PARANORMAL INVESTIGATION GROUP
SHAIN VICE- CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER/ LEAD INVESTIGATOR
JENNIFER VICE- CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER/PERSONNEL COORDINATOR/LEAD INVESTIGATOR
Born in Tacoma, Washington, Jennifer spent her first 17 years as an Army brat. She has lived all over the United States, as well as in Germany. During this time, Jennifer gained a passion for travel, history and culture. She began her “obsession” with the paranormal at a very young age. Her love of crypto-zoology helped lead her to studying Anthropology and Biological Sciences with an emphasis in Zoology at Mississippi State University. During this time, she met her husband, Shain, while working at Southern Billiards pool hall in the afternoons and evenings. Shain was born in Mississippi, but he moved around often when he was a small child. Jennifer and Shain soon found that they had more than this in common. Shain was a soldier in the MS Army National Guard…and he loved the paranormal. Jennifer knew that she had found her match. They married in 2001, thus combining their passions for the “unknown”.
After Shain graduated with his B.S. in Agricultural Engineering Technology and Business, the newlyweds decided to leave Mississippi for good. The couple spent several months in Colorado and Georgia, but they felt an overwhelming “calling” to return to Mississippi. They soon bought a home in Petal, and began their new life. Jennifer began her career as the Corporate Chemist for Sanderson Farms, and Shain began working as a full-time soldier at Camp Shelby Training Center. By 2004, Shain was mobilized for deployment to Iraq, thus beginning an uninvited separation for the couple until late 2005. For the next three years, Shain was gone more than he was home. Finally in 2010, Shain returned from his second deployment, and was able to settle back into home life. He went back to work at the newly named Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center as a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle (MRAP) training officer, as well as began working on a Master’s degree in Information Technology.
After learning that they could not have children, Shain and Jennifer began their paperwork to become foster-to-adopt parents. In August 2010, they welcomed a newborn baby named Kylinn into their hearts and home. They finalized the adoption on Valentine’s Day 2013. Even though they were immersed in being parents, Jennifer and Shain still had that burning desire to do more than read about the paranormal, or watch paranormal shows on television.
In 2011, Jennifer found out that one of her good friends from college had recently joined the Southern Paranormal & Anomaly Research Society (SPARS), and that SPARS was recruiting new members. Shain and Jennifer decided to take the plunge and join the group just in time for their annual SPARS Academy in Greenville, MS. After that weekend, Shain and Jennifer knew that an extension of their family was in place. In early 2012, with the merge of SPARS and Truthseekers, the Delta Paranormal Project was formed. As with any merger, there were new faces and new titles. Jennifer was asked by the Founders to step up to the challenge of being the MS Chapter Coordinator, and Shain was asked to become the Technical Manager. Being the go-getters that they are, Shain and Jennifer dove right into their new positions. After two years chocked full of fundraisers, conferences, and investigations, the members of Delta Paranormal Project decided to split back into their original groups. Shain and Jennifer were asked by Paula Westbrook to take over the reins of SPARS and restart the team.
On
October 5, 2014, SPARS was reborn. Shain and Jennifer are very excited about
where their new team is going. After entering a partnership with Beauvoir, the
final home of President Jefferson Davis, they know only good things are to
come. They feel right at home investigating, and after dozens of
investigations, they can’t wait for the next one.
PAULA WESTBROOK- EVENT/TRAINING COORDINATOR/LEAD INVESTIGATOR
Paula Hayes Westbrook was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. She was raised in the Catholic Church and with the backwoods practices of the area, traditionally referred to as Voodoo or Hoodoo. As a child, she was terrorized by spirits that haunted not one, but two of her childhood homes. Paula took control of her fears and started to face what she feared most. This unleashed her interest in the paranormal.
As a young adult, Paula studied Judaism at the Bnai Zion Temple, and taught Catechism at St. Lawrence Catholic Church, both in Shreveport. From 1992 to 1996, Paula worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs as a Respiratory Therapist at the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, and later at the Ship Rock Reservation in New Mexico. This is where she learned about Native American religions and customs. This religious knowledge would help in later investigations.
In 1985, Paula became a serious paranormal investigator. She
has investigated locations all over the United States, including sites in Fort
Morgan, Alabama, Tombstone, Arizona, and Deadwood, South Dakota. Paula formed
her first paranormal group, ArkLa-Tex Paranormal, in 1999. Later, she became
the Regional Coordinator for Orion Paranormal, a TAPS family member. Her duties
spanned Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas. In 2005, Paula co-founded the Southern
Paranormal and Anomaly Research Society. SPARS became a TAPS family member in
2006. In 2012, Paula joined forces with David Childers (Truthseekers Paranormal
Research and Investigations) to form The Delta Paranormal Project, which also
was a TAPS family member until 2014. After two years full of conferences,
fundraisers, and investigations, DPP split back into its original teams. At
that time, Paula asked Shain and Jennifer Vice if they would be interested in
leading SPARS into the future. Thus, on October 5, 2014, SPARS was reborn.
Paula continues to be a lead investigator, as well as the Event & Training
Coordinator, for SPARS. She is still an integral part of the team. She helped
form the partnership between SPARS and Beauvoir, the final home of President
Jefferson Davis, in Biloxi, MS. Paula continues to coordinate with Beauvoir to
schedule events such as the monthly “Meet the Spirits of Beauvoir” fundraisers
and the 2015 Gulf Coast ParaCon. She also helps to schedule training events for
the team.
Paula has been on “My Ghost Story” on A&E, as well as
featured with her husband, David Westbrook, on Destination America's “Kuhn
Hospital” episode of “Ghost Asylum” in 2014. Her story about the Jefferson,
Texas “Urquhart House of Eleven Gables” was featured in Don Colclosuer's,
“Ghost Around Every Corner” newspaper article, and was featured in a cover
story for The Jackson Free Press Magazine. Paula specializes in extreme
hauntings, to include cleansings of these locations. Paula and David also had a
radio show, “The Delta Paranormal Project,” that aired on NLPI network, Blog
Talk radio, and Event Screamer Radio.
DAVID WESTBROOK- RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT LEAD
INVESTIGATORS
MARK ROBERTSON- INVESTIGATOR
Kathleen Meschberger Investigator
Shorty Bagby Investigator
