Buzz
Over time, many have become captivated by individuals who live in ways that defy societal expectations. Whether it's for survival, due to unusual circumstances, or simply because of their strange and unsettling lifestyle, some people choose to live in ways that are far from ordinary.
10. Hiding in a Stranger’s Closet
A 57-year-old man in Fukuoka, Japan was perplexed when food began disappearing from his kitchen. After installing a surveillance camera, he received images on his phone showing an intruder in his apartment. When the police arrived to investigate, they found 58-year-old Tatsuka Horikawa concealed in the top compartment of a storage closet.
She set up a futon in the space and even took showers while the owner was away. The woman explained that she had nowhere else to stay and had first entered the residence a year earlier when the owner left it unlocked. She was later charged with trespassing.
9. Living with a Dead Body
A woman in Michigan lived with her deceased roommate’s body for up to 18 months due to loneliness. Charles Zigler, 67, had passed away from emphysema, but his 72-year-old friend, Linda Chase, didn’t report his death. Instead, she propped his body up in a chair and continued watching television with it.
Chase kept the body clean, dressed it, and spoke to the mummified remains while watching NASCAR. Although she was investigated for social security fraud after continuing to cash Zigler’s checks, it seemed the true reason for keeping the body was emotional. When asked why she did it, Chase said, “I didn’t want to be alone. He was the only guy who was ever nice to me.”
8. Living in a Shopping Mall
In 2003, Michael Townsend and a group of his artist friends took over an unoccupied space in a Rhode Island shopping mall. They smuggled in two tons of construction materials to build their studio apartment, hidden behind a wall of cinder blocks. The space was fully furnished and had electricity, though they made use of the mall’s public restrooms. They managed to live there unnoticed for up to three weeks at a time, doing so for four years.
Townsend had big plans for the space, but one day the group arrived to find security guards waiting for them. Townsend explained that he was inspired by a holiday advertisement that depicted the joys of living in a mall. He claimed it was an art project, aimed at “understanding the mall and life as a shopper.” Townsend pled guilty to criminal trespassing and was sentenced to six months probation.
7. Living in a Cave
In New Mexico, a 56-year-old man was found living in a cave on land owned by the Department of Energy. Roy Moore had created a home in the cave, complete with a bed, a front door, a wood-burning stove, solar panels, and even satellite radio. He had managed to live there undetected for four years. Eventually, the smoke from the stove caught the attention of authorities, who also found marijuana plants on the property. Moore was evicted, and he faced misdemeanor drug charges.
6. Residing in an Ex-Girlfriend’s Attic
In South Carolina, a woman became suspicious when she heard strange noises coming from her attic, followed by nails dropping from the ceiling. Her gut feeling told her something was off. When her grown sons investigated, they found the woman's ex-boyfriend asleep in a heating unit, surrounded by coats.
He had been released from prison just two weeks earlier and had been hiding in the attic ever since. The woman had no idea he had been freed, and their relationship had ended 12 years ago. To make the situation even more unsettling, fast-food cups filled with human waste were discovered nearby. The man had also tampered with the ceiling vents so he could spy on his ex-girlfriend's bedroom.
5. Living in the Jungle
In Cambodia, an eight-year-old girl who vanished with her sister while tending buffalo was found living alone in the wild after 19 years. A villager witnessed Roshom P’ngieng emerge naked from the jungle and attempt to steal rice. He described her as 'half human and half animal.' Police said she was unable to speak coherently. The villager and his friends caught her, and her father identified her by the scars on her arms.
Efforts to reintegrate the woman proved unsuccessful. She couldn’t learn the local language, preferred crawling to walking, and refused to wear clothes. Eventually, she ran back into the forest. There’s skepticism surrounding whether this truly was Roshom P’ngieng. Some doubt that an eight-year-old girl could survive such harsh conditions on her own, and her father has declined to allow a DNA test.
4. Living in a Tiny Apartment
In Paris, a 50-year-old man was discovered living in a cramped room with a slanted ceiling, measuring just 1.5 square meters (17 square feet) of usable space. There was hardly enough room to stand, and the man had lived there for 15 years. The rent for this minuscule apartment was 340 euros per month (around $442). When asked how he managed in such a small space, he told a French radio station, 'I come home, I go to bed.' The landlord got into trouble because French law mandates that Paris apartments must be at least nine square meters (97 square feet) and include a shower.
3. Living Without Contact
In 1978, a team of geologists in Siberia were shocked to find a family of six living on a mountainside, far from any civilization. The Lykov family had fled religious persecution in 1936 and had lived in seclusion for the next four decades. The two youngest children had never seen another human being outside of their family, although they knew of others' existence. Their language had become distorted from isolation, and they had never encountered bread.
The family survived in a single room on a diet of potatoes, ground rye, and hemp seeds, and they hadn’t eaten meat until the late '50s, when the younger boy taught himself to trap. Their shoes were made from bark, and their only reading material consisted of prayer books and a family Bible. In 1961, a harsh winter wiped out their crops, forcing them to survive on bark and shoe leather. During this time, their mother died of starvation, ensuring her children had enough to eat. After their discovery, the Lykovs chose to stay in their remote home, accepting only a few practical items.
Three years after their discovery, three of the Lykov children died within days of each other. Their father passed away in 1988, leaving Agafia (the last surviving child) alone on the mountain, where she decided to remain for another 25 years.
2. Living in a School Bus
A postal worker in Texas grew concerned after repeatedly seeing two neglected children along her route and decided to contact child welfare. The young girl, aged 11, and her five-year-old brother were living alone in an abandoned school bus parked in a trash-filled lot. Their parents were incarcerated for participating in a scheme to embezzle funds from victims of Hurricane Ike. Although the bus had electricity, running water, air-conditioning, and bathroom facilities, the children were left to fend for themselves.
An aunt was tasked with caring for the children, but she worked long 12-hour shifts and was overwhelmed, leaving the kids unsupervised. The children weren’t enrolled in school, had limited food, and were filthy. Child welfare took them into custody. After serving their sentence, the parents regained custody and reportedly began making efforts to improve the living conditions on the bus.
1. In the Depths of Underground Tunnels
While investigating copper thefts at a grain mill in Kansas City, Missouri, police stumbled upon an intricate network of underground tunnels where some of the city's homeless had set up residence. Dug into a wooded area, the tunnels were ventilated using PVC pipes, with their entrances hidden by brush and other debris. One tunnel reached a depth of 7.5 meters (25 ft) and led to a room furnished with bedding and candles. Nearby, a pile of diapers raised concerns about children living in the tunnels. Authorities cleared the area and shut down the tunnels due to their unsafe living conditions, sparking a broader debate about the city's homelessness problem.
