Mysterious photo of girl caught on trail camera that spooked town not a spirit, report says

CAMBRIDGE, N.Y. — The mystery behind a photo captured on a trail camera has been solved, and as it turns out, it’s not very spooky.

A photo captured on a trail camera in Cambridge, New York, had a lot of people talking about ghosts, according to a report from WTEN.

The photo was captured by landowners who recently bought a piece of land in a wooded area and wanted to go hunting on it. The grainy picture captured a little girl playing in the woods.

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The new owners set up trail cameras to see if anyone happened to wander through the area, the town’s police chief told WTEN.

“I’ve lived here all my life, and I’ve never heard of a ghost running around the woods,” said Chief George Bell.

Bell, with whom WTEN confirmed the photo’s authenticity, said the landowners shared the photo with police hoping to identify the child.

“The idea originally was just to identify who the child was,” Bell said.

So far, no one has come forward with information about the girl.

Everyone in the town is not convinced the image is that of a ghost, however.

“I think it’s just a little girl playing in the woods,” one resident told WTEN. “I don’t think it’s a ghost.”

“It’s kind of hard to believe whatever you see on social media these days,” another resident said.

“I would say there’s no way that that’s a ghost but

WTEN spoke to a paranormal expert, who said given the history of the area, paranormal activity is common.

“We’ve experienced a lot. We’ve been to a lot of places, especially our north,” said Tania Woodward, president of the Greenwich Paranormal Research Team.

Police say they’ve gotten a lot of phone calls and emails since sharing the photo. Many people cite a legend that says the girl was hit and killed on train tracks that once ran through the area.

But it turns out, the photo is not of a spirit, but that of a real girl.

Bell told WTEN Wednesday that he got a call from the girl's great-grandfather.

“I don’t want to give a name until we verify it but it’s a local businessman in southern Washington County who says around the time frame that this picture was taken that he and his granddaughter were walking a four-wheeler path,” Bell said.

WTEN reported that the business man is Chic Wilson, who came forward after someone taped the photo to his door.

“Some people were really hoping this was a ghost story,” Wilson told WTEN. “I absolutely do. It would be wonderful to have proof of life after death ... but unfortunate we’re not going to get any proof from this particular photograph.”

Cox Media Group