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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

something strange is going on isn't it?

201 replies

MrNobodytheNeighbour · 27/05/2017 21:58

New neighbours moved in a few months ago. A couple and I think 3 children. Lots of stuff was moved in toys etc etc.
Then they went and didn't see anyone for a few days ...never actually saw the mother and children again just saw a man return a few days after
Some parcels arrived which I took in-maybe 4 in the space of a week, picked up by various people all very polite and nice. I assumed relatives.

Then....nothing. Literally nothing. Never see anyone. Never hear anyone. Terraced houses so you always hear front doors closing....nothing.
Had someone knock twice asking if I knew were next door in.
The weird thing is we NEVER see the children, apart from that first moving in day-they never are around at school time morning or aft and were school age. Perhaps they are home schooled I thought?
Never ever in the garden.

Once I stepped outside and the other side of the fence I heard somebody rush back in so there is somebody there. It's just eerily quiet.
We've had by mistake a fair bit of post too and there seem to be a few adults living there if the post is anything to go by. I just put it through the door the first couple of times then with the last three I've knocked but no answer so then posted it.

AIBU to think it's strange?

OP posts:
Original poster
MrNobodytheNeighbour · 28/05/2017 08:51

This is why I wonder if a note through is better than reporting as they seemed to arrive then disappear so I suppose something awful could have happened ?

OP posts:
wineandsunshine · 28/05/2017 08:53

I would be reporting it - just ring the council or 111 for advice and mention you were concerned about the children.

If they investigate and all is fine that's great but at least you will stop wondering what is going on (if anything!)!

roundaboutthetown · 28/05/2017 08:54

I thought you said it had been 6-9 months since they "moved in"? Utterly pointless putting a neighbourly note through the door, now - if they wanted to be neighbourly, they would have been. I think it is odd enough to ask the council. A council house should not be left standing empty 95% of the time when so many people need one, so there is no scenario where this is acceptable. Either they are not living where they are supposed to be, or there are corpses in there. Children are not that quiet!

lynmilne65 · 28/05/2017 08:54

Mmmm maybe!

ItsNachoCheese · 28/05/2017 08:55

Id speak to the council just to make sure everything is okay

Penfold007 · 28/05/2017 08:57

If you suspect there is something 'odd' about the occupants don't go knocking or putting note through the door. Report your concerns to the police by phone or email.

Original poster
MrNobodytheNeighbour · 28/05/2017 09:01

It's approx 9-10 months since they moved in, I suppose it is a while but initially I did try to chat when they picked parcels up but it was a different person each time. There's obviously something going on but I feel maybe I should initially try to make some contact leave it a few days then if no reply contact the council? It's been months so what's a few days I'd hate to inadvertently get someone in loads of trouble who could be having a really hard time? I was remembering when I had PND I rarely went out although dh took dc to school but I was pretty quiet although not silent, maybe it's similar but a worse case and someone is actually agrophobic ? I just don't know what to think it's just out of character for the street

OP posts:
Jupitar · 28/05/2017 09:01

Don't put a note through the door, if you do that and then another neighbour queries the empty house with the council it will look like it's you.

It genuinely sound like a cannabis farm (black out windows with no light coming out only one person there,) but I would be surprised if it was as all it would take is the council to pop round and they'd be buggered.

Fl0ellafunbags · 28/05/2017 09:05

Still want to know what a scatter house is.

Sushi123 · 28/05/2017 09:05

Something is going on, you're gonna have to report it. What if a child's welfare is at stake, hopefully not, but you have nothing to lose, and this world has gotten too crazy for people to sit back and do nothing anymore. I know it feels like meddling, but it's all too weird to ignore

bitofabelly · 28/05/2017 09:06

How many packages have you delivered to them at this stage....

Andrewofgg · 28/05/2017 09:07

I think they're spies planning an invasion from the planet Zog.

Keep us informed!

IntheBenefitTrap · 28/05/2017 09:07

I'd have to report. Everything in the news at the moment is screaming report the tiniest of suspicions. Please do it.

