On the night of September 12, 1982, three people connected to the Lewiston Civic Theatre disappeared. Kristina Diane Nelson, 21, and her stepsister Jacqueline Ann Miller, 18, were last seen walking toward a nearby grocery store. Steven Pearsall, 35, was working as the theater's janitor that evening. He left behind his clarinet and his uncashed paycheck — both at the theater — and was never seen again.
The remains of Nelson and Miller were discovered on March 19, 1984, in a rural area near Kendrick, Idaho, approximately 35 miles from Lewiston. Investigators confirmed Miller had been murdered. Nelson's cause of death could not be determined. Pearsall has never been located.
In 1995, investigators identified Lance Voss, a theater employee present on the night of the disappearances, as the primary suspect. Police stated they believed the three victims had probably been in or near the theater at the time they vanished and were likely killed by the same person. No charges were ever brought. DNA evidence collected from the original scene went untested for years; renewed forensic analysis was undertaken as the case was periodically revived.
These events — which have been covered by the Lewiston Tribune and Spokane's Spokesman-Review across three decades — became the basis for the building's paranormal reputation. Before the building was condemned, hundreds of reported incidents circulated among cast members, stage crew, and visitors: unexplained illumination in the upper balcony when no lights were switched on; a trap door in the light booth that opened without assistance; candles blown out during a stage exercise despite no perceptible air movement; the audible movement of floorboards with no one in the room.
A Boise-area paranormal research group documented an investigation of the building and reported that a flashlight placed on a window ledge responded to direct questions by switching on and off. Several visitors claimed to have been shoved or touched in the corridor leading backstage, where no other person was present. Ghost tour participants organized by local historian Garry Bush — who has operated Lewiston historical tours — reported the sensation of temperature change in the auditorium balcony area.
The figure most often described is a woman in period dress visible in the balcony. Other accounts describe the presence of a woman who stands in the seating area as though waiting for a performance to begin.
