A 93-year-old woman heard 'animal noises' under her house — then she called 911 after it got louder

Growing up, we all had our frights with something crawling up from beneath the bed. But this nightmare took a new turn at a 93-year-old woman’s home in Los Angeles, California. For months, she dismissed the strange noises at night as mere animal sounds, but eventually realized it was something more serious brewing down under. The senior citizen lived with her family in her El Sereno neighborhood home and was only fairly annoyed by what she thought were dogs and cats until the police uncovered a terrifying discovery, as reported by the Stewartville Star. 

As the noises got louder at night, the woman’s concerns grew, and she consulted with her family. "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,” said her son-in-law, Ricardo Silva. He explained that the sounds persisted, and when her wife walked around the house, they appeared to come from under the house. “So she says, 'You know something’s wrong,'” he added. They were forced to call the police to investigate the matter. Shockingly, they found a naked man living in the crawl space for six months. 

The discovery was only one part of the anomaly, as the bigger challenge for the police was to remove the man identified as Issac Betancourt, 27, from the space, as per NBC News. The man was unwilling to leave, and even hours of convincing from the authorities failed to get him to crawl out of the hole, about a mere 24 inches in height. Left without a choice, the authorities had to threaten him with police dogs, and yet, he remained unaffected. Finally, the police forced him out by pumping tear gas into the crawl space. "He refused to leave. He wasn’t scared of the dogs, and the first two attempts at gas didn’t fish him out,” said Silva. 

The investigators figured the man had sneaked into the house through one of the three ventilation openings. However, the son-in-law admitted that such issues are alarming but not completely uncommon. “It’s a bizarre thing, but it’s probably not uncommon, you know, in this day and age, people are looking for shelter,” he noted. Betancourt was arrested on charges of trespassing and was simultaneously sent to the hospital for medical checkups. 

While a cautionary tale for the community, the chilling incident also serves as a reminder of the toppling economy, with homelessness one of its core issues. Youngsters like Betancourt are the victims of unemployment currently ravaging the US economy, and instead, resort to these crimes for basic necessities like shelter. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US unemployment rate stood at 4.1% in February 2025, with over 7.1 million people left without an income. 

Meanwhile, the incident also alarmed homeowners, emphasizing the need for tight security measures in residential areas. The mental toll it may have on people, leading to anxiety, stress, and constant fear of invasion. In the aftermath of the unsettling encounter, the community of the El Sereno neighborhood now moves forward with an increased sense of vigilance within and out of their homes to ensure their safety. Earlier, the CNN reported that a man had broken into a house in Marlborough, Massachusetts, only to leave it speck and clean to the homeowner's surprise.