This cemetery dates back to the mid 19th century, but has been more or less abandoned for the past three decades. Its most famous “inhabitant” is probably Billy Cook, who killed six people during a 22-day criminal rampage between Missouri and California in the early 1950s. He was buried here in an unmarked grave after being executed in the gas chamber at San Quentin.
Locals claim to frequently see apparitions here. Items are thrown at visitors, some unlucky souls return home with unexplained scratches on them.
If you've had a paranormal experience here, or have any additional information about this location, please let us know!
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Geographic Information
- Address:
- Peace Church Ave
Joplin, MO
United States
Get Directions » - GPS:
- 37.12285377729155, -94.54749687018193
- County:
- Jasper County, Missouri
- Nearest Towns:
- Airport Drive, MO (2.4 mi.)
Joplin, MO (3.3 mi.)
Carl Junction, MO (3.9 mi.)
Iron Gates, MO (3.9 mi.)
Oakland Park, MO (4.0 mi.)
Webb City, MO (4.9 mi.)
Dennis Acres, MO (5.7 mi.)
Duquesne, MO (5.8 mi.)
Shoal Creek Drive, MO (5.9 mi.)
Galena, KS (6.0 mi.)
Contact Information
- Web:
- https://www.facebook.com/peacechurchcemetery
Please note: It is your responsibility to acquire appropriate permissions before investigating any location listed on this site. Private property should be respected at all times, as should all posted signs concerning trespassing, hours of operation and other local regulations. Many "ghost hunters" have been arrested because they failed to contact property owners and/or local authorities ahead of time.
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Disclaimer: The stories posted here are user-submitted and are, in the nature of "ghost stories," largely unverifiable. HauntedPlaces.org makes no claims that any of the statements posted here are factually accurate. The vast majority of information provided on this web site is anecdotal, and as such, should be viewed in the same light as local folklore and urban legends.
PEACE CHURCH CEMETERY IS “DEFINITELY HAUNTED” AND ONE OF THE GHOSTS THAT HAUNT THIS OLD CEMETERY IS THAT OF BILLY COOK, BUT I AM SURE THAT THERE ARE “RESTLESS OTHERS” THAT OCCUPY THIS SITE. IT IS AN ERRIE PLACE, AND ON ONE OF MY VISITS THERE A FEW YEARS BACK, I MANAGED TO FIND THE GRAVE OF BILLY COOK, SR. WHICH, UNBELIEVABLY, WAS THE VERY FIRST TOMBSTONE I WALKED UP TO AND READ! THE ODDS OF THIS, OF COURSE, “HAVE TO BE ASTRONOMICAL!” THIS GRAVE, BY THE WAY, IS ON THE SOUTH SIDE ROAD, GOING IN AND, RIGHT BEFORE YOU TURN BACK NORTH, THERE IS A FAMILY PLOT ADJACENT JUST A BIT EAST OF THE BEND, BUT YET APART, FROM THE MAIN CEMETERY! THE GRAVESTONE OF BILLY COOK, JR., THE MASS MURDER FROM THE 1950s WHO IS ALSO BURIED OUTSIDE THE CEMETERY, IS NOT EVIDENT IN THIS AREA, THOUGH IT COULD BE THERE AS AN UNMARKED GRAVE? PERSONALLY, I BELIEVE IT IS EITHER IN THIS FAMILY PLOT OR POSSIBLY CLOSE BY. WE DO KNOW HE WAS BURIED SOMEWHERE OUTSIDE THE BOUNDARY OF THE PEACE CHURCH CEMETERY, ITSELF, AND MOST LIKELY THAT IS NOT FAR AWAY, NOR FAR AWAY FROM THE COOK FAMILY PLOT! WHEN I WENT THROUGH, ALONE, ON THIS TRIP, I COULD TELL SOMEONE WAS LOOKING AT ME, EVEN FOLLOWING ME, AS I ROAMED THROUGH THIS HAUNTED GRAVEYARD READING MANY OF THE VERY OLD THOMSTONES IN IT. MY NEICE AND I, LATER ON, WENT THROUGH THIS CEMETERY ABOUT 4 YEARS AGO LOOKING FOR SOME OF HER RELATIVES, AND WE DID FIND A COUPLE AS I RECALL. BUT, AS FAR AS I KNOW, I DO NOT HAVE ANY RELATIVES THAT ARE BURIED THERE, THOUGH IT IS ENTIRELY POSSIBLE THAT I DO BUT JUST DON’T REALIZE WHO THEY WOULD BE? THERE HAVE BEEN MANY SIGHTINGS OF GHOSTLY FIGURES AND OTHER-WORLDLY SOUNDS COMING FROM THIS HAUNTED CEMETERY, AND IT HAS BEEN DUELY-INVESTIGATED BY THE SOUTHWEST MISSOURI PARANORMAL SOCIETY WHO HAS ALSO BEEN VERY INSTRUMENTAL IN IN GETTING IT CLEANED UP AS IT HAS BEEN ABANDONED FOR QUITE SOME TIME. IF YOU GET A CHANCE, YOU SHOULD STOP BY AND SEE THIS INTERESTING OLD CEMETERY FROM THE MID 1850s ERA…IT IS ONE OF THE OLDEST CEMETERIES IN JASPER COUNTY…!!!
