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1961 Greeley

School Bus/Train Crash

Investigation

DETAILS:

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Date:  Saturday, April 27, 2019

Location:  Meeting Place will be the Armadillo Restaurant, 111 1st Street, LaSalle, CO

Time:  Meet at restaurant at 1:00 and carpool to site.   Investigation will last approximately 1-1/2 hours.  There will be a Q&A session afterwards at the Armadillo where we will discuss our findings.

Join Kindred Spirits Society and psychic medium Dori Spence as we investigate the site of a horrific school bus crash that claimed the lives of 20 children in December, 1961.

We will meet up at the Armadillo Restaurant in LaSalle, Colorado and then carpool over to the crash site (as there is limited parking available) and begin our investigation. This will be a psychic investigation but you are welcome to bring your cameras and other equipment. Dowsing rods will be available for use, or you can purchase dowsing rods at the investigation. We do ask that in respect for the children who lost their lives so tragically that day that no equipment be used that emits noises (i.e., Spirit Boxes, radio transmitters, iOvilus in speaking mode, etc.)

After we visit the crash site we will meet up again at the Armadillo Restaurant in LaSalle to discuss our findings. This Armadillo restaurant is the original and oldest in Colorado and has a rich haunted history itself. Employees have reported to have seen an elderly gentleman wandering the restaurant after closing time, glasses and silverware moving on their own, being touched and whispered to, and many other stories. Also, the building next door is reported to have been a brothel.

This is a very special investigation and attendance will be limited in size. ADVANCED TICKET PURCHASE IS REQUIRED.  Cost to attend is $20 per person ($10 if you are a Kindred Spirits Society member). To purchase your tickets please click on the PayPal link below.

A reprint of the bus crash story in 1961 is below:

The bus accident detailed below is among the deadliest traffic accidents in Colorado history. As a result of this accident, federal legislation was passed by Congress requiring the drivers of certain commercial vehicles, including school buses, to stop, look, and listen for a train at all railroad tracks prior to crossing the tracks.
20 Children Killed as Passenger Train Hits School Bus East of Evans 16 Others injured as City of Denver Plows Into Greeley School District Bus
(Reprinted courtesy of the Greeley Tribune, Dec. 14, 1961)
“This is information from the front page of the Dec. 14, 1961, Greeley Tribune after a tragic bus accident killed 20 children and injured 16. The tragedy immediately plunged the Greeley farming community into shock. The driver of the bus, 23-year-old Duane Harms, was arrested of involuntary manslaughter and was forced to endure threats and crank calls and letters. Harms was found not guilty and immediately left Greeley with his wife and baby. Friends say he moved to California. His ties to Greeley were severed forever.”
Twenty school children were killed Thursday morning in a tragic school bus-train collision two miles east and a mile south of Evans.
The accident involving a Greeley School District (No. 6) bus, was the worst in the Greeley area’s history. Bodies of the victims were taken to the old Armory on 8th Ave. Last time the Armory was used as a morgue was when the plane bombed by John Gilbert Graham crashed in southwest Weld County.
Sixteen youngsters were rushed to Weld County General Hospital by ambulance and private automobiles. Seventeen doctors were called into action to handle the emergencies at the hospital.
The bus carried 38 and the driver.
Law enforcement officers barred admittance to the hastily prepared morgue, where white sheets covered the 20 victims.
The accident occurred about 8:30 a.m. at an open, but diagonal crossing.
The school bus, driven by Duane Harms, rolled onto the track first, and the westbound Union Pacific streamliner, City of Denver, No. 111, smashed into it at the rear. The impact carried the huge 60-passeger bus down the tracks more than 60 yards. The hood, engine, wheels and parts of the passenger section were ripped to shreds."

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