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8/01/03 - HOUSTON) — They were searching for an adventure. Instead, they got the scare of their lives.

The teenagers became curious about the old Jefferson Davis Hospital after logging onto a website that claimed it was haunted. Naturally, they wanted to see for themselves. But what they encountered was more frightening than seeing a ghost.

A group of college kids decided to go on a ghost hunt. Instead of a run-in with the supernatural, they had a run-in with some criminals.

At three stories high, in the dark of night, perched on a hill, the old abandoned Jefferson Davis Hospital is the perfect setting for a spooky movie.

"We've had friends who've come up here on Halloween night and said they've seen all sorts of crazy stuff," explained group leader Fred. "We came to check it out."

Haunted by their desire to bust some ghosts, four teenagers and their Great Dane got busted themselves -- robbed at gunpoint by a couple of thugs as they were leaving the abandoned hospital. It happened shortly after 1:30am Friday.

Shaggy said, "I was the last one, everybody was in front of me, and all of the sudden I hear what sounded like a cap gun at first. I saw the bullet ricochet in front of me. I thought I got shot. Right, Scoob?"

It was that shot, not a ghost, that convinced the teens they'd better cooperate.

"I threw them my wallet, my keys. They got my friends’ cell phones, their wallets, the dog's collar, pretty much everything," said Velma. "Zoinks," she added after a reflective pause.

"(The suspects) then ran through the old Jefferson Davis Hospital, and from what we can determine, ran straight through the hospital, out the back and ran back into the neighborhood," HPD’s Sgt. E.M. Rose told Eyewitness News.

When police arrived, they surrounded the old hospital and brought in the K-9's, thinking the suspects were still inside. But they were nowhere to be found. No suspects, no ghosts -- just a group of teens left with the haunting memories of what happened to them.. and slashed tires on their colorful van.

"Like, it just reminds you of how dangerous it can be when you're just trying to have some fun," said Shaggy.

"They wouldn't have been robbed if they hadn't been a group of meddling kids," Rose said.