Police and medical staff document America's real-life possession: Official reports claim boy, nine, walked backwards up hospital wall and police captain was too scared to enter family's 'haunted' house
A nine-year-old boy walked backwards up a wall and ceiling as startled medical staff looked on after his mother claimed he and his two siblings had been possessed by demons, according to official reports.
The unlikely-sounding event was detailed in official documents after a child services case worker and a nurse both said they saw the boy 'glide' backwards on the floor, wall and ceiling.
Both were shocked to see the boy apparently float after their mother had been subject to months of scepticism when she claimed her home in Gary, Indiana, was haunted and all three of her children were possessed by demons.
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Latoya Ammons said her 12-year-old daughter also levitated in the home, and all three of her children showed signs of being possessed including 'evil' smiles and unnaturally deep voices, according to the Indianapolis Star.
Miss Ammons' home was officially exorcised by a catholic priest who said the ceremonies were officially authorized by the Diocese of Gary.
Police also observed strange goings on at the house and a captain of the city's force has said he 'is a true believer' that the house is haunted.
After a string of apparent paranormal events at the house hardened police officers - including the local captain - even declared themselves too frightened to stay there after nightfall and numerous city officials refused to go to the property.
Mother-of-three Ms Ammons, 32, said she was only rid of the spirits that haunted her family's home in Gary after she moved away and underwent multiple exorcisms and police dug under the house to check for graves.
The Indianapolis Star obtained hundreds of pages of official documents and carried out more than a dozen interviews with police, the Department of Child Services, psychologists, relatives and a priest to uncover the bizarre details - which seem like something straight out of a horror movie.
Gary Police Captain Charles Austin told the paper that he had initially be skeptical of the family's claims, but after conducting interviews and visiting the home, he now admits: 'I am a believer.'
The story began when the Ammons family - Latoya, her mother, Rosa Campbell, and three children - moved into the rental house on Carolina Street in November 2011.
Soon after, they began noticing odd incidents, such as flies swarming the house throughout December, footsteps in the basement and wet bootprints across the living room floor, Ammons said.
But the terror stepped up on March 10, 2012 when the family had friends visiting late into the night. Ammons got up to check on her 12-year-old daughter.
On hearing Ammons' screams, Campbell ran to the room and saw the girl was levitating above the bed, unconscious, she said.
'I thought, "What's going on?"' Campbell said. "'Why is this happening?"'
The group prayed until the girl eventually moved back down on to the bed - but she could not remember anything about the incident. The visiting friends refused to return to the home.
Ammons said that she was not financially in a position to move so instead had to endure the terror.
The family contacted churches and clairvoyants - and while most would not listen, others gave them advice to wash the children's hands with oil, make an altar in the basement and burn sage and sulfur throughout the house.
The clairvoyants warned that the home was haunted by more than 200 demons, Ammons said.
Despite their efforts, they still felt the demons in the house and the children showed increasing signs of being possessed, Ammons and Campbell said.
The children's eyes bulged, wore evil smiles and deepened when they were taken over by the demons, they said. The youngest boy would sit in a closet and talk to a child no one could see, and on one occasion, he was thrown from the bathroom, Campbell said.
Ammons would also be taken over and said she felt weak and warm, and her body would shake.
Fears: Ammons, pictured, said she saw her daughter levitating in a bedroom. A nurse and a CPS worker later reported seeing her nine-year-old son run backwards up a wall before flipping over to the ground
When Ammons went to their doctor, Dr. Geoffrey Onyeukwu, he went with medical staff and child services personnel to meet the children - who cursed at him in low voices, Campbell said.
During the visit, a DCS report said the youngest child was 'lifted and thrown into the wall with nobody touching him'. The boys were taken to hospital.
Before the incident, someone had called the DCS and asked the agency to investigate Ammons for possible child abuse or neglect, speculating she might have a mental illness.
While in the hospital, a psychiatrist evaluated Ammons and concluded that she was of 'sound mind'.
DCS family case manager Valerie Washington also interviewed the family while they were at the hospital and said the youngest boy began growling and his eyes rolled back in his head.
Washington added in her DCS report - which was corroborated by a nurse - that the nine-year-old boy displayed a 'weird grin' and then walked backward up a wall to the ceiling.
He then flipped over his grandmother and landed on his feet, while never letting go of his grandmother's hand.
'There's no way he could've done that,' the nurse told the Star.
Washington said in a police report that she believed an 'evil influence' could be affecting the family.
And when asked if the boy had walked up the ceiling in an acrobatic maneuver, she said it was in fact a slow glide that could not have been performed naturally.
The children were taken into custody by child services after workers found Ammons was neglecting their education; she said it was because the ghoulish activity kept them up all night.
But records from clinical psychologists also indicate that the younger boy acted possessed when he was asked questions he didn't like.
