Sen. Rob Portman's haunted hotel

ByABC News
June 19, 2012, 3:23 PM

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Reporting from Lebanon, Ohio, where Sen. Rob Portman's family owns the oldest continually running hotel in the state, called the Golden Lamb, NBC News' Andrew Rafferty noticed something peculiar about the place: It's haunted.

According to local lore, the spooky vibes have being coming out of a small room on the fourth floor for years.

Rafferty, an intrepid reporter who dared to enter the haunted floor, reports:

Through a glass encasing in the room, there is a plastic doll lying on a child-size bed surrounded by toys from the late 19th Century. It is here, where, "The restless spirit of a young girl materializes in this small room," at least according to a letter posted outside the door.

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The ghoulish girl, who some believe walks the halls of The Golden Lamb, is Sarah Stubbs, who, despite passing away in 1957, "cannot find peace in the world beyond," according the information outside the room. The story of Sarah's haunting is rather mundane compared to that of other ghost stories. She lived to be 79, and those familiar with the story acknowledge she lived a happy and stable life. However, her father passed away when she was a young girl and did not enjoy her time living at the hotel.

The Golden Lamb attempts to put to rest any confusion: "Investigators into the realm of the supernatural believe in the 'Imprint Theory,' which holds that traumatic experiences, such as the loss of her dear father and the move to new surroundings left an imprint on the youthful Sarah's spirit, so that she returns as a little girl, even though she died as an old woman many years later."

The burning question: Will Portman have to disclose his dealings with the supernatural on his vetting documents if Mitt Romney picks him for vice president?