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Your home is your sanctuary, a place where you should feel secure. It's where you relax, let your defenses down, and carry out your most intimate daily activities. It's also where you are at your most exposed.
Imagine if someone invaded your home and hid in the shadows. While it sounds like a chilling urban myth, the following tales are all too real.
10. Theodore Edward Coneys
In September 1941, Theodore Edward Coneys, facing difficult circumstances, decided to visit his longtime friend Philip Peters after many years apart. Arriving at Peters' Denver, Colorado home, Coneys discovered it was empty and unlocked. Peters was away, visiting his wife in the hospital after she suffered a broken hip. Coneys entered the house and found a small door leading to a cramped attic space. Being a petite man, he squeezed into the room and chose to stay there, preferring it to braving the winter streets. For several weeks, Coneys would sneak out of his hiding place whenever Peters left, helping himself to food and using the facilities. This routine continued until October 17, when Coneys ventured out to cook, unaware that Peters was home napping. Startled and not recognizing Coneys, Peters was attacked and fatally pistol-whipped by the intruder.
Rather than escaping, Coneys retreated to his attic hideout. Friends found Peters' body and alerted the police, who were baffled by the locked doors and windows, unable to determine how the killer entered or exited. Peters' wife returned home and hired multiple housekeepers, but they all quit, convinced the house was haunted. She eventually moved in with her son. Meanwhile, Coneys remained hidden in the attic.
Passersby reported seeing lights and hearing eerie noises from the house. Police investigated multiple times but found no one inside, leading to rumors of a haunting. Eventually, authorities set up surveillance. On July 30, 1942, nearly a year after Coneys had moved in, police spotted him moving a curtain, revealing his face. They stormed the house and caught Coneys attempting to return to his attic room, which they had previously deemed too small for anyone to enter.
Coneys was arrested, convicted of Peters' murder, and died on May 16, 1967, in a prison hospital.
9. John M. Dubis
It’s no secret that celebrities often face issues with stalkers. Jennifer Lopez, the renowned singer and actress, was no exception. John M. Dubis, a 49-year-old man, had been stalking Lopez, prompting her to secure a protective order against him. Despite this, Dubis managed to infiltrate the pool house of Lopez’s luxurious $10-million estate in Southampton, New York.
8. Davis Wahlman
One evening, Davis Wahlman returned to his Seattle-area home and noticed unusual lights on inside, which were typically off. While he found it odd, he assumed his parents might have visited and forgotten to switch them off. Upon entering and heading upstairs, he discovered a bathroom window screen lying in the tub. Still, he didn’t think much of it until the next morning when he was startled by strange sounds coming from the attic. The bathroom window, a small and hard-to-reach space, couldn’t be accessed without assistance.
Wahlman was abruptly awakened by the sound of movement above him, clearly coming from the attic. Sensing something was amiss, he investigated and noticed a light on in the office. The door was locked, so he knocked but received no answer. After arming himself, he knocked again and heard a woman’s voice asking if he was Jimmy. Wahlman replied no and demanded she open the door.
When the woman finally opened the door, she claimed that Jimmy had given her permission to stay there and that she had been living in the house for three days. Wahlman immediately called 911, but the woman fled before police arrived. He never discovered how she entered his home, but it appeared she had been hiding in the attic for several days. Although nothing was stolen, Wahlman noticed items had been rearranged around the house.
7. Miguel Lua
In December 2010, a woman in Modesto, California, grew increasingly concerned as unusual occurrences unfolded in her home. Convinced her ex-boyfriend, 27-year-old Miguel Lua, was behind the disturbances, she suspected he had broken in. One evening, after plugging in her cell phone to charge overnight, she discovered it missing the next morning. Alarmed, she contacted the police, who conducted a thorough search of her house.
During their search, officers found Lua concealed beneath insulation in the attic. Evidence suggested he had been hiding there for a while, secretly observing his ex-girlfriend. Lua had stolen the phone to check if she was contacting other men. He was arrested, and it was revealed that this wasn’t his first unauthorized entry into an ex-girlfriend’s home. In July 2010, he had been arrested for a similar offense, and the previous ex had secured two restraining orders against him.
6. Ohio State University Student’s Secret Roommate
In September 2013, a bustling off-campus house near Ohio State University saw constant activity, with numerous people entering and exiting. Initially, the nine residents didn’t find it odd when cupboards were left open or the microwave door was ajar. However, as these incidents persisted, they grew suspicious and began investigating. Their curiosity turned to the locked door in the basement, which they had previously assumed led to a utility closet.
To solve the mystery, the students contacted the property company’s maintenance team to break down the door. Inside, they discovered a fully equipped room complete with textbooks, framed photos, a sink, and a toilet. That same night, the residents changed the locks on the house to secure it.
