Freaked out by 2am knock on the door

[PinglePongle]

Can't stop thinking about this so hopefully someone will come along and give me some ideas as to what this person wanted!

We had a knock on the door and someone rang the doorbell last night, we have cctv on the front door so didn't answer but standing there was a lady around 65-70 with a walking stick chewing gum standing at the door. When we didn't answer she then went round to ours cars and started to look through the windows (maybe tried the handles)

I can't for the life of me think why she would be knocking on our door, she didn't look frightened / concerned about anything, in fact she seemed quite bolshy chewing gum standing at the door. She then walked back up the street slowly with her walking stick and didn't knock at anyone elses in the row.

We called the police and they said that they had a similar call from a neighbour and would send someone out.

What on earth could she have wanted? Seems strange that a lady with a walking stick would be trying to steal our cars whilst standing on a bright floor lit drive after knocking?

We live on a quiet street, keep ourselves to ourselves and you have to come a way in to our corner plot to come off the street

Oh my god so many typos. Thank you auto correct, why do you hate me?

You sound extremely paranoid.

You're being a bit dramatic.

I would just forget about it now.

Thanks to those with the polite useful responses and possible explanations, it's put my mind at ease a bit now

I'd forget about it, no use worrying about it now and yes you do sound paranoid.

We had an old lady knock at our door one evening, I think she used to know someone who lived there. She was quite confused so we let her in and got her a cuppa and phoned the police who collected h r. She lived in a residential home and they said regularly didn't come home and was getting more confused and it was happening more often 😞

What did you say to the police?

that someone had knocked on in the middle of the night and been looking in our cars, they were glad we called and sent a car out as it was the second call

The worst bit is today you are freaking out about what she may have wanted and if you were at any risk. I'd be worrying whether the elderly lady was ok and if someone else gave her the help that I didn't.
Do you usually only think about yourself?

yes to be honest, keeping my family safe is my priority

Each to their own if yours isn't

Could she have thought someone else lived there?? How long have you lived there? I had a knock from a man one christmas pretty late looking for 'Caroline' she obviously hadn't bothered to tell him she had moved!

Safe from the super scary wandering elderly.

Over 5 years now, I'm going to assume she lives further up the road and went on a confused late night walk

Thanks for the responses

I wouldn't have opened the door either OP.

I wouldn't open the door either, I might call out through the window to find out what they wanted and offer to call police/family if they needed assistance.

If I thought it was a genuine emergency I would go out and assist.

I find it worrying how insular people are now. You see it on here all the time - people not answering their doors unless they're expecting someone or not answering their phone. When I was a teenager, I was followed home from the station one night very late. I ran up a driveway and the person got out of bed and let me in to call my parents (pre-mobile days). I have always taught my children to go to the nearest house if they were in danger. DS came across a man who'd had a bike accident one night, and the first two houses he went to didn't answer. People are very poor at calculating risk and probability, and have become paranoid and anxious.

Maybe she used to live in your house?

Definitely didn't use to live here as previous owners had it from new

If she had looked frightened or in need of help I would of sent DH out to look for her but the body language etc was very confident and the looking though the cars just didn't sit right with me

Or it was someone who wanted to steal a car and had dressed as an old lady to entice you to open the door. Paranoid maybe but no way would I have opened the door at 2am either.

Also please don't assume because of walking stick she was old and frail etc she seemed fine when having a nose in the cars

Maybe she has dementia? My grandma had it and a few times my dad got a phone call from the local vicar saying that grandma had been found wandering round the church/grounds in the middle of the night. I don't think she had any concept of night and day, and thought she should be going to church.

Was it 100% a walking stick or one of those grabbers? You know the type of thing for picking litter?

Could be senile dementia (or is that now Alzheimers) ?

My great grandmother suffered it in the 70s and had to be watched closely or she, too, would wander everywhere at inappropriate times, usually in her nightie though . Nan locked the door of a night after one incident .

I escaped an abusive boyfriend at around that time of the night. Knocked on the closest house and the woman who answered the door saved my life. I jumped out of his moving car he'd slowed down so he could get some more punches in! I realize this is an extreme case.

If the lady who opened the door to a 17 year old 15 years ago thank you for opening your door and calling the police they took him to court but he got off who drove me to my friends mums house, I was black and blue and swollen for weeks, finally with my friends mums help worked out how fucked up he was and didn't go back.

I wouldn't have answered either really. There was a little elderly lady locally who used to attack us as children walking home from school. She'd sweetly start taking to you and then whack you round the head and start trying to unlace your shoes.