No More Thrill Rides...

With the soaring popularity of investigating hauntings, it seems everyone is trying to jump on the bandwagon. Unfortunately, some people fail to follow any sort of legal procedures.

Five "ghost hunters" in El Paso, Texas, learned their lesson the hard way last week.

Jorge Montoya (17), Carmen Salazar (17), Gerardo Santoyo (18), John Carrillo (20), Rene Nunez (21), and Felipe Ochoa (23) decided to investigate the abandoned Magic Landing Amusement Park on Wednesday night. They ignored the 'No Trespassing' signs placed around the property and wandered around by flashlight, snapping photographs and looking for paranormal activity. A neighbor phoned police after seeing the lights. The quintet fled to their vehicles when police arrived, but couldn't escape the law.

Each was charged with criminal trespassing Thursday morning.

The property owners take the matter very seriously. In April, an arson fire caused $485,000 in damage to the former amusement park. They have since told Sheriff Deputies they will press charges against anyone found on their property without their consent.

Nicknamed "Tragic Landing", the park was only open for four years. Legend states that a boy lost his hand and died at the park; his ghost is said to wander the grounds. In 1985, an 18-year-old employee named Frank Guzman Jr. was killed after his arm was severed by a roller coaster while retrieving a customer's baseball hat from the track. The roller coaster is gone now... it was sold to Bosque Magico in Mexico.

I doubt this is the sort of fame hoped for by the group. Perhaps they should have made a phone call to the owners and saved themselves the trouble of calling a friend or family member to get them out of jail...