Rufinia’s mother Sara Ruiz is believed to be haunting this building.
Sara was a maverick – especially for the time in which she lived.
She learned about healing through natural herbs and the way of the curandera
(a traditional folk healer in the Hispanic culture that dedicates themselves
to curing physical and spiritual illnesses). Sara was left an orphan
at the age of 16; so was left with the great responsibility of owning
and managing the 18-room hacienda and all the farmland that was a part
of the Ruiz property.
Upon purchasing the building Marie Coleman had her first encounter with
Sara’s ghost when she was getting construction work done. While
interviewing contractors she heard the words "GET OUT"!
She though she heard someone outside. As they continued working she
heard it again "GET HIM OUT OF HERE NOW!" Marie
began to feel uncomfortable and quickly excused herself from the contractor.
She found another contractor and was able to get the building back to
its former glory – now as a restaurant. Upon further study with
the Ruiz family, Marie learned that the contractor she originally hired
and was hearing the "GET OUT" turned out to
be the grandson of a man Sara knew and was involved with while she was
alive.
Sara’s ghost has been seen in a black dress sweeping on the back
patio. By her actions she seems to want respect in death as she had
in life. Marie and the staff greet Sara when they arrive and say good-bye
when they leave at night or else lights will come on and the doors will
unlock. Sara has been know to pitch pebbles of rose granite toward areas
she thinks needs attention at the restaurant. Marie has collected the
pebbles in a glass jar. There are many other stories related to this
haunting.
Weather and Astronomical Data
Solar x-rays – NORMAL | Geomagnetic Field – QUIET
Moon – First quarter
This building faces ~South. It is located in the center of Old Town
a little to the South. The restaurant is on the South side of Church
Street. To the South is San Filepe de Neri Catholic Church. We started
working outside as there is a patio in the front of the building as
well as the back. There is an alley along the East side of the building
that also accesses the back patio area which we explored at the same
time. Towards the center of the alley on the East side of the building,
there were some spikes on our EMF readings as well as in the back of
the alley towards the North portion. We felt and recorded some psychic
disturbances along this area. There was a psychic impression of violence
here. We also recorded some spikes in our EMF readings in front of the
restaurant. We know from the history that Sara had a violent fight with
the father of her child in this area.
Within the building itself, we were able
to record some EVP that was captured on a digital recorder. This EVP
was captured by leaving the recorder on in a closed room throughout
the investigation. Listen to
it here.
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Activity was recorded
on the back patio. Spikes in our EMF recorders indicated the movement
of some anomalous energy. Was it Sara moving among us? The ghost
of Sara has been reported being seen in this area sweeping as
if cleaning the patio.
Most of the activity
we recorded and experienced throughout the investigation was centered
in the back patio area specifically nearer to the entrance back
in to the restaurant. (Please see layout below).
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Church Street Cafe is a fun place to eat and was wonderful
to investigate. There are many stories that have been collected over
the years about the ghost of Sara. You can hear some of them from Sherri
and Ron on the Ghost Tour through Tours
of Old Town in Albuquerque. What we will further investigate is
the EVP. We feel it is a man's voice and with the rich history of investigating
the oldest standing building in New Mexico we are sure to discover who
it may be.
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