Post by Neil on Oct 31, 2008 10:24:50 GMT -8
Queen of Richmond Now Idle October 31
Crews not willing to sail on Hallowe'en
Nanaimo Daily Free Press
rep: Edward Gein
10/31/08
It was a cold, blustery October 31st some fifteen years ago as the Queen of Richmond ploughed through heavy seas on her way from Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay. A light load of passengers hunkered down in the lounges with few venturing out into the wind and darkness on deck. The jack'o lantern in the gift shop, some decorative cobwebs in the cafeteria and a few costumed witches and ghouls roaming the boat spoke to the spirit of the evening.
Passenger Mark Horowitz was reading his newspaper in the bow lounge when he noticed a disturbance. “There was a couple outside, arguing. She was blonde, kind of small, wearing a red hoody with Mickey Mouse on it. She was leaning back against the rail,and looked really upset. He was a big guy, and he was waving his arms around.... I felt a bit uneasy because he looked kind of threatening. It was weird, too, because it was such an awful night. I wondered why they were out there.”
Horowitz said the argument seemed to die down, and the man took the woman's arm and led her, somewhat unwillingly, away. He didn't see the couple again during the sailing.
As the boat was docking, Horowitz made his way down to his car, and walked past a brown Ford F150, where he noticed the man, sitting alone. “I figured she'd gotten steamed off, and had walked off the boat without him. I didn't really think too much more about it.”
Four days later, Horowitz saw a picture in the paper of a woman missing since Hallowe'en night. He was shocked to recognize the upset face he had seen on the windy deck of the ferry. “I called the police to tell them what I'd seen. I described the guy as best I could.”
His evidence was what got the ball rolling in the criminal case that eventually saw Emile LaBrosse sentenced to fifteen years for the second degree murder of twenty seven year old Katie Schellenberg. He was parolled six years ago, over the protest of Schellenberg's family.
The court case did not end the drama of the story. The year after the murder, on an late evening October 31st sailing, a passenger onboard the 'Richmond was on deck, smoking a cigarette, when she heard faint cries coming from the water off the stern. She looked over and saw a figure thrashing in the frigid water, attempting to stay up. Crew were alerted, the ferry turned around, but no body was found.
That was only the start. On subsequent October 31sts, passengers reported seeing an apparition, always blonde haired, wearing a red hoody, sometimes walking the deck, sometimes in the water, calling for help. One woman was terrified to look over the side of the ferry and see a pair of hands clutching the rubbing strake before letting go. Ferry crew got used to the schedule being disrupted by the necessity of turning the boat around to search for a body that was never found, and of passengers being frightened by the pale, emaciated figure they thought they had seen on deck. One elderly man fainted when, after being tapped on the shoulder while standing at the rail one evening, he turned to see a diaphanous figure with no eyes and thin stringy blonde hair draped with seaweed. On one occasion, Captain Culnaej Dracip reported seeing the ghostly figure on the bridge, and claimed the ship's helm was turning back to the spot where the reports mostly originated. BC Ferries' management never commented on the stories directly, and some crew members grew frustrated with an attitude that they felt implied doubts about their sanity.
Two years ago, the story took a turn that even BC Ferries conservative management could not ignore. On October 31st, 2006, Katie Schellenberg's killer boarded the Queen of Richmond's final sailing of the day from Nanaimo to the mainland. Emile LaBrosse had made a new life for himself as a drywaller in Duncan, and was travelling to visit his mother on the mainland. Midway through the voyage, he told two friends travelling with him that he was not feeling well, and was going out on deck to get some fresh air.
Passenger Gurdip Singh Sanghera was he last to see LaBrosse alive, and he will never forget what transpired. “I saw the guy on deck, it looked like he was arguing with someone, but I couldn't see anyone there. He started screaming, and then I saw this figure, this woman, but I could see right through her... she had this red hoody on, and he started backing up to the rail... she was making this horrible sound, I've never heard anything like it, this gurgling moaning sound, and I could see the her skull, and the bones in her fingers....she put her hands around his neck and pushed him harder against the railing, and he kept on screaming 'No, No'.... then he went over...”
Sanghera said he was frozen in fear where he stood, but when the apparition turned to look at him with what he said looked like a ghastly smile, he ran swiftly inside and notified a crewman. “I felt like a crazy man, but I know what I saw. It was horrible. The strange thing was, the people on the ferry didn't seem that shocked."
LaBrosse's body was found a month later, washed up on the south east corner of Gabriola Island. Police ruled it a suicide.
BC Ferries, again, did not comment on Sanghera's story, or on the crew's ongoing tales of October 31st anomalies, but the company has since scheduled the Queen of Richmond for refit at the end of October, and they say that policy will continue.