Later, Washington went to the home to check on its condition and was joined by three police officers.
During the visit, one of their recorders malfunctioned and another recorded audio in which a voice whispered 'hey', according to police records.
They also took photos of the house and when these were looked at later, it appeared as if cloudy faces were in the images.
The police chief added that, after he left the house, the radio in his car malfunctioned and that his garage later refused to open.
Even more chillingly, Austin said the driver's seat in his other car started moving backward and forward on its own - which could have caused an accident, according to his mechanic.
During a second visit to the home, in May 2012, they were joined by a priest, Reverend Michael Maginot, who had been asked by a hospital chaplain to perform an exorcism on one of the boys.
While at the home, a DCS family case manager said that she touched liquid she saw in the basement and later suffered finger pain and felt as if she was having a panic attack.
EVICTING THE DEMONS: WHAT DOES AN EXORCISM INVOLVE?
Exorcism is the practice of ridding a person of demons or other spiritual entities that they have been possessed by.
According to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, signs of demonic possession include superhuman strength, aversion to holy water, being able to speak in unknown languages, spitting and cursing.
Most religions claim that humans can be possessed by demonic spirits and even though it might seem archaic, exorcisms continue to be performed.
In Ammons case, the Catholic exorcism involved prayers, statements and appeals to cast out demons. The priest praised God and condemned the devil and pressed a crucifix against Ammons' head as he spoke. The priest noticed her convulsing and said that was a sign that the demons were strong. After she fell to sleep, he gave a prayer of Thanksgiving.
But exorcisms can have deadly consequences. In 2003, an autistic 8-year-old boy in Milwaukee, was killed during an exorcism by church members who blamed thought a demon was to blame for his disability. In 2005, a nun in Romania died after a priest bound her to a cross during an exorcism, gagged her and left her for days without food or water.
'We felt like someone was in the room with you, someone breathing down your neck,' she said adding that she later experienced a serious of medical problems, from burns to numerous broke bones.
After the visit, Maginot performed a minor exorcism on Ammons which consisted of prayers, statements and appeals to cast out demons.
But after he says he was given the go-ahead by Bishop Dale Melczeck of the Diocese of Gary, he decided to carry out three more powerful exorcisms on Ammons in his church in Merrillville in June 2012. Police officers were present.
'I was hurting all over from the inside out,' she remembered. 'I'm trying to do my best and be strong.'
Afterwards, Ammons, who had moved homes to Indianapolis, said that the problems subsided. After six months, she regained custody of her children.
The house in Gary now has new tenants, but the landlord said there have been no further problems at the address.
Of the bizarre activity at her former home, Ammons said: 'When you hear something like this, don't assume it's not real because I've lived it. I know it's real.'
NOT ALONE: FOUR FAMOUS CASES OF DEMONIC POSSESSION
Anna Ecklund - 1912-1928 - Earling, Iowa
Anna was just 14 when she was allegedly cursed by her father and aunt - and soon she was unable to be near religious artifacts or churches. She underwent an exorcism in 1912, but her father and aunt then prayed for Satan to visit her again.
In 1928, she asked the church for help and was put in a convent. But when nuns came near her she would hiss at them, speak in foreign languages and levitate. After three more exorcisms, she was declared free of the demons.
Roland Doe - 1940s - Cottage City, Maryland
Doe - known as the inspiration behind the Hollywood film, The Exorcist - was 14 when his aunt encouraged him to use a Ouija board in the 1940s. When she died, he might have tried to contact her this way and it is believed this gave demons the chance to reach him.
When he was possessed, religious artifacts began flying off the walls and people could hear footsteps and dripping inside his home. Scratches also began appearing over his body, which levitated and contorted. His family contacted a Catholic priest and an exorcism was performed more than 30 times, sometimes injuring the priest before they were eventually successful. Doe went on to have a normal life, according to reports.
Anneliese Michel - 1973 - Germany
Anneliese was a 16-year-old Bavarian girl who had suffered with epilepsy and mental illness. In 1973, she began to hear voices, drink her own urine and became intolerant of religious symbols. She begged her family to take her to a priest to rid her of demons. Two local priests secretly agreed and performed nearly 70 exorcisms (each lasting up to four hours) in 10 months - but her parents stopped treating her health issues, and she died from emaciation and starvation. The film The Exorcism of Emily Rose is loosely based on her life.
Michael Taylor - 1974 - Yorkshire, England
Taylor was a married Christian who was accused by his wife, Christine, of having an affair with a prayer group leader. He responded with anger and continued to act erratically, leading some people to think he was possessed by evil.
He eventually underwent an exorcism that last for more than 24 hours and priests believed it to be successful. They warned that a demon may still be inside of him. When he went home, he murdered his wife and was later found wandering the streets. He was found not guilty in her murder by reason of insanity.
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