This Man Kept Calling His Loved Ones… Even Though He’d Been Dead For Hours
Peck Was About To Move To California For His Fiancée
49-year-old Charles Peck worked for Delta Airlines. He was considering leaving his job in Salt Lake City International Airport for a job at Van Nuys Airport in Los Angeles to be closer to his fiancée, Andrea Katz, and had an interview there. Although the couple was ready to get married, the fact that they didn't live in the same state was an issue.
Then, the disaster occurred. Katz was on her way to pick him up from the train station when she heard the news of the accident on the radio. Peck had three children from a previous marriage, one of whom was on his afterlife phone call list.
- Video: YouTube
Members Of Charles Peck's Family, Including His Fiancée, Received 35 Total Calls
Andrea Katz heard about the crash on the radio as she was driving to pick up Peck from the train station and was relieved when she received a call from his phone. Other friends and family members of Katz were in the same position. After the crash, Peck's phone placed calls to his son, sister, brother, and stepmother.
In all, about 35 calls were made during the 11 hours that followed the accident. According to one source, the final call from Peck's phone came at 3:28 AM, about one hour before his body was found.
- Photo: Chris Yarzab / Flickr / CC BY 2.0
Peck Was Killed When A Commuter And Freight Train Collided In 2008
Charles Peck was a passenger on a Metrolink commuter train traveling through the San Fernando Valley in California on September 12, 2008. It collided head first with a Union Pacific freight train at 83 miles per hour when the conductor failed to stop at a red light. The impact was devastating, and of the 225 people aboard the Metrolink, at least 25 died and more than 100 were seriously injured. The engineer sitting at the front of the train was killed instantly as well. The freight train was carrying only three crew members, but it was demolished in the accident.
The disaster later became known as the Chatsworth train crash and is still considered the worst commuter train accident in the history of California.
The People On The Receiving End Of Peck's Calls Only Heard Static
At first, Peck's loved ones must have been excited when they saw his name pop up on their phone screens. As the calls continued, they had hope that he was still alive and trapped within the rubble of the crash. Unfortunately, they were unable to actually talk to him; all they heard when they answered his calls was static. However, Andrea Katz used the opportunity to communicate with her fiancé and to let him know she was with him, shouting messages of encouragement like: "Hang in there baby. We're gonna get you out. You're gonna be okay."
Other people who claim to have received phone calls from beyond also report hearing static or a voice that seemed very faint and far away.
- Photo: Chris Yarzab / Flickr / CC BY 2.0
Rescue Workers Used Peck's Calls To Trace His Location
Before rescue workers discovered Charles Peck's body in the wreckage, they had no reason not to believe the calls placed to his family meant he was still alive. As it became clear they probably weren't going to find any survivors in the crash, their rescue efforts turned into a mission to recover bodies. But when yet another call came from Peck's phone, they decided to trace it to find his location.
Unfortunately, they discovered his body and knew that he died on impact. Police never revealed if Peck's phone was found.
- Photo: Craig Wiggenhorn / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
Coroners Confirmed Peck Died Upon Impact And Wasn't Alive To Make The Phone Calls
Although rescue teams were excited because the phone calls might mean Charles Peck was still alive, that wasn't the case. They discovered Peck's body an hour after the last phone call was placed.
According to anecdotal sources like forums and unsolved mysteries sites, the coroner was unable to find signs that Peck had survived for any amount of time after the crash, confirming the calls were not made while he was still alive.
It's Possible Peck's Damaged Phone Made Calls On Its Own
Anyone who has ever butt-dialed a number knows it's possible to make a phone call accidentally. Perhaps an object was sitting on top of Peck's phone, causing it to make random calls. The phone was most likely severely damaged during the disaster, so it may have malfunctioned.
Peck's broken phone may have called his speed dial list. When this story was posted on Reddit, several users shared their own creepy stories of malfunctioning phones and posted eerie phone activity stories from online forums. The possibility that Peck's phone suffered some technical issue shouldn't be overlooked.
