Buzz
As the saying goes, 'Home is where the heart is.' Whether residing in an apartment, house, mobile home, or embracing the freedom of van life, home is the sanctuary we return to after a long, tiring day, where we create our personal lives and memories.
Just as homes differ in their outward appearances, each home's interior is just as distinctive, shaped by the individual tastes and organizational needs of its inhabitants.
However, amid the chaos of daily life, it's not unusual for things within the home to become disorganized, and items may occasionally go missing. While you might stumble upon forgotten change between the couch cushions or rediscover a gift card you hadn’t used, it’s not every day that you uncover a missing husband's body tucked among the holiday decorations, a hidden stash of acorns behind your walls, or even a coyote sheltering behind your bathroom toilet.
Sadly, these shocking discoveries were actual occurrences for the homeowners involved. Here are ten incredible things people have unearthed inside and around their homes.
10. Missing Husband's Corpse
Each year in the United States, around 600,000 people are reported missing. These cases span various situations, including kidnappings, those missing in action, individuals disappearing due to mental health issues, or simply people who choose to vanish.
While most missing persons are found relatively quickly, there remains a small percentage (1%, or 6,000 individuals) whose disappearances remain unsolved. Tragically, 53-year-old Richard Maedge from Troy, Illinois, was one such case in 2022, although he never actually left his home.
On April 26, 2022, Maedge informed his wife, Jennifer, that he wasn’t feeling well and decided to leave work early. However, when Jennifer returned home, she found Maedge’s car, wallet, and keys, but he was missing. The following day, Jennifer reported him as missing. Police arrived to search their home, which they described as a 'hoarder home,' and noticed a strange, 'sewer-like' smell, but they found no sign of Maedge.
Though the police couldn’t locate Maedge, Jennifer continued to notice the persistent odor, which was also reported by neighbors and even the mailman. After contacting the police again, they suggested the house might have sewer issues. A plumber was called in, who sealed one of the basement sewer pipes, which seemed to eliminate the smell.
Sadly, it wasn’t until December 11, 2022, nearly eight months after Maedge vanished, that Jennifer uncovered the heartbreaking truth behind both the source of the persistent odor and the fate of her husband.
While gathering Christmas decorations from a hidden closet, Jennifer made the grim discovery of Maedge’s body, concealed behind some clothes. She immediately called 911, and an autopsy later confirmed that Maedge’s death was a suicide by hanging.
9. Coyote Behind the Toilet
Coyotes, also known as prairie wolves or brush wolves, are smaller members of the Canidae family, which also includes wolves and foxes. These animals inhabit prairies, deserts, forests, and mountains across North America and Canada. While they generally avoid humans, coyotes have been known to venture into urban areas, including places like Los Angeles, California, and Chicago, Illinois.
Thus, when a family in Trenton, Ohio, left their front door ajar while preparing for a road trip on the morning of September 9, 2022, they unknowingly provided an opening for a coyote to slip inside. The coyote, however, chose an unexpected spot to hide—behind the toilet.
To their surprise, it wasn’t until Adam Whaley’s father used the restroom on the first floor that he discovered the coyote hiding behind the toilet. Naturally, none of the family members were eager to get close to the wild animal, so they immediately called the police for help. Fortunately, officers were able to safely remove the coyote from the bathroom and release it outside.
8. Doll and Creepy Note Hidden in the Wall
In 2021, more than a million homes were sold in the United Kingdom, with buyers spending over $327 billion (£260.5 billion) on residential properties.
Thirty-two-year-old Jonathan Lewis, a primary school teacher from the UK, was one of these buyers when he purchased a home in Walton, Liverpool, on September 17, 2021. While the excitement of moving into a new home was overwhelming, Lewis could never have predicted that a ragdoll containing a chilling note would be discovered within the walls of his new property.
Lewis was aware of a space beneath the stairs that had been sealed with plasterboard. However, as he investigated further, he noticed a wire emerging from the spot where the previous owners had placed their refrigerator.
Lewis’s curiosity got the best of him, prompting him to break through the plasterboard. As he directed a light into the hole, he discovered a ragdoll. While the doll itself was harmless, the attached note delivered an unsettling message.
