Gerrard Kaonga
A woman grew paranoid of the sounds she was hearing from her attic and discovered something from her past had returned.
Every now and again you hear an odd sound that might make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up a little.
Thankfully, most of us don’t let it bother us much and chop it up to normal sounds homes make now and again - maybe it was the wind or something from outside.
But a woman from Rock Hill, South Carolina, wasn’t so fortunate when she grew suspicious of sounds coming from her attic back in 2012.
Advert
Her two older sons were skeptical there were even any issues and even went to check the attic and found nothing.
She recalled: "The kids were saying, 'You're getting old. You're hearing things. You're crazy.’"
However, Tracy remained convinced something wasn’t right and the mother-of-five ended up being right, unfortunately.
It turns out her ex-partner, who she had separated from 12 years ago, had been living in her attic for the last two weeks after being released from prison.
She told ABC News that she was once using her laptop in her bedroom and the movement in her attic resulted in plaster from the ceiling falling onto her and her bed.
And on another occasion, at 2.30am she was awakened by movement in the attic and grew so concerned that she contacted her family members to investigate.
She added: “I kept hearing a bumpin', thumpin' noise. It was either something or somebody was in the attic. I know the sounds of my home."
Her sons and nephew went into the attic and moved to the area where a light had been out and made the disturbing discovery.
They found the unnamed ex-partner who had been sleeping in the heating unit, and to make matters worse, he had been relieving himself in cups to avoid discovery.
You can only imagine how awful it smelt up there...
Tracy did confirm that she had exchanged letters with her ex while he was in prison but had no intention of getting back together with him, despite his claims that he had changed.
It also wasn’t clear how he even got into the attic, as it could only be accessed by a door inside the home. The ex had also reportedly rigged the ceiling vents so he could look down on his ex from the attic.
Unfortunately, he fled after being discovered before the police could arrive.
Tracy said: "We are still figuring out how he got in the house. I want him charged. I feel violated."
It is not clear whether the man was ever apprehended or charged.