To feel a little bit creeped out..

[aloneathome]

Hello :)

So I'm really sorry in advance if this sounds crazy.. but I don't know what to
Think.

This morning, I came downstairs to let the dogs outside, to find the back door (goes into the garden) unlocked.

We don't leave keys outside / in 'safe places' or anything like that, and always lock doors from the inside before heading off to bed.
Nothing seems out of place, didn't hear any noises through the night that were alarming, and I am a very light sleeper so most things would wake me up.

The door itself was still shut, it's just the actual lock has been unlocked which I found quite unnerving 😳 as I was home alone last night (DP on a night shift and has only just got home)

When I came downstairs this morning, I noticed the utility door was ajar (always close all internal doors - don't know why! Just a habit - so this was also odd but again nothing out of place from what I can see so far. (Loft hatch is in the utility room in case this is of any importance)

Fast forward to now, working from home and I notice a couple of large handprints on the living room windows from the outside. Too high up for me to reach, and DP wasn't here last night as I say.
Rational me is trying to think 'probably been there for weeks, unnoticed' but at the same time I definitely haven't seen them and we had all of the windows cleaned 2 weeks ago.

Not sure what to think! What would you do? I will keep an eye, but more worried as to how the outside door was unlocked this morning 😩 we have had a spate of burglaries in the area so feeling a bit vulnerable as it is..

Zara Ironing board mystery never solved.

I’d feel creeped out by that too OP.

Definitely change the locks and get a camera up, bright security light etc

I'm absolutely not trying to freak you out further but could someone have their eye on your dogs?

Err...so they came to have a look at the dogs in the night and decided not to take them because ...err...they didn't bark?

As another poster said... Occam's razor is helpful at times like this.

OP, any history of sleep walking?

I used to know someone who sleep walked a lot as a child. Her parents once woke up to find that she had unlocked the front door and had started making her way downstairs (they lived in a flat). Ever since they had to hide the keys.

@bobbiester

I'm absolutely not trying to freak you out further but could someone have their eye on your dogs?

Err...so they came to have a look at the dogs in the night and decided not to take them because ...err...they didn't bark?

As another poster said... Occam's razor is helpful at times like this.

No. They would be familiar faces to the dogs before taking further steps.

Could you get some of them little camera's from amazon that don't need wiring in and put it in front of the doors
Do you have children? Are they of teen age and they could be going out at night and they forgot to lock the door behind them?
Could you be sleepwalking? That one is out there, but I think your best bet is a little cheap battery camera.

fashu "Do you have children? Are they of teen age and they could be going out at night and they forgot to lock the door behind them?"

The OP said "No children, just the two of us which makes it more unnerving." She knows she locked the door and said "I was home alone last night (DP on a night shift and has only just got home)"

@Bluetrews25

Zara Ironing board mystery never solved.

Oh I remember that... for the layout of that woman's flat lodged in my brain lol

If you the leave the key you lock the door with in the lock then no one can use a key from the other side

There's been a spate of burglaries local to us recently, generally not in the middle of the night, one was between 5-6pm last Saturday afternoon. Anyway the last three they got in through patio doors so as a result I’ve just fitted one of these www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07PFQLNPM/?tag=mumsnetforu03-21
It easily slides on and off the doors in seconds, so whilst I only expected to use it at night I’ve ended up leaving it on all day. I wasn’t expecting great things but for £20 if they snap the barrel it will prevent the door from opening, and might hopefully work as a deterrent should somebody actually get around the back of the house.

@youvegottenminuteslynn

Ugh took me years to get the Luther loft scene out of my head and now it's back along with when the guy creeps out from under the woman's bed in THE creepiest motion ever aaaargh.

I’m astonished it’s taken till now for someone to mention the bed scene - given that it occurs in the first ten minutes of the show it totally freaked me out !!!!

If nothing missing or out of place, I would suggest you may have forgotten to lock the door. Can you try and think back as to when you locked up last night?

@BigBaublesGalore thats not actually true. Yale lock on my front door opens just fine whether there's a key in the other side or not.

This is particularly the time of year when thieves are looking for bought Christmas presents. (Years ago mine were all stolen and they were already nicely wrapped for them!) So...take care, fit a chain and use all the ideas here. Check the loft during the day, again loads of good stuff was taken from ours before we had the shared space divided. We didn't even realise that they joined with no wall! Sorry for the spookiness...better than a poltergeist!

Might sound bonkers but I read a few years back a man who thought someone was coming into his house and it transpired there was a problem with his boiler, he had carbon monoxide poisoning and it was him doing weird stuff and forgetting. Do you have one of those monitors for your boiler?

Presuming you don’t sleepwalk? I had a cousin who unlocked the front door in his sleep and wandered down the road naked!

Would the dogs not have barked if there had been someone about? Ours would have gone crazy!

Another vote for patlock, we have them on our french doors. there's some sort of barrel replacement thing for the inside of the lock (but you can use without this) and then two interlocking covers for the handles. Set the alarm so the downstairs beams/contacts are all activated, I do this even during the day when I'm working from home upstairs by myself for peace of mind. I'd be very creeped out and I hope DH has done a thorough sweep of the house. Definitely ring the police and register that something potentially untoward has gone on.

Definitely get the locks changed and maybe some cameras!

Sorry, no time to read everything. So everyone has probably said all this. I used to work in the field of criminal law. You must absolutely trust yourself on this and take it seriously. It may be nothing but it has woken you up to the issue of general security in your property. The best way to prevent intrusion is to install full visible CCTV and alarm lights. In your position I would change your locks now and not sleep alone for a period. Contact your local police and ask them to come round and advise on the particulars of your property. They are always happy to do these advisory sessions which take about half an hour. Please do this asap.

Your loft is downstairs?

Also put locks on all your windows and do not keep them open at night for now. They are signalling vulnerability and the height of the handmarks may indicate someone having tried to access them.

Dogs usually don't bark if its someone they know. Would anyone known to you have a spare key? Sorry if you've already been asked just skimmmed through thread

If a stranger had been in your house in the night the dogs would have gone ballistic with barking. I know my dogs would. Tonight when you lock doors put wedges under them from inside. Put dogs in utility if that is where loft hatch is. Make sure all windows are shut and locked in every room. Do you have s large dog flap a small person could crawl through to get in?

If dogs did not bark itigjy be someone the dogs know very well was on your home and that is why dogs did not bark.