Meet the EPIC Members
EPIC Is a group of professional, knowledgeable, and well-educated individuals. We approach all cases with the utmost level of professionalism, as well as the highest level of respect for your residence or business, personal assets, and privacy. EPIC Paranormal always operates under total discretion and keeps all cases strictly confidential unless permission is otherwise granted.
Please see our Disclaimer on Former Members
Members
Arthur Matos, Founder & Director | E-Mail
Arthur was born & raised in New York, where as a child he held a diverse interest and fascination for the unexplained and uncanny. He would watch such TV favorites as, The Addams Family and The Ghost & Mrs. Muir for entertainment. Throughout his early teens he became interested in the macabre and occult, where he would spend hours reading and researching the Salem witch trials, voodoo, mysticism, and ghosts. He started watching more informative shows such as, In Search of… and documentaries based on unexplained phenomena. As Arthur reached adulthood he developed a serious interest in Physics, Biology, anthropology and the science of Parapsychology. Although not formally trained in the degree of Parapsychology, he spent many years self-studying and educating himself on such subjects as religious artifacts, demonology, possession, hauntings, paranormal phenomena, and a basic understanding of the scientific studies held in Parapsychology. He spent 11 months in the Dominican Republic where he did research on Santeria and voodoo religions. His erudition on these subjects has made him a well respected Para-Researcher and Investigator in the paranormal field.
Arthur has spent the last 16 years researching and studying unexplained phenomena and has diverse understanding of the theories of aspects of the paranormal field. He focuses much of his time doing research and experimenting using scientific methods and experimental techniques in paranormal research and investigation. Such experiments include research on devices such as an ISF (Infra-Sonic Frequencies) controller, a device which controls the level of sound waves. For more information regarding this experiment please contact Arthur’s email. This is one of many research tools that Arthur has been surveying.
After spending many years studying and researching paranormal phenomena, he decided to make his dream become a reality as a Professional Para-Researcher & Investigator. In May of 2006 he became the sole creator & founder of EPIC-Eastern Paranormal Investigation Center, a scientific paranormal research organization based on Staten Island, New York. He used his extensive knowledge on theories, aspects and principals based on ethereal phenomenon, free consciousness, the basis of hauntings, object displacement and manifestations to create a group whose main goal is to focus on helping families in need who may be experiencing unexplained phenomena and have no one else to turn to. All his years invested in researching, studying and investigating the paranormal has made him a professional Para-Researcher and a well-respected lecturer. Arthur has been featured in multiple media outlets including TV, radio, and print.
When Arthur isn’t researching the paranormal or investigating new claims of hauntings, he enjoys spending quality time with his Fiancée, spending time down the shore, taking relaxing walks, and just taking it easy. He also enjoys cooking and is an accomplished cook in ethnic cuisine. His hobbies range from collecting paranormal research memorabilia and literature, to collecting vintage action & sci-fi toys from the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s.
Jennifer Farrell, Co-Director, & IT/Tech Manager | E-Mail
Jennifer a current resident of Staten Island, NY was born and raised in Edison, NJ. Throughout her youth she has had an interest and fascination on strange and unexplained phenomena. Being raised in a family of academic achievers, her Father having a PhD in education, her brother a degree in engineering, and her sister a PhD in Psychology, makes Jennifer herself inherent to having traits as she is analytical and technologically gifted.
Jennifer’s scientific interest in the paranormal stems from the variety of books she had read on such diversified subjects as ESP and Ghost phenomena. In her search she then came across Arthur Matos, a seasoned Para-researcher and investigator in the field. Arthur being the founder & director of EPIC sat with Jennifer as they discussed their theories, beliefs, and ideas on the subject. They both soon hit it off and he offered her a position to run the administrative side of the Team. Essentially after some time and critical changes within team structure, she became his right hand.
Jennifer has a CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) Certification and is the Network Administrator for a special Ed school. She handles all aspects of technical issues which occur at the facility. This being her area of expertise makes her extremely qualified as the Webmaster & IT-Technical advisor for the Team. Being in the technical field makes Jen an exceptional researcher who can rapidly reference data and information. Jen hopes to assist EPIC in reaching it’s goals of educating, counseling, and helping individuals and families who contact us and claim to be experiencing paranormal phenomena.
Chris Cafiero, Investigator | E-Mail
Chris currently resides in Bethpage, Long Island with his wife and kids. As a young child he had experiences which he considered paranormal in nature. This led him on a path of a lifelong curiosity about the paranormal and ghosts. He recalls, as a child, going to the local library and looking through books with photos of “supposed” ghosts, wanting to know if they were real or not. As an adult, with a more rational mind, he started to look for answers based on scientific research and analysis and dedicated serious research time in learning all he could about the paranormal. He was even thinking of starting his own scientific based paranormal research and investigative team. He was looking for a group that was serious minded and scientifically based and who made it their primary goal to help families in need.
Chris’s goal is simple, and just like EPIC, his main reason for entering the Para-Research field is to focus on residential cases. Chris’s experiences as a child and his feelings of being afraid, alone and helpless has made him focus on helping families, especially children, who have no one else to turn to. He aims to help find the causes of unexplained phenomena and help find rational explanations. He’s often said that he wishes there were groups like EPIC around when he was a child. Chris enjoys detective work of any kind; seeking rationality through simplicity is his motto, while using Occam’s razor as the backbone for most investigating. He brings a refreshing open mind and a scientific and analytical approach to EPIC.