billy cooks grave is unmarked idiot if your going to lie do your reserch
They said Billy Cook Sr.’s grave not Billy Cook. In case you don’t understand abbreviations, Sr. would have been B.C.’s father so they’re not claiming to have found the grave of B.C. the murderer.
Billy Cook, Jr. (the mass murderer) is buried close to other family members albeit there is no tombstone on his grave which lies in an east-west direction. One can still make-out where the grave is but I would not recommend going there, alone, especially after nightfall. As I recall, most all cemeteries are automatically closed at sundown (or at least should be) so that >>> “the living do not bother the sleeping dead” by pestering, vandalizing, conducting seances or performing other occult practices such a witchcraft or satanic rites, etc. I also believe this cemetery is now marked “no trespassing” even in the daytime without prior permission from the Peace Church Cemetery… Association
Scott…all I can say is “WOW” since I had a very, very similar experience! No, I was by myself the very first time I drove-in and parked on the south side. Next, like you, I noticed an area fenced-off from the main cemetery so I walked over to it, and the “very first tombstone I saw” was Billy Cook, Sr.! After carefully surveying the situation, I came to the conclusion that Billy Cook, Jr. was also buried there, but not by his dad (who he despised) but by his mom, just east, which is “unmarked” but, that being some years ago, was still evident that it was a grave in just about anyone’s estimation! I looked around, too, but soon left, later on to return with “my niece” who was looking for some of her relatives that were buried there! As far as I know I have no relatives in this cemetery that I know of, but, again, “there very well could be” given that my niece has relative there…!!!
My great grandmother is buried there and i went one day to see if i could find her grave and of course look for Billy cook. The whole place has an uneasy feeling about it. I pulled my phone out to take pictures of Billy Sr grave and they were very unfocused and had a weird color tent to them. My phone had never had that problem before. I decided to hit the record button and ask a couple of questions. When i asked if Billy hated his father there came a knocking sound as if someone was knocking on a wooden door. I asked if he enjoyed killing those people and the knocking got louder. Being there by myself i feared for my safety and left shortly after.
This cemetery is for sure haunted. My friend and I visited around midnight, and the entire stretch of the road going to the cemetery turned into a complete dead zone for our phones. Our camera batteries died, our flashlights wouldn’t stay lit, flickering and going out on us. I used the voice recorder on my phone and sat down asking question, and we got a few words captured. We found Billy’s dad’s plot, which was super easy to find. It’s in a family plot just slightly away from the main cemetery. His son is buried NEXT to the property, but not on the old churches hallowed grounds as it wasn’t permitted because of his acts in life. It was an interesting night. We are planning to go back with more equipment. 🙂
I visited this cemetery a couple years ago with my brother and a couple other close friends. It was almost pitch black out there and the cemetery was very overgrown. Me and my brother might have seen an apparition there but i can’t be sure it was. What I am sure of is what followed me home that night from the cemetery. Me and my father had a shadow figure appear down the hallway from us. He had no idea where I was previously before it happened. The craziest physical feeling just enveloped me when it happened. It was hard to breathe and I had to get out of the house. I’ve been back to the cemetery a couple of times since and have not seen or felt anything.
