In August, Najoni Demmer, Lacie Wagoner and the rest of the F.L.I.P.S. team investigated the home of Jessica Connell, and her boyfriend, Josh Dale, in Ellendale.

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Connell had returned home from work one day and was expecting Dale soon behind her. She heard the front door open and close before her dog started barking, but she assumed it was Dale. No one was there.

Connell believed Dale was playing a trick on her, but she called and learned he was still miles away and there was no one outside.

Along with her own experience, Connell’s son and Dale’s son, both teenagers, came to Connell separately with the same story: They’d seen a shadow boy in the basement and at the top of the stairs.

Connell and Dale both know members of F.L.I.P.S. — Dale’s mother, Laura, is a member — and they called for an investigation, even though their expectations were low.

“We didn’t think they were going to find anything,” Connell said.

Only the homeowner is typically allowed to sit-in on an investigation, and Connell sat in and participated.

Wagoner and Demmer used one of their favorite investigative techniques: a flashlight conversation. The team uses a kind of flashlight where they turn the head of the light so it’s just off. Since they believe spirits are energy, they ask questions and believe the spirit can turn the light on to answer yes or no questions.

Connell claims they were able to confirm the presence of the three spirits in the home, including a little boy and an old man.

Connell had long been interested in the paranormal and says she even saw a shadowed figure of a man as a child. But being part of the investigation was an eye-opener.

“None of us expected anything to come of it, and we all got our eyes opened wide,” she said. “That was kind of neat.”

After the investigation, Connell joined F.L.I.P.S., but she hasn’t done another investigation with the group yet.