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?

A small room hidden behind something in the garage? With a mattress and an air vent? It's hardly hysterical to admit that looks fucking dodgy. It very well could be nothing at all, probably isn't, but I'd definitely let the police know!

bought a place that had a separate “ secret “ annexe been used for weed growing by tenants previously .
Vent pipes and chains from ceiling .
If the vents look like silver foil, could have been this?
also- lots of locks on door

Exactly, I wonder how many turned a blind eye to Josef Fritzl's basement activities... "hmmm probably nothing"

Edit: “ Friend bought a place”
not me.

Well it's certainly not normal is it, who's to say it wasn't used for imprisoning someone 30/40/50 years ago, it's not like these cases don't happen.

Dependant on the state of the mattress, smell of room etc it's hard to know what to do.

Modern TV, non stained mattress with adequate bedding and a book on self care fine. An old box TV, a stained mattress with urine and/or blood, a ragged blanket and a bible..... I'd prob be reporting.

You're replacing an entire garage floor and you've found a hidden room - with a bed in it behind a mirror that supposedly the owner didn't presume you'd move to do the floor?

And people on here think that's not suspicious?

Report. Take pictures. Do not tell the old man. If it's nothing, it will be found out to be nothing.

Police also gather intelligence

Some posters on here could benefit from doing that!

But the police would need to be convinced of a need to do so, though. If there was a report of someone missing locally or something this room may interest them; otherwise they have no reason to investigate or gather intelligence.

I'd be tempted to just ask him. His reaction would be telling.

You’re right, police aren’t there to investigate ‘odd’ and ‘strange’, however as others have said, for all we know, this man could be known to them, the property could be known to them, there could be one hundred different reasons why the police would take interest. I live in a tiny little backwater. Nothing happens. Last year the police smashed a slavery ring that was operating out of a takeaway. There were under 18s being kept in a tiny flat upstairs and only brought downstairs to work, then put back again when they’d finished. This goes on around us all the time. So whilst it’s probably unlikely the man is using the space to hold someone captive, it’s pretty strange, and sometimes ‘strange’ and ‘odd’ are enough to set your instincts off for good reason.

Exactly this

I mean Josef Fritzel held his daughter captive in a room and there’s many other similar cases
yeah that’s probably not likely to be the case here but it’s not completely beyond the realms of possibility either I mean the rooms is sketchy

just report it and leave it with the police then you’ve done your bit if it is anything sinister

definitely don’t take pictures as above posters suggested though OP could land you in trouble

I have a bad feeling about this.

Of course it may be nothing, but evil things go on uninterrupted because people do nothing.

It's all of the bits put together - including the mattress on the floor. I don't know many dens like that.

I wouldn't mention it to the old man.
The police may have data on him if he's been linked to issues before.

Personally I think you should take photos and pass it on to the police. It's then up to them. I say this because someone could've been harmed. We just don't know. I ignore a lot of things but this would not be one of them.

Definitely report it. Even if the man has it for innocent reasons that’s not to say in the future when the house is sold the same will happen- the police knowing that room is there could be important.

My mind instantly went to he wanted he room that wouldn’t be searched if police went to his house and the mattress made me feel uneasy but that might be from watching too much tv.

I also saw something similar on TikTok recently. A couple renovating a house to sell found a secret basement room leading off from the bathroom with a child’s bed inside. They didn’t inform the police though, presumably as they didn’t want to delay the renovations and sale.

?????? That’s unbelievable. It ma be nothing BUT it may be a critical piece of the puzzle in a child porn ring for example and tracking down previous owners would be vital. But hey, wouldn’t want to delay a reno🤯.

Lol well I can see why it seemed weird. However police will almost certainly do nothing about the existence of a windowless room.

could be anything, a room that existed before he lived there. A teenagers makeshift room away from the main house, some kind of workshop/office.

I wouldn’t jump to the very worst thing you can think of

I can’t believe the amount of people who think reporting it to the police is over reacting.

the guy hasn’t commented a crime (that we know) but it’s defo unusual/creepy/suspicious. No harm in reporting, as we do for suspicious activity, It’s up to the police to determine whether it’s worth following through or not.

Imagine if there was a missing person a few years back around the area, or the house had been called upon by the police way back when and nothing came of it? We don’t know this. Just look at the recent case of Leah Croucher - officers had knocked on the actual house where she was found and as they didn’t enter the property it wasn’t followed up until recently when someone reported again. It could have been an entirely different outcome if they had followed through earlier.

Always report suspicious activity, there is no harm in doing so. Could very well be a bomb shelter etc, entirely innocent but you do not know that either. Could be that the man that has PTSD and needs help.

A hundred explanations here but it’s the mattress and the deliberate efforts to create an air vent that screams this has been made for a deliberate purpose and is not just a ‘room behind a mirror’

@Oysterbabe

I don’t know, some strange woman asking pointed questions about your garage room in a way that made it seem like she suspected you of some horrible crime would probably produce a weird reaction from most people.

I mean what’s the normal reaction to that?

*committed

You are absolutely right – it could be anything; a makeshift prison, punishment room, slave quarters, all manner of this. Proactive policing should settle this!

Of course it may be nothing, but evil things go on uninterrupted because people do nothing.

This is so true whatsup00. Now and again someone will post on here asking for users to look at a website and see if they can identify bits of clothing, pictures, room decor etc. These images have been captured by police and are of children being sexually abused and live streamed. The police rely on little bits of intel here and there, of one person to say ‘I recognise the chair in that image, that’s at my uncles house’ and potentially a child has been saved. Where many of us would see ‘nothing to go on’ or ‘not relevant’, the police may just see a missing piece of a jigsaw.

There’s so many unsolved mysteries - maybe more would be solved if people weren’t afraid of being accused of ‘hysteria’ when reporting something ‘off’. I’m sorry but single man in his 70s with a room as described does sound strange. The door was hidden by a hanging mirror. It’s a little odd that the garage floor is being replaced too but I’m sure people will jump on me for that!

I’d definitely talk to the police. It may well be nothing - my granny had a hidden room
in her house that was essentially there as a bit of fun for her children and grand children, but it could be much more sinister

What was the book?

Of course you report it.

Why was the floor being replaced and has it already been taken up??

Of course.

But presumably the perpetrators didn't invite workmen in who would then be able to easily find their hiding places?

Some of the nonsense on this thread is rather alarming.

What your dad should do is:

Take a picture of the room and entrance and put the mirror back when it was so no one realises he found that space
then speak to the police straight away and let them deal with this.

Of course it could be dodgy as hell and needs to be reported...

I can't believe the number of people who are trying to say that this should just be left alone and that it could be a bomb shelter or a teen hideout.

It is as likely that it could also be used for criminal activities: someone hiding there who might be on the run; someone who is in the country illegally is being exploited or something even more sinister.

The point it is not for your dad to investigate and decide on his own.

He needs to report it.

And he certainly should not raise it first with the owner because again you have no idea as to whether this person is just a regular old guy with a random room in his basement or a complete creep who is part of criminal activities.

As for the person who went on about respecting the old man's privacy. Have a word with yourself....

Whatever happened to common sense these days.