Buzz
The unsettling idea of a stranger covertly living in your house seems straight out of a nightmare or horror films. Yet, there have been cases where unwelcome individuals have made themselves at home. Most of these intruders hide in attics, but sometimes they occupy basements, closets, or even take up residence under the house.
Some of these uninvited residents spent over a year undetected in their host's homes before being discovered. Others managed to flee before their identities could be revealed. These stories provide plenty of reasons to ensure your doors and windows are securely locked.
10. Tatsuko Horikawa
In 2008, a 57-year-old Japanese man realized that he had unwittingly been sharing his home with an unknown tenant. Before this discovery, he had noticed food mysteriously vanishing from his fridge. Suspecting a burglar, he installed security cameras that sent live video feeds of his home to his phone.
One day, he received a video showing a strange woman opening his fridge. He immediately contacted the police, who arrived at his home expecting to catch the burglar in action. To their surprise, they found the doors and windows securely locked, with no signs of forced entry. Despite this, they proceeded inside, suspecting the burglar might still be lurking.
The police found no trace of the burglar until they checked a shelf above the closet. There, they discovered 58-year-old Tatsuko Horikawa. Investigations revealed that Horikawa had lived in several homes in the neighborhood before taking refuge in the man’s house, where she had remained undetected for a year before being caught.
9. Unnamed Man
In 2012, Tracy believed she and her five children were the only residents of their South Carolina home, until she discovered another presence: an ex-boyfriend she had broken up with 12 years earlier. The night before uncovering his presence, Tracy heard strange noises coming from the attic. She and two of her sons investigated but found nothing unusual.
The strange sounds persisted throughout the night. Plaster and nails from the ceiling even fell onto her bed and floor. The next day, Tracy called a nephew to investigate the attic. Initially, he found nothing, but after searching deeper into the attic, he discovered her ex-boyfriend sleeping there. He quickly left, smiling as he exited the house. Tracy later discovered that he had been able to see into her bedroom through an air vent.
Tracy was left baffled by how her ex had gained access to her home and how long he had been living there. However, she recalled that he had helped her install new doors a year earlier and had just finished serving a 90-day sentence for stealing her vehicle. The ex left behind his belongings in the attic, including photos, toys, cassettes, and several cups filled with feces and urine.
8. Anthony Jones
In 2017, a woman experienced the shock of her life when she discovered a man living in the attic of her rented apartment in Arlington, Virginia. That night, while she was home alone, she heard footsteps coming from the attic. After confirming with the landlord that they hadn’t been in the attic, she called the police. The officers arrived at the scene to investigate.
While searching the attic, the police instructed anyone inside to come forward. A 60-year-old man, identified as Anthony Jones, emerged and surrendered. Inside the attic, officers found his clothes and bedding. Although the police couldn't determine how long Jones had been in the house, they suspected he had entered through an unlocked door.
7. Unidentified Person
In 1997, Amber Dawn heard footsteps coming from the attic the night she moved into her new apartment in Enumclaw, Washington. She checked the trap door leading to the attic, which looked odd, as if someone had pulled it shut from the inside. However, she never suspected that anyone could actually be hiding up there. When she mentioned the sounds to the landlady, she was told it was just a squirrel.
Over the following months, Dawn began to notice odd occurrences in her home. Items would mysteriously disappear, and things were moved around. Once, her nine-week-old puppy was found in her bathroom sink during a flood, even though it couldn’t climb into it by itself. Initially, she thought her brother, who also had a key to the apartment, was responsible. The truth would only come to light six months later.
One evening, while soaking in the bathtub, Dawn looked up and saw that the trap door leading to the attic was open. In a panic, she grabbed a hammer and her dog before leaving the house. Outside, she called her sister-in-law, who picked her up. Later, the police searched the apartment and found no one inside. However, they did discover food, a book, and a sleeping bag in the attic.
6. Unidentified Woman
In 2016, Davis Wahlman was startled by strange noises coming from his attic in Seattle. When he went upstairs to investigate, he noticed that a light in one of the rooms was on, even though he had turned it off earlier. He tried to enter the room, but the door was locked from the inside. After knocking, a woman responded, asking if it was Jimmy.
