Locked In with the Past: Paranormal Investigation at the Licking County Jail

Photo Credit: Loren Wellhausen

When my friends Loren and Evan from Occasionally Eerie (creates Paranormal Passports) hit me up about an investigation at the Licking County Jail, I didn’t hesitate. I love history. I love haunted places. I love a good story—and this jail has plenty to tell.

Located in Newark, Ohio, the Licking County Jail was built in 1889 and is as beautiful as it is chilling. The building itself has that heavy stone, gothic look that feels like it's hiding secrets—and it is. It officially closed in 1987, but the energy? It never left.

We walked into the jail knowing it had a rough past, but the more I learned, the deeper I felt pulled in. Two names weighed on me that night: May Vaner and Carl Etherington.

May Vaner was 55 years old when she died in the jail in 1953. She had been taken into custody after being treated at the city hospital for what police described as a suicide attempt via overdose. That same night, locked alone in her fourth-floor cell, she somehow managed to set her clothing on fire. A matron discovered the flames and tried to help, but May suffered fatal burns. Whether it was despair, neglect, or both, her pain was undeniable. And her story lingers.

Then there’s Carl Etherington, a 17-year-old Deputy Marshal deputized by the mayor of Granville in 1910 to help enforce prohibition laws—because local politicians, including the sheriff, were refusing to. During a raid at a saloon, Carl was attacked by a mob. In self-defense, he shot and killed one of the men.

Things escalated quickly. Carl was arrested and locked up inside the Licking County Jail. That night, a mob gathered outside. They broke in, dragged Carl out, and hanged him from a telephone pole blocks away. He died trying to uphold a law others didn’t want enforced.

People were later arrested and convicted—but that doesn’t undo the horror. Carl was just a teenager.

Walking through that jail, flashlight in hand and heart heavy, I felt less like a ghost hunter and more like a witness. This building holds stories people would rather forget—but some stories demand to be remembered.

And places like this? They never really go quiet.