A family photograph taken beside a lake sparked an unsettling mystery after a couple spotted what appeared to be a woman's face in the background. Stephanie Renaud had been photographing her partner, Kristopher Levasseur, and their young daughter at Lake Auburn in Maine. It was only when she looked at the image that evening that she noticed something neither parent could explain.
Days later, Kristopher shared the picture on Facebook, asking: "Does anyone notice anything else weird about this picture? Creeping me out." Among the responses was a message from Jennifer Gallant, whose daughter Jessica had been found dead near the lake two years earlier. She wrote: "That's my daughter."
Family outing by the water
The photograph was taken on September 7, 2020, during a family outing after the couple had grown tired of spending so much time indoors under Covid-19 restrictions. Kristopher, from Lewiston, Maine, was offering their daughter some snacks when Stephanie captured the moment by the water.
Nothing interrupted their day out. But that evening, as Kristopher watched television, Stephanie sat beside him studying the photograph on his phone with what was described as an almost "frightened" expression. At first, he could see nothing unusual. Then she pointed towards the top-left corner of the image, where they could make out what looked like a woman's face.
Search for answers online
The couple spent the following week discussing the picture without finding an explanation. Their experience was later recounted by YouTuber MrBallen, known for sharing "strange, dark and mysterious stories". He said: "Like, they didn't understand how that thing could be in frame. It really made no sense at all. And so Kristopher is like obsessing over it. So is Stephanie. And they've got no answers. None of their friends have any idea what it is."
On September 16, Kristopher uploaded the image to Facebook. In comments beneath his post, he insisted "nobody else was there" and said the photograph was giving him "goosebumps". As people shared their reactions, some suggested a connection to Jessica Gallant. Fishermen had discovered her body in a pond at the northern tip of Lake Auburn in July 2018. Her cause of death was undetermined, and an autopsy found several drugs in her system.
Reaction from the victim's mother
Jessica's friend April Collins later told CBS she had been in recovery and was trying to build a better life for her son. April said she hoped answers would be found and expressed her belief that somebody had harmed Jessica.
One person commenting on Kristopher's photograph asked: "Could it be the person they found floating a couple years ago in the lake?" Another wrote: "Wow I just got the worst goosebumps ever after reading the comments then looking at the face." A third added: "That's just messed up."
MrBallen said Jennifer believed the face in the photograph belonged to her daughter. He described her reaction: "It was her daughter's face, undeniably so, at least to Jennifer. And she's thinking, you know, the picture was taken right near Lake Auburn. That's my daughter's ghost." He went on to say Jennifer believed her daughter's spirit was haunting the lake until her case was closed.
