An elderly woman in California experienced a startling revelation after months of hearing unsettling sounds beneath her El Sereno home.
Initially, she and her family assumed these disturbances were just the usual noises from neighborhood pets, leading them to dismiss any serious concerns.
But when the sounds grew more intense, she decided to contact the authorities for assistance.
Upon investigation, police discovered an unexpected occupant in the home’s crawlspace.
Astonishingly, they found a naked man living there, seemingly for an extended period.
Ricardo Silva, the homeowner’s son-in-law, explained, “It was usually late at night, and we just chucked it off to animals being under the house. The noises were kind of like knocking. It was kind of like, as my wife was walking, they were kind of knocking back from under the house so she says, you know something’s wrong.”
Evicting the man from the crawlspace proved challenging due to his reluctance to leave.
Despite numerous hours of persuasion, the man remained unmoved.
Even attempts to intimidate him with police dogs were ineffective.
Authorities eventually resorted to using tear gas to extract him from the space.
He was identified as 27-year-old Issac Betancour, who authorities believe had been living under the house for six months.
Silva noted, “He refused to leave. He wasn’t scared of the dogs, and the first two attempts at gas didn’t fish him out.”
“It’s a bizarre thing, but it’s not probably uncommon, you know, in this day and age, people are looking for shelter,” he added.
Betancour was taken into custody and underwent medical evaluation at a nearby hospital, according to CBS.
To prevent future occurrences, the family plans to secure access to the two-foot-high crawlspace.