Ghost of Three: Paranormal Encounter at an Abandoned Diner

As I embarked on the journey to my wedding, my best man and I took an 800-mile road trip from Camp Lejeune in North Carolina to Lafayette, Indiana—never expecting we’d encounter the legendary ghost of three along the way. It was a chilly late-January night in 2012, around 1 a.m. The weather was harsh with temperatures dipping into the negative double digits.

Closing in on Indianapolis, we realized we were running low on gas and didn’t have enough money to refuel the car. I know a bit about the trucking industry from my upbringing. I suggested we stop at a truck stop to seek help. However, due to the main interstates being closed, we had to veer off the highway and search for a smaller truck stop along the back roads.

Eventually, we stumbled upon a small truck stop with only one truck parked, its appearance peculiar with everything blacked out and no distinguishable markings. Inside, we found a tidy diner with a waitress, cook, and a solitary truck driver.

Approaching the truck driver, I explained our situation, hoping he could lend us a few dollars for gas. Surprisingly, he bought us a cup of coffee and we engaged in conversation for about half an hour. Graciously, he handed us $20 for gas, which I used to refuel our car before returning to thank him.

True to my word, upon reaching Indianapolis around 10 o’clock in the morning, I visited the diner again. To my astonishment, it appeared abandoned, as if it had been deserted for years, and the truck was nowhere in sight.

Undeterred, we pulled into the lot and encountered a police officer parked there. When we recounted our encounter at the diner just hours earlier, the officer chuckled and cryptically remarked, “Oh, you met the ghost of three.” When the officer mentioned the ghost of three, my best man and I exchanged stunned glances. It sounded absurd—until we realized we had truly spoken to three people that may never have existed.

Reflecting on the strange turn of events, I realized that my best man and I had interacted with what seemed like three real individuals at the diner, only to discover later that the place had been boarded up for the past 25 years according to the officer. Some locals reportedly avoid that stretch of road, whispering stories of the ghost of three appearing when travelers are most in need.

To this day, I’m convinced what we experienced wasn’t just a strange night—it was an encounter with the ghost of three, a moment that forever changed how I view the unexplained. It was an experience that left me pondering the mysteries of the paranormal and the inexplicable events that sometimes occur in life.