Posted on 05/06/2026 7:54:09 PM PDT by Red Badger
Can you even imagine finding out that a stranger is secretly living in part of your home without your knowledge or permission?
That’s exactly what happened to one family in Arkansas who started to notice that things around their home were being moved or going missing. They ventured into the dark corners of their basement and discovered that they had an uninvited guest.
According to the family, they are not mad at the man, who was just seeking shelter. They feel bad for him, but don’t want him living in their basement, just the same.
FOX News reports:
Family makes terrifying discovery in basement following growing suspicions
A Harding University professor and his family in Arkansas discovered a stranger had been living in their basement after noticing items mysteriously going missing from their home.
Dutch Hoggatt said in an interview with KTHV that he first suspected something was off when he noticed a pair of shoes he normally leaves near the home’s back door were gone.
“I asked my wife if she had thrown them away, and she had not,” he told the outlet. “Over time, we noticed that chairs had been moved around in the house. We noticed that some of our food was missing.”
Authorities later identified the man as Preston Landis, who had been secretly living inside the home for several days, moving from a crawl space into the basement before the family discovered him…
On April 29, the family began searching the house while Dutch Hoggatt was at church, when his wife, Sharon Hoggatt, entered a storage closet beneath the basement stairs.
“She went further into the closet, and that’s when I saw her eyes get really big. She starts to back out and says, ‘There’s someone in there. I see their leg or their jeans or something,'” Mark Gregory said.
Watch the video report below:
https://twitter.com/i/status/2051796801100067249
This is the culprit.
In a way, the homeless guy was very lucky here. Some families would have searched their home armed with a gun in a case like this. Things could have turned out very differently.
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This is how horror movies start.
I’m checking my basement Right Now!
Did they also find his banjo?
If I find an intruder in my house, he’s going to get shot.
😆
Mr. LaPlante had become obsessed by the family's (then) 15-year-old daughter after meeting her one time; he was 16 when they met.
They moved elsewhere, and were not further victimized by Mr. LaPlante, who went on to kill three people living in one home, a mother and her two children.
Then last fall I finally snapped a picture of the thief.
Was I scared? You bet.
Did I immediately move? You bet.
It might be time for this nice, elderly couple to downsize to a smaller property, something they can easier walk through and check without going up or down too many stairs.
This could have turned out far differently, and everyone would wonder “Who harmed them? Everybody liked them!”.
The poor daughter and her husband would be the first one’s getting blamed.
I only have a dirt root cellar full of Fishing Spiders as big as your hand and whatever else can slither or crawl in.
This is not likely a problem I’ll ever have
😆
😆
The college professor and his family do just fine living in their home.
Here is a better article with video.
https://www.wtoc.com/2026/05/05/family-finds-complete-stranger-living-their-basement/
That happened to me...
Looks like a scene from The Blair Witch Project.................
You lived in someone’s basement?.............
Wow, I have those same face tats!! 🤣
Are those tats or dirt from crawling under the house?.........
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