Two arrested for Abbe Center break-in; suspects heard the shuttered building was haunted

MARION - Two apparent ghost hunters were arrested Tuesday for breaking into the Abbe Center.

Linn County Sheriff's deputies responded to the shuttered center at 1860 County Home Road in Marion after two vehicles were spotted parked outside. Deputies inspected the building and found a window broken out.

According to criminal complaints, two men - later identified as 19-year-old Dalton J. Lillie of Toddville and 20-year-old Ross Gardner of Central City - fled the building, but were quickly apprehended. The men told deputies they entered the building because they heard it was haunted, according to criminal complaints.

Lillie was found in possession of a set of keys to the building.

The Abbe Center, a residential mental health care facility, opened in 1976 and was closed in September 2013. The building has been slated for demolition, but a final determination on its fate has not been made.

A team of local ghost hunters, the Johnson County Paranormal Team, toured the facility earlier this year with permission from the sheriff's office.

Lillie and Gardner - no relation to Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner - have been arrested and each face one count of third-degree burglary.