Why all the emphasis on a POS murderer like this, Billy Cook, scumbag? There are a lot of good people buried there and veterans of wars. Who cares that this low life roams around lost he deserves it.
Stay away !! Its overgrown for a reason, people dont need to go messing around out there..your asking for trouble you cant get rid of!! Go see the spook light or something else..You’ve Been warned!!
I’ve been there plenty of times and didn’t feel anything. I even went art the dead of night and felt completely safe. But the last time I went. My stomach dropped and I decided to leave and my friends car would not start.
Went there yesterday April 27, 2016 and felt nothing strange. This is a very rundown cemetery and would be easy to get hurt if you’re not careful. Headstones toppled over, large rocks jutting up and mostly hidden by tall grass, hills and dips, just not maintained. Sad, really, because it would be a pretty place if maintained. It has headstones right next to the road in the cemetery proper, so you have to be very careful not to drive over them. Very narrow road and no place to turn around. One way in, one way out.
Otherwise, it was daylight, nothing was thrown, no voices, no odd feelings. It was too muddy and grass was too high to look for the area Billy was buried. Interesting, though.
Plot: Right rear of cemetery, unmarked grave near Robert E. Cook, Sr.
It was not as creepy as seeing apparitions or anything like that but when we went there we had the really weird feeling of being watched by someone and then when we walked around for a bit to see if we could find another grave of 2 brothers that went on a killing spree and were buried there I went to walk along the edge of the cemetery to look at the graves along the fence I heard footsteps in the leaves in the woods that were fenced off. And you can tell the difference between the footsteps of a animal and person and those were not animal footsteps.
P.s. The shooting range that is fenced off from the cemetery is also creepy. It is a running joke that someone was watching us from there.
Got some pretty amazing e.v.p. from here we didn’t see anything did find Billy Cook sir grave the whole cemetery has a very uneasy unsettling vibe to it. At one point my nephew was commenting on one of the names on a grave Harold Dick if I remember I was recording while we joked about it when I reviewed the recording we had two very clear E.V.P. both came just after my nephew had said this poor guy went his whole life being called harry Dick on the recording you could here us laughing then you could here very clear F you once loud then again almosted hissed
Went here in the early to mid 2000s his grave from what I felt and gathered is around the tree in the back right corner of the graveyard. Me and a buddy were there doing EVPs making a joke of the whole situation. One I saw a dark figure of a woman I got freaked out started having panic attacks and puking. So after I finished that I got in the truck and we left. I cued up the evp and we asked if there’s anything else you want us to know now is the time. We heard a strange rythmic noise. Coincidence or not we ended up having a flat tire that oddly enough sounded like the strange rythmic noise. Another time me and another group of people caught a massive light emmiting orb flipped out and ran out. The place is not really to be messed with unless you give it respect. Don’t go in demanding anything from spirits. That goes for anywhere you go. Kinda a for warning I guess. It’s a strange place.
Lots of activity here!! One area we kept hearing children laughing and playing. This kids meant no harm but are communicative. Found what we believe may be Billy Cooks grave but uncertain. At multiple points in our trip we were scratched, had things thrown at us, and heards screams . Fun place to explore!!
My sister and I went here, (late 2018). We saw what we believe is Billly Cook’s grave. There was a tree right next to it, and we saw an apparition or someone (male) about 5’4. We also heard the laughter and playing sounds of young children, and my sister got hit by a rock, while we both went home with several scratch marks… Worth visiting is you are a fan of the paranormal!
My sister and I went here, (late 2018). We saw what we believe is Billly Cook’s grave. There was a tree right next to it, and we saw an apparition or someone (male) about 5’4. We also heard the laughter and playing sounds of young children, and my sister got hit by a rock, while we both went home with several scratch marks… Worth visiting
Taken at peace church I clearly see a face plus
I do see a face. If you looka little closer you see two sets of glowing eyes. they are a little lower then the face.