FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Ann Arbor, MI – October 11, 2025 — The Michigan Paranormal Research Institute (MPRI) has announced the release of The Ogemaw County Incident, a peer-reviewed publication examining one of Michigan’s most perplexing historical cases—a 1927 episode in Ogemaw County that blurred the boundaries between organized crime, psychological trauma, and the unexplained.
The study centers on the work of Dr. Eugene Watkins, MPRI’s early-twentieth-century Principal Investigator, who analyzed the case involving four alleged members of Detroit’s Purple Gang. Within forty-eight hours of their arrival at a secluded cabin on Rifle Lake, three were dead and the fourth was found incoherent, claiming to have seen “ghosts.” Watkins’s extensive notes and psychological assessments form the foundation of the newly published report.
“Watkins’s meticulous documentation and willingness to confront both scientific and metaphysical uncertainty make this case remarkable even by today’s standards,” said Dr. Eleanor Whitcomb, MPRI’s Director. “By revisiting his work with modern analytical tools, we gain a deeper appreciation for the Institute’s early commitment to methodological rigor in the study of anomalous phenomena.”
The Ogemaw County Incident is now available through at Barnes & Nobles, with proceeds supporting ongoing research initiatives.
For more information, or to learn when reports will become available, please visit mpri.us/contact.
Contact:
Office of Public Engagement
Michigan Paranormal Research Institute
mpri.us/contact