HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
+ 1 further entry on record
Site of the 1988–1989 Hernandez poltergeist case — documented by Emmy-winning cinematographer Barry Conrad
593 W 11th St, San Pedro, CA 90731
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Exterior drive-by only. Private residence — do not trespass.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Residential street, paved sidewalk.
Equipment
Photos OK
Documented Poltergeist Investigation · Barry Conrad Film Documentation · Barry Taff Parapsychological Research
Jackie Hernandez moved into the San Pedro bungalow at 593 W 11th Street around 1988 with her children. The reported activity began relatively soon after: disembodied heads appearing in darkened rooms, objects moving without apparent cause, dark shadowy figures observed in the hallway and around the children's bedroom. Hernandez contacted researchers, and Barry Conrad — a cinematographer with a prior Emmy Award — and Dr. Barry Taff, a parapsychologist affiliated with UCLA, began regular visits to document the case.
Over the course of several visits, Conrad and his team set up cameras inside the property. The most widely reported incident involved a member of the camera crew, Jeff Wheatcraft, who was in the attic filming when a coil of rope tightened around his neck. Wheatcraft was photographed immediately after with marks on his neck; the incident was witnessed by others in the attic at the time.
Taff, who had previously investigated the Entity case in Culver City in the mid-1970s, described the San Pedro case as among the most physically violent poltergeist events he had encountered in his career. Hernandez eventually moved out of the property; Conrad continued researching the events for years afterward.
Conrad published 'An Unknown Encounter: A True Account of the San Pedro Haunting' in 2010, consolidating the case files, photographs, and witness accounts. The book remains the primary published record of the events. The house at 593 W 11th Street has continued to be occupied by successive tenants and remains a private residential property.
Sources
The San Pedro case is unusual among documented poltergeist events because multiple independent witnesses — including a credentialed film professional and a researcher with an academic affiliation — were present during the most extreme reported incidents, and some phenomena were captured on film.
The most striking documented incident is the attic strangling. Cameraman Jeff Wheatcraft was in the attic with recording equipment when a rope that had been lying in the space tightened around his neck. He was photographed immediately afterward with visible marks, and others in the attic at the time provided witness accounts. Conrad's published account treats this as the case's clearest example of physical danger.
Other reported phenomena included disembodied male and female heads appearing in rooms, dark shadows moving through the hallway, objects repositioning overnight, and an oppressive presence described around the children's sleeping area. Hernandez was observed in a state of visible distress throughout the investigation period; her accounts remained consistent across multiple interviews.
Dr. Taff, who had spent decades investigating alleged paranormal events including the famous Culver City Entity case, characterized the San Pedro incidents as unusually physical in their character. Whether the events have a conventional explanation remains contested; what is documented is the sustained investigation, the filmed footage, and the published record.
The bungalow at 593 W 11th St is a private residence. This is a drive-by dark tourism site only — the building's exterior can be observed from the public street. Do not approach the property, knock on doors, or trespass. The address is publicly documented in Barry Conrad's published account and multiple journalism pieces covering the 1988–89 case.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
San Francisco, CA
In April 1967, San Francisco socialite and author Pat Montandon hosted an astrology party at her apartment at 1000 Lombard Street. Accounts of the evening describe a tarot reader who was offended by the conduct of another guest and, on departing, pronounced a curse on the home. Montandon documented the events in her 1975 memoir 'The Intruders.' A series of misfortunes followed, culminating in a 1969 fire in the apartment that killed her former secretary Mary Lou Ward. Subsequent occupants of the property continued to experience uncommonly concentrated personal tragedies through at least the early 2020s, according to KQED and The Real Deal.
Los Angeles, CA
The Ambassador Hotel operated from 1921 to 1989 on Wilshire Boulevard and served as the site of six Academy Awards ceremonies, multiple presidential stays, and the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy on June 5, 1968. Kennedy was shot in the service pantry off the Embassy Ballroom minutes after winning the California Democratic primary and died 25 hours later at Good Samaritan Hospital. The hotel was demolished in 2005–2006; LAUSD preserved the original pantry and Cocoanut Grove ballroom within the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools campus.
Los Angeles, CA
Opened in 1897 as the Van Nuys Hotel — Los Angeles's first with electricity and telephones in every room — the Beaux-Arts building at 4th and Main has operated continuously for more than 125 years, transitioning from city showcase to Skid Row-adjacent residential hotel. It is the site of two distinct serial-killer crimes: a 1944 double murder by Otto Stephen Wilson and a 1975 slaying attributed to Vaughn Greenwood, the Skid Row Slasher.