League of Paranormal Investigators.

Pinewood (Cocoplum) Cemetery
LPI Florida - October 2008

The Pinewood Cemetery is a hidden pearl for historians and paranormal investigators alike. Because it is overgrown with lush tropical plants one could easily drive by it without recognizing that it is a burial ground for some of Miami's earliest pioneers. Pinewood Cemetery is actually an historic, four acre cemetery which is no longer used; in fact, the last official burial was somewhere around 1969. The first impression one receives when visiting this site is that this place is forgotten and is in a constant battle with time, nature, and developers.

The funding for Pinewood Cemetery is scarce and it seems that this cemetery never received the official status or respect it deserved. Luckily the cemetery is now protected by law and has managed to survive the many plans in place to level the area and turn it over to developers.

Not many public records regarding the cemetery are available thus making it difficult to find out more about the people buried on site. According to some sources Pinewood was even used as a burial ground for paupers. A plaque toward the back of the cemetery informs visitors that there are more than 200 people buried there; yet, there are fewer than 25 grave markers.

History of Pinewood (Cocoplum) Cemetery

The land was originally owned by Adam C. Richards who was married to Rose Wagner,daughter of William Wagner and Eveline Aimar. The League of Paranormal Investigators performed an investigation in 2008; for more information, visit our case files page regarding the Wagner House Investigation. The land was deeded by Adam Richards to Wilson A. Larkins, Arthur F Lang and Arthur E. Kingsley as Trustees of Pinewood Cemetery.

Pinewood (Cocoplum) Cemetery

This was the first daylight investigation for most of the members of the League of Paranormal investigators. It was also a useful and necessary investigation so that a new investigative tool, a digital camera equipped with a Hoya R72 IR-filter, could be tested. This technique seems to be promising when trying to capture daylight apparitions.

All digital cameras are able to capture images into the near IR-spectrum. By using the R72 IR filter one can filter out all visible light and let only IR in the range of 720 nm. For this purpose a Canon A640 camera was equipped with a Hoya R72 IR-filter and placed on a tripod because of the longer exposure times needed to take the pictures. To make it easier to detect anomalies in photos, two pictures are taken. The second picture is our control picture. With a program called IrfanView it is easy to detect tiny differences in both pictures by navigating backwards and forwards between both pictures.

Psychic Impressions:
In the north corner of the cemetery we found a big circle in which nothing seemed to be growing. Most of our psychics picked up the barrier around this circle and one of our mediums felt a combination of good and bad energy interfering in this circle. One of the psychics also picked up that some animal sacrifices were performed and one of them smelled burned blood. The broken grave slab close to the circle seems to be used as an altar.

Evidence - Pinewood (Cocoplum) Cemetery
Select the evidence type you want to see, or hear, from the following list:

The Pinewood Cemetery team of investigators was lead by Atena and Ed with Ingrid (Investigator in training), Lourdes (Investigator), Nidia (Investigator in training), Tatiana (Investigator in training), and Mark (Investigator in training).

This was an unusual investigation for the LPI team in the sense that it took place entirely in the daytime. This did give us the opportunity to use some of our daytime equipment and test out new theories.

The team members all had several personal experiences at the site. The most notable is when the medium on our team detected the spirits couple of soldiers, we took several photographs with a digital camera equipped with a UV light filter.

While analyzing the evidence we discovered that between the tree and the medium’s face, a white mist appeared. The next day we also found that this medium reported an attachment which she took home.

This situation has been dealt with and she is now fine.

When analyzing this close up picture it appears that a lighter colored creature like figure is in the tree. When the investigator moves her head as she takes a step back, the figure stretches out following her, appearing to be attaching itself to her face.

One of the investigators physically saw an orb flying around her. While she was trying to follow the orb with the video camera we were able to “catch” it on the other side with a digital camera.

We did not use flash so this orb cannot be explained as a dust particle or moisture reflecting in the camera flash. It is Remarkable that this orb was seen with the naked eye and also captured by a digital camera at the same time.

During this investigation we got reports of shadowly figures "watching" us. One of the investigators reported the figures coming down from the trees above and “spying” un us when we were turned away. While analyzing the evidence we noticed a large black shadow coming out of tree.

When analyzing this close up picture it seems "something" came out of the tree. The shadow is too big for a squirrel but also to small for a human being.

A study of local daytime roaming wildlife showed no animal fitting this size or appearance. The park wildlife consist of squirrels, small lizards and birds. Dogs and cats have been spotted but not matching the object or climbing trees.

At this moment we still trying to debunk this and any suggestions are welcome.

Comments for Pinewood (Cocoplum) Cemetery
	Name:	Shirley Barr
	From:	New Smyrna Beach Fl
		I know of five of my family members buried at Pinewoods Cemetery. I can supply names, birth and death dates if they can be added to the history of the place. My great grandfather had a headstone at his grave. He was Charles W. Jones, d.1918 Co G 3rd Maryland, Inf. (This is inscribed on the headstone.) I'm not sure if any other family members have markers. Barclay is the other family name. I haven't been there in several years.
		7/11/2010 12:25:00 PM

	Name:	Monica
	From:	Miami, FL
		hi - I went with my friend jeff with a digital camera and recorder - we walked around asked some questions - I noticed how dirty some of the graves were - so I went ahead and cleaned a couple and then I just felt as I kept walking around - that it was time to go - Jeff decided to stay behind - I sense things allot so I told him it was time to go.. In our EVP's we have a voice when I was cleaning the graves "thank you" women voice, and when I told Jeff to go - he asked his last question - recorder got" Go now" .... we said a prayer for the spirits upon leaving.
		9/21/2009 7:15:03 PM

	Name:	Mark Salemi
	From:	Cutler Bay
		I have have been to that cemetary a handful of times over the years, and never thought anything about paranormal activity. I help a civil war veterans group ( Sons of Confederate Veterans ) keep the graves of the Confederate soldiers in order. Pretty cool, were big fans of ghost hunters program.
		8/17/2009 8:13:16 PM

	Name:	Linda Pollack
	From:	Miami, Florida
		Thank you for the excellent report. Could you please tell me how you would feel about living across the street from Pinewood Cemetery?
		8/15/2009 6:58:20 PM

	Name:	Rey
	From:	Miami, FL
		I work for the City of CG. On my lunch break I decided to go over and check out the cemetary. I walked through the entire park and didn't sense anything until I was leaving. I was amazed by all the old tombs that were there. As I was in the center of the park I got this sudden feeling that overcame me and I knew then it was time to go. As I turned around I sensed as if someone/something was following me out or forcing me out. I walked as quickly as I could for fear that someone in the neighborhood would see me running. It was quite the experience.
		6/27/2009 12:03:46 AM

	Name:	Miami, FL
	From:	Chris Sexton
		I have always loved this graveyard and often go there just to "visit". My uncle lives directly north of the cemetery and when he was having a pool dug, several bones were unearthed. Unfortunately, I don't communicate with him... I've always been curious to know if he has had any unexplained occurances in his home.
		4/21/2009 6:28:28 PM

	Name:	Barbara Peterson
	From:	Pembroke Pines
		I am so excited that you investigated this cemetary. I am a 7th generation Miami girl. When I was younger my grandmother used to take me there. She told me that my great great realatives were laied to rest there. :-)
		11/26/2008 10:00:47 AM