The squatter, an OSU student referred to only as “Jeremy,” reached out to the residents to retrieve his belongings, which they permitted. One of the housemates recalled seeing Jeremy before but had mistaken him for a friend of another resident. Jeremy had obtained a key from his cousin, who had lived in the house the previous summer.
5. Velma Kellen’s Squatter
In Yelm, Washington, 73-year-old Velma Kellen was puzzled by the odd occurrences in her home. She frequently found her back gate open despite being certain she had closed it. An unusual smell, reminiscent of cigarette smoke but stranger, lingered in the air. As winter approached, Kellen struggled to heat her house and called a repairman to inspect the ventilation system.
During his inspection, the repairman found evidence of a squatter in the crawl space beneath the house. The intruder had cut the vent to access heat and left behind alcohol bottles. Surprisingly, none of Kellen’s three dogs had barked or detected the presence beneath the house. It’s believed the squatter, or squatters, had been living there for up to a year.
4. Carlo Castellanos-Feria
Carlo Castellanos-Feria first encountered Michelle Fredenburg-Onion at a Washington, D.C. hospital where they both worked. Castellanos-Feria was a valet, while Fredenburg-Onion served as a director of physical therapy. After their meeting, the 32-year-old valet developed an obsession with her and began stalking her. At one point, Fredenburg-Onion left her keys unattended, allowing Castellanos-Feria to steal them, make copies, and return them unnoticed.
One day, Castellanos-Feria entered Fredenburg-Onion’s home and placed a camera on her bedroom desk. Whenever he heard Fredenburg-Onion and her boyfriend arrive, he would hide under the bed. He continued this for two days until the boyfriend discovered him. Under the bed, Castellanos-Feria had stored condoms, latex gloves, a change of clothes, and a power cord.
Castellanos-Feria was arrested, and a police search of his home revealed six framed photos of Fredenburg-Onion, additional unframed pictures, and a video from her first wedding. He had broken into her ex-husband’s house to obtain these items. Convicted of his crimes, he was sentenced to 38 months in prison. This chilling tale inspired the movie Under the Bed, directed by one of the co-directors of The Blair Witch Project.
3. Tracy’s Ex-Boyfriend
Tracy, a single mother of five in Rock Hill, South Carolina, chose to keep her last name private. In September 2012, she began hearing strange noises from the attic and noticed nails popping out of the ceiling. Despite investigating with her two sons, they found nothing unusual. While her children dismissed her concerns, Tracy remained convinced something was wrong and felt increasingly uneasy.
One night, while Tracy was working on her laptop in her bedroom, plaster fell on her due to movement in the attic. Another night at 2:30 AM, she heard a loud noise and knew someone was up there. Her nephew investigated and found Tracy’s ex-boyfriend, whom she had dated 12 years earlier, hiding in the attic’s back corner. It appeared he had been living there for about two weeks, just 90 days after being released from prison for stealing Tracy’s car.
In the attic, they discovered cups filled with feces and urine, along with a hole he had cut to spy on Tracy in her bedroom. The ex-boyfriend escaped, and there’s no record of him being apprehended. You might want to inspect your attic before heading to bed tonight.
2. Tatsuko Horikawa
In 2008, a 57-year-old man in Kasuya, Japan, was certain someone was breaking into his home and stealing food. Despite locking all doors and windows, the thefts continued. To solve the mystery, he installed a surveillance camera that sent images to his phone. One day, while away, he spotted an intruder in his home and called the police. Upon arrival, the police found the house securely locked.
After entering, they searched the house and found 58-year-old Tatsuko Horikawa hiding in the closet. The homeless woman had been living on the top shelf of the man’s closet for nearly a year. Horikawa had entered the house when the man left the door unlocked. She was believed to have squatted in other homes as well, avoiding detection by maintaining cleanliness and showering while the man was away.
1. Stanley Carter
In 2008, the Ferrance family in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, began hearing unusual noises in their home just before Christmas. Initially, Stacy Ferrance thought the sounds were from their cats or one of her three children. On Christmas Day, items went missing twice—once in the afternoon and again in the evening. It seemed as though someone had broken in and stolen some of their Christmas gifts, prompting the family to contact the police. The next day, they discovered footprints in a bedroom closet leading to the attic. Police returned with a dog and found 21-year-old Stanley Carter in the attic, wearing Stacy’s sweatshirt, sneakers, and her daughter’s pants.
Carter had been staying with neighbors in the other half of the duplex connected to the Ferrance home. After being asked to leave, he went missing on December 19, likely entering the shared attic at that time. In July 2009, he was convicted and sentenced to up to 23 months in jail.