The note read:
“Dear reader/new homeowner, Thank you for releasing me! My name is Emily. My original owners lived in this house in 1961. I didn’t care for them, so they had to go. All they did was sing and be merry. It was unbearable. Stabbing was my method of choice for their demise, so I hope you have knives. Hope you sleep well.”
Given the ominous message, Lewis’s friends urged him to sell the house and move away. However, Lewis found the whole situation more amusing than alarming.
7. Naked Man in Bed
Since property crimes are the most prevalent type of crime in the United States, it’s no surprise that Americans spend over $20 billion annually on security devices and systems to protect themselves from offenses like home invasion, burglary, or trespassing.
However, despite having a security system in place, 35-year-old Krista Brown from Providence, Rhode Island, was startled to discover something unexpected— a naked man in her bed.
On the afternoon of March 28, 2022, after working the night shift, Brown decided to take a nap. As she lay asleep, she felt someone snuggle up next to her and wrap their arms around her. Assuming it was her boyfriend, she rolled over, only to realize that he and her son were busy with chores, and there, lying next to her, was a naked stranger.
In a panic, Brown screamed at the man, later identified as 50-year-old Jason Kendrick, to leave her home. Kendrick did exit the apartment, but he then ran upstairs to her brother Justin’s apartment. Her brother chased him off as well.
Ironically, Kendrick, who lived right next door, was found sitting on his couch—still naked—when police arrived. He was taken to a local hospital for a mental health evaluation before being arrested and charged with breaking and entering.
6. Seven Hundred Pounds of Acorns
There are around 180 different species of woodpeckers found across most of the world, excluding Australia and New Guinea.
For example, the downy woodpecker, recognized by its black and white checkered body pattern, short beak, and black markings on its outer feathers, is the most common woodpecker species in North America. It is also the smallest, measuring only 6-7 inches (14-17 cm) in length.
Woodpeckers mostly feed on insects like beetles, ants, aphids, flies, and caterpillars. However, one species, the acorn woodpecker, takes a different approach by drilling thousands of small holes into trees and storing acorns in them, ensuring a supply of food during the winter when other food sources, like insects and flowers, are scarce.
Unfortunately, one pair of acorn woodpeckers chose an unusual spot to stockpile their acorns—inside a hole in the chimney of a home in Glen Ellen, California.
In December 2022, the homeowners called an exterminator after noticing “little maggot-like worms” emerging from the bedroom wall. When Nick Castro, the owner of Nick’s Extreme Pest Control, arrived at the scene, he initially suspected a dead animal was the cause.
However, after cutting into the wall, Castro uncovered that the “maggot-like worms” were actually mealworms, which had been feeding on a massive stash of acorns—700 pounds (317 kg) to be precise. The acorn woodpeckers had bored hundreds of holes into the home’s wooden siding and dropped the acorns through a hole in the chimney. From there, the acorns traveled through another hole in the attic and began accumulating in the walls of the house.
It took Castro and his three-man team a full day to clear the enormous pile, which stood around 20 feet (6 meters) high. Afterward, they sealed up all the holes and openings to prevent the woodpeckers from returning to the house for more storage. The acorns, which were covered in droppings and insulation fiberglass, were disposed of.
5. Serval
Servals, often referred to as “giraffe cats,” are sleek, small cats with a tawny-colored coat adorned with black spots and lines. They are known for having the longest legs and the largest ears relative to their body size of any cat.
Typically, servals are native to the dense riverine and streamside areas of central and southern Africa, so it's not something you'd expect to find wandering into your bedroom. However, that’s exactly what happened to Kristine Frank of Brookhaven, Georgia.
On the morning of June 30, 2021, Frank’s husband, Dave, had gotten up early to let their dog outside, leaving the door ajar. As Kristine stayed in bed, she was woken by movement on the bed. Knowing she didn't allow the dog to sleep with them and that her husband had already left, she realized it couldn't be either of them. To her surprise, she discovered an unfamiliar, large cat lying on the bed, which was later identified as a serval.
The cat then jumped off the bed, and Kristine immediately yelled for her husband. After cornering the animal, she managed to get out of bed, and fortunately, Dave was able to escort the serval out of the house. The serval, named Nala, was eventually trapped by a neighbor and returned to its owner, Anna Fyfe, on July 5, 2021.
