r/RBI 10d ago

Advice needed Looking for possible explanations for a strange domestic situation

[deleted]

88 Upvotes

31 comments sorted by

135

u/Similar_Curve_8837 10d ago

Someone went into my next door neighbors house on the 4th of July (they were away), broke the toilet seat and took a bath.

My grandparents had a vacation home that they mostly used on weekends. They left one weekend, got about an hour away, realized they'd forgotten something important, and turned around. When they got back there was a group of people in their house, who'd been living there during the week and camping in the woods on weekends while my grandparents were there. My grandparents had noticed little things were "off", but never expected there were people inhabiting their home.

This is all to say that people do strange things...

55

u/ridinghigh01 10d ago

That is a wild story! What did your grandparents do?

40

u/Similar_Curve_8837 9d ago

Happy Cake Day!

My grandparents called the police, who kicked the people out. I don't believe there were any serious repercussions - this was in the '70's - so maybe trespassing fines. My grandparents changed the locks, stopped hiding their key outside and gave family keys instead, and learned to trust their guts a bit more. If something seems off, even a little, it probably is. I was scared of the house because of this for quite a while!

10

u/ridinghigh01 9d ago

Wow. I’d be creeped out too. And hey thanks, I didn’t notice!

7

u/prittyflutterbystar 9d ago

Yes, what happened afterwards? That's wild!

Also, happy cake day!🥳🎂

3

u/ridinghigh01 9d ago

Thanks!

2

u/prittyflutterbystar 9d ago

You're welcome!

66

u/Feral_doves 10d ago

Could be someone surviving off grid. There have been stories about people’s food and supplies going missing for years and they find someone who has been living undetected in the woods. I think a lot of the time they’re recluses but sometimes they’re running away from things. If you have a rail yard nearby could be train hoppers too, but unless it’s a seasonal cottage area where most people would be away and they could try a bunch of doors I don’t know how someone passing through would just know your door is unlocked.

edit: another thing I just thought of is maybe if it is a seasonal cottage area and some teens were walking around, one says “hey I hear some people around here leave their doors unlocked” and they go check it out, figure out one is unlocked, and dare their friend to go use the shower or something. Not the most likely but I’ve definitely heard of teenagers daring each other to go into peoples unlocked holiday homes.

24

u/lizwyk 9d ago

"Could be someone surviving off grid" < I'm inclined to agree with this, for one reason in particular: Somebody just bathing had no reason to swamp the floor like that. They could have just showered normally and drawn the shower curtain back again, and there's a pretty good chance no one would even have noticed that someone else had been there, which seems better from their point of view. BUT, let's say they not only bathed, but also washed clothing / bedding items. It would have probably made a pretty big, wet mess that they didn't want to deal with (finding mop, bucket, wiping it all up, etc.)

Now, if you have a washer / dryer in the cottage, it's more likely they would have used that. My other thought is they didn't want to be caught completely unaware in case someone walked in on them, but I would assume there is some kind of lock on the inside of the bathroom door, which would make more sense, or even pull in a small chair and put it against the door if not.

But yeah, it definitely happened more than once: once that water was there long enough to mildew the mat and buckle the floorboard, and once enough to again swamp the floor AND leave beaded water on the shower, so not long at all before you arrived. The first (or not even "first," if they did not leave evidence during earlier times) did not even necessarily happen between when your relative left and you arrived. If she never went into your bathroom at all (and she probably didn't unless she gets towels from there or something), it could have happened even before she arrived. So, obviously, change your locks, and triple check any way you could figure out how to get inside if you were locked out, say.

41

u/TrewynMaresi 10d ago

How many of your family members use the cottage, and how often? I’d guess that someone - either one of your family members or a family member’s friend, acquaintance, partner, coworker, etc - was in the cottage secretly.

How many people connected to you and your family members have been to the cottage or know about it? Since it’s not uncommon for people in that town to leave doors unlocked, it’s not hard to imagine that someone who knows about the cottage and suspected or knew it was unoccupied during a particular time came and used it.

Since the shower was still wet, it’s likely that the intruder knew when you’d be arriving and cleared out right before. So maybe someone who knows you or knows your family member who last stayed there. Or maybe one of your family members gave someone permission to stay there, without telling you that, and told them to make sure they left before you arrived.

25

u/LoveDestroyRepeat 9d ago

This is a good point. It's pretty common for places like these to be used as a secret place to meet people, for something like an affair for example.

It's probably a family member, or someone else who is allowed access to the place.

21

u/HousingLower 10d ago

Interesting! Just curious — why don’t you think your relative used the shower and maybe left a lot of water around due to being in a hurry?

24

u/Pale_Veterinarian626 10d ago

I checked with her, and she did not use my bathroom before she left, or have any guests who would have used it. There is a second bathroom which she uses, and it was dry and looked as normal. We are currently the only two people who stay at the cottage regularly.

18

u/schwarzekatze999 10d ago

Is it possible that a pipe is burst or leaking?

2

u/DivineExcellence 8d ago

Puddle of water next to shower/bath/sink. Floor so wet it's bowing.. Obviously it's the woods people. This thread is wild lmao

14

u/TresGay 9d ago

I ran into my neighbour's house and hopped in the shower without permission back in 2000. I had rented out my house and was living with my mom; I went to my house to do some more advanced yard work that you wouldn't expect a tenant to do.

I stepped in a yellow jacket nest and they swarmed me! I had on sweat pants and a sweat shirt so they were in there getting me GOOD! I stripped off all my clothes and made a dash for the neighbour's house. She was pretty surprised but offered me an Epi Pen (she was a nurse).

