After an NIU theatre production of West Side Story, Irvan “Irv” Kummerfeldt, who was an NIU associate professor of journalism, died of a heart attack at the Egyptian Theatre in 1988.

Alex Nerad, executive director of the Egyptian Theatre, 135 North 2nd Street, DeKalb, said visitors over the years have reported seeing a man who fits Kummerfeldt’s description in the theatre. Nerad said visitors claim they see Kummerfeldt for a moment and then he disappears.

“There’s been enough weird things that have happened here, that I do believe in paranormal,” Nerad said. “To what extent that is, I don’t know.”

The theatre has four haunted tours each year that are led by Willy Adkins, who is the founder of a network of independent paranormal investigators called the Illinois Ghost Hunters. Adkins is also the president of Spook Show Entertainment, which produces TV, radio, film and events about paranormal phenomena.

According to the True Illinois Haunts website, the Eqyptian Theatre, which was built in 1929, is the 10th most haunted theatre in Illinois.

Adkins said he has seen shadowy figures in doorways, but most of the paranormal evidence captured at the Egyptian Theatre is in the form of audio recordings. He said a PX device is used to speak with ghosts and is similar to a telephone call. The device manipulates changes in the atmosphere and “spits out” words in response to questions, he said.

Adkins said when he asks, “What is your name?” The answer he has received during paranormal investigations at the theatre is “Irv” or “Irvan.” Adkins said Kummerfeldt is the primary focus when he investigates the Egyptian Theatre.

One time during a haunted group tour of the theatre, Adkins said the PX device kept saying “two” and “police outside.” After the tour, Adkins said he walked outside with the group and the police were waiting for them. On each of their cars was a ticket for parking on the street after 2 a.m.

“Could it be a huge coincidence? Maybe,” Adkins said. “At the same time it was funny in a way.”

Adkins said he started out as a “hardcore skeptic.” But due to traumatic events, which he wouldn’t talk about, Adkins now believes in ghosts. Adkins said he conducts paranormal investigations to seek answers to his own questions and isn’t concerned about proving what he believes to skeptics anymore.

“I have had some experiences that have made me a believer in paranormal people,” Adkins said. “Whether they are people from the past or something else altogether, I really don’t have these answers. I’m not going to tell people what to believe. You just have to draw your own conclusions.”