Anna Fyfe and her family had first found the serval near their South Carolina home, where it’s legal to own a serval without a license. When Fyfe moved to Atlanta for college, she brought Nala with her. However, owning a serval as a pet is illegal in Georgia, so the cat was confiscated by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources on July 8, 2021, and arrangements were made to send it to a sanctuary.
4. Stranger Living in Attic
The term “phrogging” refers to the act of someone secretly occupying another person’s home without their knowledge. Though it may seem impossible for anyone to live in your home undetected, this eerie scenario became a reality for one homeowner in Mill Creek, Washington.
In March 2023, the unnamed homeowner began to notice items missing from his residence and the distinct odor of cigarette smoke. Tracing the smell to an upstairs loft, he made a chilling discovery— a makeshift bed, partially eaten food, drug paraphernalia, and a heater still running.
On March 20, 2023, police visited the home after the owner reported the theft. While officers removed the items found in the loft, they were unable to locate the intruder responsible for the strange occurrences.
The police returned the next day, March 21, 2023, after the homeowner reported that the house had been locked from the inside, leaving him locked out. It was then that officers found 24-year-old Daniel Tomoiaga inside, with over $3,000 in cash, a stolen passport, and wallet, along with meth and fentanyl pills in his possession.
After an hour and a half of effort, the police finally apprehended Tomoiaga. He was arrested and charged with second-degree theft, residential burglary, and possession of methamphetamine and fentanyl.
3. The Previous Owner Found in the Basement
A sheriff’s sale is a public auction where people can bid on properties that have been foreclosed upon by a lender. These sales are typically held at a courthouse or the sheriff’s office and feature a diverse range of residential and, occasionally, commercial properties up for bid.
While such sales can be a great way to purchase residential or investment properties at a lower price, one man in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, made a horrifying discovery in the property he bought at such a sale.
On November 29, 2022, the man who had purchased the home through the sheriff’s sale visited the property for an inspection. During his check, he stumbled upon a decaying body in the basement. He immediately alerted the police.
The body was later identified as Nina Fielden, a 71-year-old woman who was the home’s previous owner.
Fielden's body showed no signs of injury, and it remained a mystery why her remains were not found before the property was sold at the sheriff’s auction.
2. Snakes Inside the Walls
While purchasing a home can be a daunting task, it should also be a joyful milestone, especially when it’s your first one. Unfortunately, for 42-year-old Amber Hall from Centennial, Colorado, what was meant to be her dream home quickly turned into a nightmare filled with snakes.
At the end of March 2023, Hall moved into her new 4-bedroom, 2-bathroom home with her two children and two dogs. However, as she began unpacking, Hall noticed that one of her dogs was focused on a particular spot in the garage. Upon closer inspection, she discovered two holes in the wall and witnessed snakes slithering up the walls.
Sadly, this was just the beginning, as she soon realized that even more snakes were hidden inside the walls of her new home.
Hall sought help from a snake wrangler to get rid of the snakes in her home. Over the course of ten days, he found and removed ten snakes. Based on the size of the snakes, he estimated they had been living in her house for at least two years. He also suggested that there could be a snake den underground near her garage.
Hall mentioned that she wouldn’t be able to fully enjoy her new home until all the snakes have been removed and their den has been located, as the fear of their presence will linger until then.
1. Car on Roof
China, the world’s most populous country with 1.4 billion people, unfortunately experiences a high number of traffic accidents every year. In 2019 alone, nearly 248,000 traffic accidents occurred. One particular crash in Taizhou, however, took an unexpected turn.
In March 2017, a homeowner in Jiangsu province heard a strange noise coming from inside his house. When he went to investigate, he was stunned to find an SUV on his roof.
The driver, whose identity remains unknown, was trying to avoid a collision with a tricycle and another vehicle when he accidentally pressed the accelerator instead of the brake. This caused his car to skid off the highway and land on the roof of a house. Although the police rescued him using a ladder, a crane was needed to remove the car. Fortunately, neither the driver nor the homeowner suffered any injuries.