Jolene Povitch, Investigator | E-Mail
Jolene was born and raised in Brooklyn NY until at the age of 14, her parents decided to move to Staten Island, NY, where she no currently resides. When she was a young child still in Brooklyn, she had her own life altering paranormal experience which could not be explained. This started her on a course of a long standing fascination with the paranormal. As she grew older, she wanted to look for answers to help explain her experiences as a child, so she started researching all she could in the field of Paranormal Investigation. She was seeking to connect with other likeminded individuals who used science and analysis in finding explanations to unexplained phenomena. She comes from a religious background which has made her very aware of the importance of self-empowerment. She educates families, who may be experiencing paranormal phenomena in their lives, on the application of empowerment in dealing with such phenomena.
Having an in-depth interest in working in the Psychology field, Jolene has a fascination and scientific interest in such disorders as schizophrenia, dementia, and other psychological and or physiological disorders of the human brain. Jolene offers an analytical, level headed, strong willed and detail oriented mind as an asset to the EPIC team.
Collete Povitch, Investigator | E-Mail
Collette was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. As a young adult her family moved to Staten Island, where she currently still resides. As a high school student she excelled in science where her interests ran from the enigmas of outer space to the tantalizing beauty of inner space where she has always marveled at the greatness of the ocean depths. She has always been fascinated and intrigued by mysteries, and she would spend hours researching all types of “folklore” and “urban legends.” These eventually led her to develop a passion for the supernatural and paranormal.
Having been a science major in high school, she used her analytical, inquisitive and investigative mind to try and seek answers to unexplained phenomena. She spent her free time investigating cemeteries, abandoned buildings, and anywhere that claimed to have “activity.” Unsure of how to research and investigate in the true scientific fashion, made her reach out to Paranormal Groups in hopes of being trained in the proper methods of collecting field data. She wanted to find a group that would advise, train, and educate her on the proper research and investigative methods. She has a strong passion for self-education, researching and reading about the paranormal and mysteries. She considers finding clues, recreating events, and debunking the mystery of the literary works which she has read, important mental exercises for the analytical and inquisitive mind which she brings to the EPIC Team.
Brianna Williams, Researcher & Writer | E-Mail
Brianna has a background in Medical Assisting and the study of Psychology and is currently enrolled in Paranormal Investigation Certification, residing in the beautiful mountains of Pocono Lake, PA along with her Fiance and their 3 rescue dogs.
Born in Brooklyn and Raised in Rockaway Beach, Queens her life started out as most others do these days. She grew up in a blended family, experiencing the commonplace struggles that most anyone goes through in that situation. Worth noting though, is the fact that her childhood home was quite active. From age 9-16 she lived in a home that was more often frightening than not. While everyone in her home experienced phenomena, it seemed her Mother, Step-Sister and she noticed it the most. The fact that her Step-Father was rarely home combined with an experience that terrified him to his very core , so much so, that he will never speak of it, might explain why.
These experiences ranged from your garden variety feelings of being spooked, or uneasy, to voices, appliance interference, shadows, feelings of sheer terror and full body apparitions. Her best friend often stayed over, refusing to be in any part of the house alone. Arguments over who would venture down into the basement to switch the laundry were common, comical looking back on it, however, the feeling that the malicious presence you could feel directly behind you was going to catch up with you, remains just as vivid to this very day.
These events,combined with other experiences over the years left her with so many questions.
She became fascinated with the paranormal, particularly Spirits and Hauntings. In her earlier years, her lack of knowledge and Religious beliefs added an element of fear to the unknown which kept her from fully pursuing her quest for knowledge. At the time, She was not aware that this fear would lend it's energy for much of what they all experienced in those younger years, to come back once again in her adult life. It was at this point that she realized she not only needed, but passionately wanted to explore this further. She understood clearly that there were so very many others like her self experiencing similar and not so similar events. This lead her to independently research a great deal of topics and set her on a mission to help others. Part of this mission, she believes, is the great honor of becoming a member of EPIC and joining the team as a researcher and writer. Briannas' proficient research skills are only one example, representing the level of extreme professionalism which she possesses.
We all have our reasons for interest in the paranormal, are you willing to ask yourself, "What are mine?"
Bonny Mae Budinger, Analyst & Writer | E-Mail
Bonny Mae was born on the bayou in Lafayette, Louisianna not far from New Orleans, where Voo-Doo is heavily practiced. She considers herself fortunate to have lived in and traveled to many places across the United States including California, Tennessee, North Carolina, Colorado, Florida, West Virginia, Missouri, Ohio, Utah, Virginia, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York and New England. Raised primarily in the south where tradition is rich in family, faith, religion, war, and great tragedy, she was schooled on how 'Haints, Witches and Boogers' were just an everyday part of life.
Over the years she has experienced a handful of things that, well, defy any logical explanation. Traveling so much as a child, she believes to have witnessed ghostly encounters in at least 3 different homes, along with other sorts of paranormal activity in several others. Bonny seeks a better understanding of paranormal phenomenon, hoping to answer some of the questions that have been plaguing her for years. Bonny exhibits a deep appreciation for history and enjoys researching as well as collecting items from the past. She works as a photographer for an Old-Time photo boutique in beautiful Gatlinburg, Tennessee gateway to The Great Smoky Mountains National Park. In her free time she enjoys crafts, quilting, reading, writing, watching movies, spending time in the Smokies and just being a mom.
Bonny lives with her fiancé Steven and their 2 year old little girl Leia Leigh. She is a joyful, positive person, great friend, caring, open and honest. She seeks to further her education into the paranormal, and above all wants to assist in educating others in our search for the truth. Her knowledge of relative skills used in the field of paranormal research and analysis, fortifies and adds to EPICs professionalism.
Krimilda Hidalgo, Researcher & Writer | E-Mail
Bio Coming Soon.
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