Wahlman told her that he was not Jimmy and asked what she was doing in his house before calling the police. Eventually, the woman opened the door but refused to answer his questions. She ranted that she had been staying in the house for three days, claiming that a person named Jimmy had given her permission to stay. However, she left before the police arrived.
Wahlman later checked the attic and found that the woman had left behind her belongings. The night before discovering her in his house, he had noticed a series of unusual events: lights he had turned off had been switched on again, the flyscreen had been removed from his bathroom, and a fire escape ladder had been set up. Following the incident, he decided to change all the locks on his doors.
5. Jeremy
In 2013, a group of Ohio State University students made a shocking discovery: they were not alone in their off-campus home. After noticing strange occurrences, like their cupboards and microwaves being left open, as well as odd noises coming from the basement, they realized something was amiss.
At first, they thought little of the events, often joking that a ghost was responsible for the disturbances. However, their suspicions were confirmed when maintenance workers forced open the basement door, revealing a hidden resident—another student named Jeremy. The students gave him a chance to collect his belongings before they evicted him from the property.
The mystery of how Jeremy had entered the house or how long he had been living there remained unsolved. The students speculated that he had been there before they moved in since the landlord had never changed the locks. In an interesting twist, one of the roommates had met Jeremy before but thought he was simply a visitor.
4. Jose Rafael Leyva-Caraveo And Veronica Fernandez-Beleta
In 2012, Troy and Dayna Donovan, along with their two children, were unable to return to their Littleton, Colorado home due to two squatters, Jose Rafael Leyva-Caraveo and Veronica Fernandez-Beleta, occupying it. The Donovans had locked up their house and left for Indiana where Troy had secured a temporary job. However, Jose and Veronica managed to get inside.
Jose and Veronica claimed they had legally taken possession of the house through an affidavit of adverse possession, allegedly paying $5,000. However, under Colorado law, a minimum of 18 years (or seven years in certain situations) is required before a house can be legally possessed through adverse possession. The Donovans had only been gone for a few months.
The Donovans were in a difficult situation. The police refused to get involved, as it was deemed a civil matter rather than a criminal one, and the squatters were not caught breaking and entering. Additionally, Jose and Veronica secured a restraining order against the Donovans, forbidding them from approaching the house. Eventually, the Donovans won a court ruling that ordered the squatters to vacate within 48 hours.
However, the situation wasn't as straightforward as it seemed, as Veronica had already filed for bankruptcy. Under Colorado law, a squatter cannot be evicted immediately if they have declared bankruptcy. Meanwhile, the Donovans had to live in the basement of a relative's house in a different town, hoping that they could eventually regain possession of their home. Eventually, Jose and Veronica were charged with multiple felonies, and the Donovans were presumably able to return home.
3. Zeng
In 2014, a man identified only as "Wang" discovered a stranger named "Zeng" living in the attic of his home in Kunshan, Jiangsu province, China. Wang would never have realized Zeng was there if he hadn't locked the door from the inside. When Wang called the police, they found a hole in his kitchen ceiling that led to the attic, where they found Zeng.
Prior to this discovery, Wang had noticed that money and food were mysteriously disappearing from his home. Police investigation revealed that Zeng had stolen about 2,000 yuan from Wang's home and had been preparing meals for himself while Wang was away. Zeng had gained access to the attic from outside the house and admitted to alternating between Wang’s house and a neighbor’s.
2. Tyggra Shepherd
In what appeared to be a case of fraud, a woman in South Carolina discovered strangers living in her home in 2018. Katherine Lang had just returned from a vacation and went to inspect the pipes of her new house. Outside, she noticed a dog and a cat, which she found odd. Upon entering, she discovered two women inside her home.
1. Unidentified Person
In 2013, Velma Kellen, a 73-year-old grandmother, noticed that the front part of her home in Yelm, Washington, was colder than the rest of the house. Believing that the heating system was malfunctioning, she purchased a new furnace. However, the issue persisted, prompting her to call a repairman to investigate.
The repairman discovered that the issue wasn’t the furnace at all, but that someone had been living under her house. The intruder had cut her heating ducts to redirect the warmth to their hiding space. Kellen was stunned. While she never encountered the person, she had noticed strange occurrences around her home, such as finding her gate left open and smelling something worse than cigarettes. Although no drugs were found, the repairman did uncover a beer can under the house.
