Tobias Wayland is a passionate Fortean who has been actively investigating the unusual for over a decade. The first several years of his investigative career were spent as a MUFON field investigator and following that he investigated independently prior to becoming the head writer and editor for The Singular Fortean Society. Tobias is a frequent guest on various podcasts and radio shows, has written several books and contributed articles to periodicals on the paranormal, has appeared on television and in documentaries, and is often invited to speak at paranormal conferences and events.

He was featured in season four of Unsolved Mysteries, the series premiere of Expedition X, and the Small Town Monsters documentaries Terror in the Skies and On the Trail of the Lake Michigan Mothman for his work investigating Mothman sightings in the Midwest. He and his wife Emily have been involved with the Lake Michigan Mothman investigation since its advent in the spring of 2017, and published a book chronicling the experience, The Lake Michigan Mothman: High Strangeness in the Midwest. His second and third books about unusual phenomena, Strange Tales of the Impossible and The Singular Fortean Society’s Yuletide Guide to High Strangeness, continue their work in investigating a variety of seemingly impossible events.

His years as an investigator have served him best by illustrating that when it comes to the anomalous, the preternatural, and the paranormal, any answers he’s found are still hopelessly outnumbered by questions.

Conference Presentation: Shadow Of The Mothman

Join investigator Tobias Wayland as he explores the strange phenomena often reported alongside winged humanoid sightings. From UFOs to poltergeists to shadow people, there is no shortage of high strangeness associated with the Mothman phenomenon. In this presentation, he’ll discuss a number of cases he has personally investigated and present hypotheses about what might be behind them.

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The Singular Fortean Society Website: Click Here

AJ Gutierrez is an experienced paranormal investigator, haunted objects collector, and cemetery explorer with over 265,000 followers, and 20 Million views on TikTok and YouTube. For the past 20 years, he has traveled to some of the world’s most haunted locations, documenting supernatural encounters and attempting to uncover the mysteries of hauntings and the afterlife. While he focuses on paranormal, he also talks about true crime, cryptids, and UFO’s. Through social media and LIVE investigations, he continues to captivate audiences with chilling encounters and unexplained phenomena.

Conference Presentation: Haunted Objects: The Most Disturbing Encounters From My Collection

Step into the eerie world of haunted objects as I share the most chilling and unexplainable encounters from my personal collection. From dolls that whisper in the dark, to artifacts that carry a dark energy, this presentation will explore the real life paranormal activity surrounding these objects. Are they merely relics of the past, or do they hold something far more sinister?

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The Chicago Haunted Museum Facebook: Click Here

As Seen on the 44th Annual Telly Awards winning series, Expedition Entity, from the PARAFLIXX Paranormal+ Network. Larry is an author, filmmaker, and historian who focuses on lesser-known haunted locations in the American Midwest. His current research project focuses on the Black Hawk War of 1832, where he has published his findings in his book “Ghosts of the Black Hawk War,” and the effects artificial intelligence and social media have on the paranormal community.

Conference Presentation: Expedition Entity’s Most Haunted Locations

Expedition Entity, the PARAFlixx original series starring Dan Norvell and Larry Eissler III, sought out some of the American Midwest’s lesser-known most haunted locations to prove that even the smallest locations can still be haunted. With investigations at the Tinker Swiss Cottage, the Veterans Memorial Hall, Brodhead Manor, and the Freeport Masonic Temple, the Expedition Entity team proved that you don’t have to spend a fortune for high quality investigations. Join author, filmmaker, and paranormal researcher Larry Eissler III as he covers the show’s most haunted locations while sharing stories and evidence captured at each one.

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Small Town Productions Website: Click Here

Richard Estep is the author of more than 30 books, in genres ranging from ghosts/hauntings to cryptids/UFOs, to military history and true crime. He is a series regular on the TV shows “Paranormal 911,” “Haunted Hospitals,” “Paranormal Night Shift” and “Haunted Case Files.” Richard has guested on the shows “Destination Fear” and “A Haunting.” He is a regular columnist for Haunted Magazine, and regularly presents at conferences and public events across the United States and in the UK. English by birth, Richard lives in his adopted Colorado where he serves as a 911 paramedic. In his free time, he can usually be found reading, writing, or fussing his dog.

Conference Presentation: The Fox Hollow Murders: Playground of a Serial Killer

Go behind the scenes of Fox Hollow Farm, former home of serial killer Herb Baumeister…the I-70 Strangler. Paranormal researcher Richard Estep was granted unprecedented access to the property during the writing of his book “The Horrors of Fox Hollow Farm,” featured in the Hulu TV series “The Fox Hollow Murders: Playground of a Serial Killer.” Richard will take you on a guided tour of this haunted house, with video footage and interview material never seen on television. This is the story of Fox Hollow Farm as it has never been seen before.

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Richard Estep’s Website: Click Here

Kathi Kresol has worked at the Rockford Public Library for years and loves sharing her enthusiasm for reading in any way possible. After working for some time as a Library Branch Manager, Kathi, in 2021 was offered the position of Mobile Library Manager. Kathi loves the new and exciting challenges of bringing Rockford Public Library resources into new and different locations and neighborhoods.

A member of the Rockford Historical Society, Kathi is always digging through Rockford’s past and she gives all the credit for her research skills to local history specialists Jean Lythgoe and Jan Carter of the Rockford Public Library.

Kathi Kresol has been researching the history of Northern Illinois for twenty years. She has published two solo books: “Murder & Mystery in Rockford, Illinois,” (2015); and “Haunted Rockford, Illinois,” (2017). Kathi has also collaborated with other local authors and shared articles in three books featuring compilations of Rockford authors.

Kathi shares the stories she researches in presentations for local organizations and in events sponsored by the Rockford Public Library and her business Haunted Rockford events. The local newspaper, Rock River Times has shared Kathi’s stories for several years. He column “Voices From The Grave” has allowed Kathi to share her passion for history with a larger part of Rockford’s community. She is always honored when someone mentions reading one of her stories.

Kathi’s main goal in sharing her stories, whether they are true crime, ghost stories, or local history, is to honor the lives of the men, women and children who came before. Some of the stories reflect a tragic moment in these people’s lives; but Kathi also tries to show the courage that the survivors displayed as they move forward from what must have been the worst moment in their lives. She also hopes that these stories illuminate the compassion that the folks of Rockford have always displayed for those who are suffering.

Samantha Hochmann is a historian by trade and also a paranormal enthusiast. She is the Executive Director of Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum, a widely known paranormal hotspot in the Rockford community. She also participates with various historical committees and boards in the Rockford area. Sam has been volunteering with the Haunted Rockford team for the past couple of years.

Sam’s love for history started at a very young age, and her interests in the paranormal stem from growing up with a sensitivity to the paranormal realm. When she is not researching in the library or giving tours of the museum, you can find her reading spooky stories and walking through the local cemeteries.