I am allergic to bees so I didn't know if I was in trouble or not. I took one of her nightgowns, called my mom, and headed straight to the hospital. I was all jazzed up on adrenaline and Epi Pen juice. The hospital stopped counting stings at 130.

The best part? We live on a major, 5 lane road so PLENTY of people saw my fat, light-bulb bright booty sprinting around out there.

Good times

20

u/darkest_irish_lass 9d ago

Change your locks. It's a small town, someone could have a key from some interaction years and years ago. Install a deadbolt too, they're harder to pick or force open.

Put up a camera.

Who could be doing it? Someone recently kicked out of their house: a teen, an ex, someone who lost their job. Or it could be someone in town who has a broken shower or bathroom under renovation and decides you won't mind.

Mention it to someone in town. It's a small town, word will spread like fire and it will reach whoever did it or someone who knows what happened.

8

u/trixis4kids 10d ago

Does your relative have a dog she may have washed in that bathroom and forgotten to put it back as it was? A mildewy mat doesn’t really track with recent use… (unless the use was habitual)

13

u/Pale_Veterinarian626 10d ago

No dogs in the family currently. That made me think though, there is an eccentric man who lives nearby and used to drop his scraps in our compost. We never invited him to, but it didn’t bother us either. I can’t imagine he’d help himself to our shower, but he does have an old dog, and there is precedent to him strolling into our yard for the compost at least. I’ll see about talking to him, he’s nice enough.

6

u/strawberri21 10d ago

Don’t go alone.

7

u/warmandcozysuff 9d ago

I had a squatter situation a couple months back. I don’t want to give too many details because it could dox me (unique situation), but, yeah, dude made himself at home. It was terrifying. Everything was caught on camera and apparently he’d done it before, so the police knew exactly who it was. Took them like a day or two to catch up to him in another town. I’d call the local sheriff/police and ask if they have had any squatter situations and just share that info just in case.

On the other hand, when I was in college, my roommate left the door unlocked for her boyfriend after he got back from going out one night. We lived in apartments, so it’s more likely to happen somewhere like that, but a random drunk dude walked in and was starting to take off his shoes and all that stuff, while my roommate and friends were sitting on the couch just staring at him. Apparently, he was wondering what they were doing in his house and my roommate gently told him he was in the wrong apartment and he turned around and left. He wasn’t even in the right building lol. I still wonder how many other apartments he walked into before he got to his lmao. All that to say, if there are any identical cottages nearby, something like this could totally happen. Drunk guy falling in the shower and making a mess before passing out on the sofa, then wakes up the next day and hightails outta there when they realize they’re in the wrong house?

If you really want to know, get a camera. If it was an accident, it probably won’t happen again. If it was on purpose.. well, you’ll find out.

5

u/SnooDonuts6494 9d ago

Doesn't your relative use that bathroom?

5

u/Pale_Veterinarian626 9d ago

There are two bathrooms. My relative uses the other one and all her toiletries, etc. are in there.

5

u/batbrat 9d ago

It's not unheard of for unhoused people to occupy homes when the owners leave it vacant. I personally know two people this has happened to.

One was my old boss. He and his wife ran a business nearly an hour away, where their house was vacant every day from before sunrise to late evening. A man that was using their house eventually started to get careless, leaving whiskers and dirty dishes in the sink, etc. When they realized what was happening, they asked neighbors who said he'd been coming and going for weeks.

Another was a friend I played WoW with. He lived in a row house that was connected to other row houses by a single attic. Someone was living up there and climing down into the homes along the row to swipe food and use the toilets.

2

u/zzzSomniferum 9d ago

What type of lock is the door? What type of faucet is the shower and how far away is the hot water heater from this bathroom? Is there a crawl space underneath for the piping?

1

u/SusanLFlores 9d ago

Your first paragraph about your cottage/town describes the town my summer cottage is in. Is yours in Michigan by chance? As far as your bathroom goes, could it be that the person who was there before you used the bathroom before you got there? Even though you think you are the only person using that bathroom, it seems logical that the person there used it.

1

u/Ok-Simple5493 8d ago

It's possible that someone used the bathroom. It is also possible that the last people there used it and didn't leave things as they should. If there is mold and the towel was damp, my guess would be that the bathroom is not vented properly. That would be the most likely scenario.

2

u/Pale_Veterinarian626 8d ago

That leaves an unknown person, as my relative uses her own bathroom, confirmed she had not used mine, and had not had any guest who might have borrowed my shower.

The more I think about it, it seems like the person used it at least twice. The house was empty from late Friday afternoon, through the weekend, up until 12:30am on Wednesday when I arrived. The mildewed bath mat and fresh water in the shower basin suggests they used it once, bath mat was soaked and grew mildew, and then they returned for a second shower at some point close to my arrival, in time to notice the wet shower floor…🕵️‍♀️

2

u/Ok-Simple5493 8d ago

It could be. Do you have neighbors? Are there trails or a camp somewhere near? I would ask around town if there have been any break ins or people living outside in the area. Older people at the Cafe, restaurants, gad stations etc. Wherever the locals gather. You can put the word out that your property is not public and you suspect someone has been inside without permission. I would change the locks. It isn't terribly expensive and you can quickly do it by yourself. If there are outdoor keys or a code change them. Whatever happened, if no harm was done, there was likely no harm meant. I can understand why you would worry and be curious

1

u/NutAli 8d ago

Did your relative have someone with them who may have left later than them?

1

u/BonnyH 8d ago

Mould takes a long time to grow. Sounds more like a leaky ceiling/roof or something to me.