Researchers seek Vivian Vance's ghost

STAMFORD, Conn., Sept. 7 (UPI) -- A team of paranormal researchers said they are trying to determine whether the ghost of comic actress Vivian Vance is haunting her former home in Connecticut.

Members of the Norwalk (Conn.) Paranormal Research Group said the current owner of the Stamford home, Melissa Leigh, asked them to investigate reports of ghosts in the house and determine whether any of them belong to Vance, who was best known Ethel Mertz, Lucille Ball's sidekick on 1950s sitcom "I Love Lucy," the Stamford Advocate reported Tuesday.

Vance sold the house in the 1960s and moved to California, where she died in 1979 at age 70.

Phil Peluso, a member of the research group who knew Leigh in high school, said the group is using video cameras, laser grids and electromagnetic field detectors in an attempt to locate spirits haunting the home.

"It's kind of to bring back history with a fresh perspective," Peluso said of paranormal investigation. "Because a lot of people drive by those places and never know anything about them."

Leigh said she believes there is a male ghost living in the home who may be her late father -- and her roommate, Chris, has recently sensed a female spirit in the house that may or may not be the ghost of Vance.