On the northeast side of the Orange Avenue Bridge, just at the bridge approach, there have been many reports of a cloaked young woman with long, dark hair over the past few decades. No one is quite sure who this young woman was, but her spirit is very active, and sometimes violent.
Three theories as to her identity include a young maid who worked on the peninsula at an affluent home and was killed on the ferry coming home from work one night. She fell off the edge of the ferry and was crushed to death between the dock pilings and the end of the ferry.
Another theory includes a young runaway who made her temporary home under the Orange Avenue Bridge while working and panhandling in the business district. Apparently, in the early 1980s, she figured out that her home life may not have been as bad as she thought. She bedded down under the bridge one night and was joined by an uninvited stranger who sexually abused her and took her life.
The third and most likely candidate for the identity of this entity is a young girl who was raised by her grandmother. Her name was Rose and she adored a long cloak that her grandmother had given her as a gift. She wore this cloak one night as she walked across the bridge to attend her high school’s homecoming dance. At the top of the bridge approach, she was struck by a car and killed instantly. Her shoes wound up under the bridge and her cloak looked as if she had laid it lovingly across the bridge’s handrail.
The sighting of this entity seems to increase during homecoming season. She is always seen wearing a long cloak and has been picked up by many drivers going across the Orange Avenue Bridge. When the vehicle reaches the peninsula side of the bridge, she is no longer in the vehicle. She has also been known to throw soda bottles and cans, shoes, and even lawn furniture at passing cars.
At the Daytona Beach Paranormal Research Group’s investigation during homecoming week of 2000, we quickly discovered that this particular entity is indeed quite active. We set equipment up at the base of the bridge where the majority of sightings have been reported. We recorded temperature drops of 25 to 30 degrees, EMF fluctuations from 0.2 to 7.6 miligauss, an overhead streetlight that flickered on and off with no set pattern, and one of our male researchers was hit in the back of the head with an empty soda can as he got in his vehicle to leave.
Written by — Doris “Dusty” Smith Founder & Chief Researcher, Daytona Beach Paranormal Research Group, Inc.
APPROACH OF THE ORANGE AVENUE BRIDGE
DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA
SEE ALSO:
SOURCE:
Encyclopedia of Haunted Places -Ghostly Locales from around the World – Compiled & Edited by Jeff Belanger – Copyright 2005 by Jeff Belanger