at the event. The auction is open to the public but bidders must register with Chelsea Public Sales and make a deposit of $1000 before bids will be accepted.

“An auction like this comes around once a decade, perhaps once in a generation, and we have already been contacted by a number of private collectors,” Biggs said in a telephone interview. “Although all of the Cushing estate offers an excellent value for collectors, there is considerable interest regarding the Cushing compilation of rare books, exotic curios from around the world, and extensive art collection.”

From the Ashes, the Raven will rise again

While all of you are aware of the fire that destroyed the offices of The Raven’s Report, there’s more to the story that we’ve had to keep quiet for nearly 7 months now. Slowly, you began to see our reporters write fewer and fewer news articles until in September of last year publication of the Report ceased altogether when our newsroom caught on fire trapping and killing student staff photographers Jake Miller and Sara Marshall.

In addition to the deaths of our friends, senior staff members—myself included—were abducted from our homes, rendered unconscious and forced to reside isolated in a concrete and steel vault in a location that is still unknown. Following the abduction, remaining Report staffers received messages threatening them if they continued writing for the Report—messages signed with the familiar closing: “Those with no eyes are watching.” These demands were shown to campus President Nelson who immediately issued a moratorium postponing The Raven’s Report publications.

Three days ago, other Report staffers and I were returned to our homes in much the same way we were taken. We remember very little of the events that occurred there. We are all shaken and afraid. Who or what could have done this so quickly to all of us? What had we uncovered that made an organization with such obvious resources take note?

While some of us have become more dedicated to finding out what happened and why we were taken, others were affected by the events and have left campus—possibly Pinebox—without a word. For the time being, The Raven’s Report will only be produced through this website, and without our offices available to us articles published will be more infrequent than in times past.

We have established a Twitter feed @theravensreport so that we can send immediate reports out quickly and notify our readers as soon as posts can be created on this site. If you have any information about the abduction or deaths of Jake and Sara please contact the Report or President Nelson immediately. Our apologies for the delays in our publication, we hope you understand.

Be careful ETU, those with no eyes are watching all of us.

Bodies of Missing Parachutists Found

Village Creek, Big Thicket

Village Creek, Big Thicket National Forest

The Golon County Sheriff’s Office announced on Wednesday that the bodies of two parachutists who went missing following a jump over Pinebox have been recovered from Big Thicket National Forest. Ellie Castle and David Wang were part of the Texas Air Rangers performing aerial acrobatics for a June 19 skydive over the Pinebox Athletic Field. Castle and Wang were seen with the Rangers until they broke apart to open their parachutes, but were not with those who landed at the softball field. A search had been undertaken by the Sheriff’s Office and Golon County Search & Rescue but was called off on June 26, a week after the two went missing.

Sheriff Butch Anderson declined to comment on where the bodies were found but said that hikers had reported seeing brightly colored cloth in the treetops of a particular area, which prompted his office to investigate. Anderson refused to speculate on what may have caused the accident but did state that it appeared that neither skydiver had opened their parachute. An investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration is under way and Anderson said the FAA report would provide further details when released. He referred questions regarding the FAA investigators to his secretary, who has not returned repeated calls as of press time.

This reporter has learned that the pilot of the aircraft used by the Texas Air Rangers made radio contact with the Golon County Airport shortly after the team jumped. Pilot Gus Swisher reported violent air currents, instrument failure, and that he was in danger of colliding with “unusual” nearby aircraft. No other aircraft are known to have been in the area at the time of the jump.