Original poster
MrNobodytheNeighbour · 28/05/2017 09:12

It was about 4 parcels over a week or so just after they moved in. As there had been no answer they delivered them to me and then they were collected each time by a different woman (not either of the ones I saw on day they moved in)

OP posts:
JungleInTheRumble · 28/05/2017 09:13

Oo could it be a safe house?!

I'd report it if I was you. There's probably an innocent explanation but you never know.

SnickersWasAHorse · 28/05/2017 09:14

I had similar in a previous house. Couple with a toddler moved in. We went round with wine and smiles and got a very stilted conversation. As this was a terrace we could hear everything that went on.
We never ever heard the child.

Then one day a fuck ton of police etc outside the house.
The man had been attacked. (It was a bit more than that but it could be identifying)
The walls were so thin that I heard the conversation when the police came back to get statements from her. (The walls were so thin you could hear both sides of a phone conversation) The statements didn't match with the truth so I called the police station as we had a note through the door asking if we heard anything etc. I obviously didn't say that I had heard the statement, just reported what I knew.
So I just told my version of events, well at least when I knew they were in.

All very odd. They still lived there when we moved out. I still never heard that toddler. No crying, no playing, no noisy toys.

I always feel guilty that I didn't call SS or the police. After we moved out I did ask on here if people thought it was worth reporting. But I was told I was being silly.

mygorgeousmilo · 28/05/2017 09:16

A relative of mine rented their big family home out to a 'family' and moved across the country for work. Neighbours of theirs got in contact and described what you have - family disappeared, people in and out but v quiet etc etc. Again, you're talking a quiet and friendly area where people tend to notice these things. Because they were far away, they called 111 who said they'd send someone to have a look. Lo and behold, their beautiful house had had been ripped half to shreds and made into a cannabis farm. No kids were ever registered to local schools at that address, nobody had actually done anything from that address at all, and the electric bill in the end was over £1000 that they'd left behind. In addition to all the repairs that needed to be done. So. Entirely possible that family thing was a ruse to secure the property, and that something more sinister is going on. Whatever they are or aren't doing, kids don't just disappear.

dementedma · 28/05/2017 09:18

I am not one to cry "call the police" at every whim, but in these days of heightened security I'm afraid I would be flagging this one up. If the house occupiers are innocent, no harm done. There seems to be enough in what you have said for this to be raising a red flag - could be drugs, illegal immigrants, sex slave trade or terrorism. Could be none of these but I dont think you should be turning a blind eye.

DoNotBlameMeIVotedRemain · 28/05/2017 09:24

Are you in an area where it might be a holiday cottage so usually empty? Or they are childminders but don't have any kids registered in new area yet? It does sound odd though...

Original poster
MrNobodytheNeighbour · 28/05/2017 09:24

Yes you're right if it's innocent then it will be quickly resolved. It's just so odd there's literally silence and no comings or goings at all. Something's up. I think it's either empty or only one person there occasionally

OP posts:
Original poster
MrNobodytheNeighbour · 28/05/2017 09:25

Def not a holiday area

OP posts:
GerdaLovesLili · 28/05/2017 09:25

My neighbours did this. Moved in downstairs, had a baby, then mysteriously disappeared. There were regular late night/very early morning visits caught on my opposite neighbour's security cameras, but obviously no-one living there.

They boarded over the back bedroom windows to "prevent break-ins form the park". No lights, just the very occasional very strong smell of bleach. They were running a cannabis farm down there, which was finally "noticed" when someone broke in to it so they could change the locks to do a subletting scam.

WelshMoth · 28/05/2017 09:31

When my friends moved house last month, there were 8 children running around the place as 4 different family friends were helping. The neighbours must have been Shock at the possibility of so many rowdy children moving in!

Emeralda · 28/05/2017 09:32

Do you know where your local police station is? Just pop in and report at the desk or ask to speak to the community officer. Say that you're concerned about the children having not seen them for all that time. Then leave it to them, you've done your bit.

It is strange. It's having no impact on you though, which is a good thing! If it's something criminal or children are at risk, the police will deal with it. You may never know.

happyhebe · 28/05/2017 09:33

They are renting the house to get a school place and don't really live there?