Crews not willing to sail on Hallowe'en
Nanaimo Daily Free Press
rep: Edward Gein
10/31/08
It was a cold, blustery October 31st some fifteen years ago as the Queen of Richmond ploughed through heavy seas on her way from Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay. A light load of passengers hunkered down in the lounges with few venturing out into the wind and darkness on deck. The jack'o lantern in the gift shop, some decorative cobwebs in the cafeteria and a few costumed witches and ghouls roaming the boat spoke to the spirit of the evening.
Passenger Mark Horowitz was reading his newspaper in the bow lounge when he noticed a disturbance. “There was a couple outside, arguing. She was blonde, kind of small, wearing a red hoody with Mickey Mouse on it. She was leaning back against the rail,and looked really upset. He was a big guy, and he was waving his arms around.... I felt a bit uneasy because he looked kind of threatening. It was weird, too, because it was such an awful night. I wondered why they were out there.”
Horowitz said the argument seemed to die down, and the man took the woman's arm and led her, somewhat unwillingly, away. He didn't see the couple again during the sailing.
As the boat was docking, Horowitz made his way down to his car, and walked past a brown Ford F150, where he noticed the man, sitting alone. “I figured she'd gotten steamed off, and had walked off the boat without him. I didn't really think too much more about it.”
Four days later, Horowitz saw a picture in the paper of a woman missing since Hallowe'en night. He was shocked to recognize the upset face he had seen on the windy deck of the ferry. “I called the police to tell them what I'd seen. I described the guy as best I could.”
His evidence was what got the ball rolling in the criminal case that eventually saw Emile LaBrosse sentenced to fifteen years for the second degree murder of twenty seven year old Katie Schellenberg. He was parolled six years ago, over the protest of Schellenberg's family.
The court case did not end the drama of the story. The year after the murder, on an late evening October 31st sailing, a passenger onboard the 'Richmond was on deck, smoking a cigarette, when she heard faint cries coming from the water off the stern. She looked over and saw a figure thrashing in the frigid water, attempting to stay up. Crew were alerted, the ferry turned around, but no body was found.
That was only the start. On subsequent October 31sts, passengers reported seeing an apparition, always blonde haired, wearing a red hoody, sometimes walking the deck, sometimes in the water, calling for help. One woman was terrified to look over the side of the ferry and see a pair of hands clutching the rubbing strake before letting go. Ferry crew got used to the schedule being disrupted by the necessity of turning the boat around to search for a body that was never found, and of passengers being frightened by the pale, emaciated figure they thought they had seen on deck. One elderly man fainted when, after being tapped on the shoulder while standing at the rail one evening, he turned to see a diaphanous figure with no eyes and thin stringy blonde hair draped with seaweed. On one occasion, Captain Culnaej Dracip reported seeing the ghostly figure on the bridge, and claimed the ship's helm was turning back to the spot where the reports mostly originated. BC Ferries' management never commented on the stories directly, and some crew members grew frustrated with an attitude that they felt implied doubts about their sanity.
Two years ago, the story took a turn that even BC Ferries conservative management could not ignore. On October 31st, 2006, Katie Schellenberg's killer boarded the Queen of Richmond's final sailing of the day from Nanaimo to the mainland. Emile LaBrosse had made a new life for himself as a drywaller in Duncan, and was travelling to visit his mother on the mainland. Midway through the voyage, he told two friends travelling with him that he was not feeling well, and was going out on deck to get some fresh air.
Passenger Gurdip Singh Sanghera was he last to see LaBrosse alive, and he will never forget what transpired. “I saw the guy on deck, it looked like he was arguing with someone, but I couldn't see anyone there. He started screaming, and then I saw this figure, this woman, but I could see right through her... she had this red hoody on, and he started backing up to the rail... she was making this horrible sound, I've never heard anything like it, this gurgling moaning sound, and I could see the her skull, and the bones in her fingers....she put her hands around his neck and pushed him harder against the railing, and he kept on screaming 'No, No'.... then he went over...”
Sanghera said he was frozen in fear where he stood, but when the apparition turned to look at him with what he said looked like a ghastly smile, he ran swiftly inside and notified a crewman. “I felt like a crazy man, but I know what I saw. It was horrible. The strange thing was, the people on the ferry didn't seem that shocked."
LaBrosse's body was found a month later, washed up on the south east corner of Gabriola Island. Police ruled it a suicide.
BC Ferries, again, did not comment on Sanghera's story, or on the crew's ongoing tales of October 31st anomalies, but the company has since scheduled the Queen of Richmond for refit at the end of October, and they say that policy will continue.
