Should I tell the police?

[PonyPals]

This is more of what would you do..
So my dad is in construction and he started a job today where he has to replace a floor in a garage.
Whilst ripping up the floor he found a semi hidden door behind a big mirror that was hanging up on a wall at the very back of the garage.
The door was half the normal size and when he looked in he saw that it was a small space with no windows but a mattress a tv and a book. It also had a vent leading out of it and the tube was across the garage roof.. we think for air (does that makes sense?)
So what do you think the room could be for?
Client is a man maybe in his 70s. Lives alone.
Should we report this to the police or are we letting our imagination run away?

Replace husband with Dad in my advice then. Thankyou for your helpful and meaningful input.

Haven't read all the posts but will do today!
It's the morning now so will ask dad to see what it is like inside and if anything suspicious

He's not likely to hold his hands up and admit any crimes now is he <wags finger>

Did the OP ever return?

I see she did return, just!

Ok so I looked at the video footage.
The room is behind the mirror and it is hidden. The mattress has a sheet over it and no stains.
The tv has an old style recorder like a video.
The book is on magic.. a fiction one.
The room has silver insulation.
Even though the room is hidden it has no lock which is odd. Wouldn't you lock it especially if you have tradies coming in?

Dad doesn't feel comfortable asking what the room is for.

Just to answer some questions:

The TV and video recorder looks old. There is an extension cord for electricity.
No smell, stains or scratch marks

The room has silver insulation

Could be a misguided attempt at a nuclear bunker with the silver insulation (nuclear bunker better underground). Unless that's a red herring 🤔

Did he have children? Could it have been a den for them?

This - definitely

Following for updates now!

This is astonishing!

Do you have any more information?

Clearly you've not seen enough crime shows or followed what many kidnappers or serial killers do. 😂

Is the house terraced or semi detached? Maybe he built himself a little bedroom to escape noisy neighbours or some other issue (previous house renovation)?

Sounds insane, but having previously lived with neighbour noise there has often been the odd night where I have be tempted to decamp to the garden shed with a sleeping bag.

Is it a flat screen or an old style CRT?

Ok I think it might just be my imagination going wild with all the talk of nuclear bunkers and serial killers, but do you think it just maybe could be there to insulate the room?

I am so tempted to put up a picture as it's not easy to describe it!
The tv looks like an old analog one.
The house is detached with this garage on the side of it.

Fully invested in this now! I’d definitely report, seen too many crime dramas to not find this suspicious hahah. Following for updates xx

It's crazy Ashleigh! I am really into true crime (my dad is def not!) and he feels spooked

This is all really creepy! Please keep us all updated OP 👏

Hooray, OP has returned!

OP, please tell us more about the mirror. Is it fixed to the door so it swings open along with the little door (i.e. could conceal/disguise the door when shut, but doesn't require someone on the outside) OR is it free of the door and hung over the top of the door when closed? I think that's crucial for us armchair true crime spotters. Though I suppose if you were strange enough to build a little hideyhole in your garage to watch videos in, you might well want to hide its existence from visitors and other household members when you weren't inside it.

Oh, not at all! I just finished watching "Dahmer" and I'm a true crime podcast addict! I had to give up for a while as it was doing my head in.
I walk my dog in the woods alone most days and often think to myself: 'That would be a good place to hide a body', or 'I hope I don't find a dead body in this bush', or 'Will that approaching man kill and dismember me?'. I trust far fewer people than I did before.
When DH got an Apple watch I told him to remember to take it off if he was trying to hide the body of an intruder he'd accidentally killed, so his movements weren't tracked.

I'm not naïve or trusting, and on reflection, I do find this room rather creepier and more suspicious than occurred to me yesterday, but still... should you report someone to the police for having a room at the back of their garage if there's no sign of anything back having happened there? I'm still not sure.

*anything bad

Totally invested in this. Sounds like the room hasn't been used in a while, but it was used at some point.

Also its not ridiculous to think someone was kept in such a room against their will, given its contents.

We hear of cases of children found after years of being held. But remember those are only the ones that have been caught. We'd be extremely naive to think that every single instance of this results in the perpetrator being caught. I can imagine there are many many more that have never been caught or even suspected.

a book on magic and silver insulation you say? Definitely a werewolf room.

Why have you still not reported to police OP?