- Photo: MR O / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0
Charles Peck's Phone Was Never Found, So Perhaps He Really Was Reaching Out From The Afterlife
Although rescue workers were able to locate Charles Peck's body successfully, his phone was never discovered. It's possible that it was completely destroyed in the disaster or damaged to the point of malfunctioning, but why it made calls to several of the people Peck was closest to we may never know.
Perhaps he was reaching out to tell his loved ones not to worry or say goodbye. Maybe he took it with him into the afterlife, like ghosts who are seen in the clothes they were wearing when they passed. Since the rescue team was able to trace the calls to locate his body, maybe Peck was simply leading them to it. No one will ever know for sure, so this story may forever remain a mystery.
- Video: YouTube
The Train Conductor Was Texting
Investigators believe the conductor of the Metrolink train was responsible for the crash after he failed to stop at a red light. The commuter train was running on the same track as the freight train and was directly in its path. It's likely that the conductor was distracted by his phone and was too busy texting to notice his mistake.
After the disaster, a teen came forward and admitted that they had received a text from the conductor immediately before the crash. The last text sent from the conductor's phone happened 22 seconds before the impact.
- Photo: George Hodan / Wikimedia Commons / CC0 1.0
Phone Calls From Deceased People Apparently Happen So Often That A Study Was Done In The Late 1970s
Intrigued by the many stories of people receiving phone calls from the deceased, psi investigators D. Scott Rogo and Raymond Bayless did research and published a book about their findings in 1979.
Their research has recently been continued by another paranormal researcher, Callum Cooper.
A Girl Tells A Story About Talking To Her Friend's Deceased Grandmother On The Phone
While some people have reported seeing the name or number of a deceased acquaintance appear on their caller ID, others claim to have spoken to someone they later discover passed away before the call was made.
According to list of true accounts by a paranormal researcher, someone named Crystal S. shared:
I was at my mom's house and I was calling a friend who lived nearby. She was at her cousin's house. So I looked up the number in the phone book. It was the only 'Owens' in the phone book, so I knew it was my friend's cousin's number. I called and it didn't even ring, but an old lady answered. She said, 'Hello.' I asked, 'Is Amelia there?' (Amelia is my friend Jessica's cousin.) The old lady said, 'No, dear. Amelia isn't here. I should be expecting her any minute now.' So I thought nothing of it and hung up...I told Jessica about it and she said, 'Amelia's grandma is dead. And we were there all day long. We were sitting right by the phone. It never rang all day.'
A Saleswoman Had A Phone Conversation With A Man's Deceased Wife
In another anecdote from the same list, a salesperson named Mary B. remembers:
I made a sales call to Pennsylvania. It started just like any other call. 'Yes, I need to speak to Mr. or Mrs. B_____.' The woman identified herself as Mrs. B_____, and I continued on with the normal sales call. She seemed very interested and asked a lot of questions, but when I came to the decision making... she quickly stopped me, insisting that I had to talk to her husband. Her objections were the same every time I attempted to close...
She also quickly pointed out that since his retirement he spent a great deal of time fishing and was not easy to get in touch with, and it would be best to try early in the morning before he left for his favorite hobby....On the callback, the husband did answer the phone. I introduced myself in the normal fashion and explained that I had been talking to his wife the previous day and she had suggested that I speak to him. You can imagine the shock and horror, when he stated to me, distraught, 'Lady, I don't know who you were talking to, but my wife died and I am not in any mood to speak to anyone!' With that, he quickly hung up the phone.
Contact From Beyond The Grave Can Come From Email And Social Media As Well
People who have passed on aren't limited to phone calls or hauntings in the modern age. They often use email and social media sites such as Facebook to contact their loved ones. For instance, Jack Froese passed unexpectedly in 2011 from a heart arrhythmia only to contact his friends through email approximately six months later. Froese's friends reported emails sent from his account that included details from some of their last conversations. One friend tried replying but never received a response.
People sometimes claim their deceased friends have liked their posts on Facebook or sent them messages, like the viral Reddit thread about messages a deceased Emily allegedly sent to her boyfriend.
