When I was a freshman at App. in 1987, I started working in East Hall as the 10-Midnight Office Assistant. It wasn't long before I had made several friends, and began hearing rumors of a ghost or two.
While there were reports of things all over the dorm, the most consistent story was of a young man seen in the dungeon (basement), Subflloor, and 1st New. People would report hearing the basement doors closest to Locust St. and Lovill Hall slamming shut, then would see a young man walking like he'd just come into the building. This, however, was impossible, as those doors were chained shut at night!
They described a tall, thin young man, with sandy hair, flannel shirt, jeans, and hiking boots. A feeling of cold often accompanied his appearance. Many times, when the witness would try to follow, he would have vanished... But they would still hear the sound of his footsteps!
One night, in late September of 1987, a group of male students saw a young man fitting this description enter a residential room. Realizing neither of that room's occupants were in town that weekend, the boys investigated, and found the door locked. They got the Resident Assistant to key in. There was no one in the room, and the lights were out, with all windows closed and locked! Needless to say, this caused a buzz in the dorm...
A few weeks later, East hosted its annual "Dorm Of Doom," a spook trail that wound through the main lobby, past the office, down the steps in the "elbow" at the corner of Main and New, down to the basement, and exiting at the doors next to Classroom B18. After the event ended, one student, James J., was alone in the basement, gathering his sound equipment. He heard the outer doors bang shut. Knowing they had been chained, he looked up, and saw the young man described above walk past an open door! James had been one of the witnesses to the appearance in September. He dove for the door, and landed in a position where the hallway was visible both towards the basement offices, and towards the stairwell. The young man was nowhere to be seen... but James clearly heard FOOTSTEPS RIGHT BEFORE HIM, moving up the hall towards the stairs! He heard the door open, and someone going up!
The same young man has been seen many times in the intervening years. From my sophomore year on, I lived mostly in East. In 1989, I was working In Hall Security one night. As I rounded the corner towards the small common area on Subfloor, I heard a woman gasp. I hurried forward, and a girl named Jennifer was standing there, looking scared. I asked what was wrong, and she sad, "There's a creepy guy on the stairs!"
I bounded out to the steps, and saw a guy going up, fitting the description given earlier. He was walking, and at the landing where the doors went out on the beach. I yelled, "HEY!" but he didn't seem to hear, so I took off after him. As he reached the 1st floor landing, I was only three steps behind him. He rounded the corner through the open door, with me right behind him. But when I came out into the open space by the office, there was no one there!
I went forward at looked down 1st New.. No one. I turned and looked down 1st Main. A girl I knew, Dawn, was standing by the payphone outside the RD's apartment. She waved and I walked down. She hung up as I got to her, and said, "Hi Michael." "Hi, Dawn." I replied, "Which way did that guy go?"
She looked confused. "Huh?"
"The guy who came out of the stairwell in front of me." I answered, "Where did he go?"
"You're serious, aren't you?" she said.
"Quit messing around." I growled, "He scared Jennifer, so I need to talk to him." Dawn turned paler than normal, and told me, "Michael, I've been here for twenty minutes, and you're the only person I've seen... Nobody came out in front of you." That's when the hair stood up on the back of my neck and she gasped, "Oh my God, you saw him! Michael, you saw the ghost!"
In 1990, some students found an old newspaper behind a vent in the basement. In it, there was a story about a young man who killed himself in East in the 1970's. It was the first suicide at ASU since it became a full university.
Flash forward 2 decades. My first book, which included ASU campus legends, had been published a few years earlier, in 2005. In 2010 or 11, as we were waiting for my next 2 to be published, Amy, David, and I wet to ASU to meet the members of the Appalachian Paranormal Study Organization. We actually got to go into East and conduct a "training investigation." We had been misinformed about which room the documented suicide had taken place. I related to the students several of the East stories, but told them this boy in 1977 was the only documented death so far.
The following year, I did a guest lecture at ASU for Professor Al Proffit. Several embers of APSO attended. Brendon, Deanna, Jaqui, Chynna, and others had been researching the East legends. One day, Brendon messaged me that they had found a death certificate for the young man!
His name was Lacy Dean Everitt, according to that, and he shot himself in his room on 1st New on September 29, 1977! Further research showed he was 17, from Greensboro.
Ever since, I have periodically taken up research again to try to locate more info. Earlier this year, I was given information concerning people who were actually there in 1977. I finally spoke to Glen Hawkins, who was present, and witnessed the aftermath. He also gave me the names of 3 people who were actually in the room with the body! He confirmed the exact room, a corner room on 1st New.
Armed with the new info, I was able to get ahold of an article in the Watauga Democrat from 1977. This article, though rife with spelling error, revealed his roommate was one Tony Jones, who found him, the weapon was a .22 revolver, and it was a gsw to the head that killed the young man. The article also gave his family info, burial site, home church, and high school. From the school, I was able to obtain a yearbook photo from 1976-77 year of one Dean Everett. I only caught a glimpse of the boy's face in 1989 on the steps, but it certainly LOOKED like this Everett!
_ Michael Renegar, Co Founder, CCSS
Lacey Dean Everett
Red letters on these schematics indicate rooms where paranormal activity was reported over the years...
