About 4am, we were sleeping and I heard a door close kind of quietly, but still it woke me up with a start and I said "Jeremy!" loudly (thinking he'd gone somewhere). He was right next to me and was like "It's just the cat" and I sat up a bit, didn't hear anything else except the cat kind of stalking around (I hate her, I swear!) but couldn't go back to sleep immediately so I went and laid on the couch, read about 20 minutes, slept until 6 on the couch. Then I got up and went to let the cat out and water my ivy, and I saw the backdoor was unlocked. I'm thinking "Oh dang, that was a stupid mistake....we forgot to lock the door", but that's all I thought. After fixing breakfast for everyone, I went to the laundry room to do the wash (right across from my bedroom door), opened it, and it had a strong cigarette smell in there. Nobody I know smokes, nor did we go anywhere that would leave us smelling of cigarettes. I backed out and closed the door, no smell, walked back in, distinct smell, then thought of the backdoor and the very early morning noise that woke me up. I called Jeremy in to the laundry room and asked "Does it smell like cigarettes in here?" and he said yes, but when I mentioned the other things he was like "No.....can't be" and went to smelling everything in the room trying to find another reason. There was nothing, and we dropped it because the boys got up and we didn't want to scare them. But now.....I'm creeped out! It might not be strong enough of a smell to suggest someone was smoking, but you know how some people just carry that smell on them? (Years ago, I had a friend who spent a night with us and I know he'd never smoke in my house, yet his guest room STUNK just from him being there and I had to air it out and wash everything when he left). Is there something I should do, besides making sure the dang doors are locked at night? Is there any laundry room situation that could smell stale or smoky that I should check out ? Or should I just......be thankful that nothing happened and nothing noticable is missing? I'm trying not to be stupid, but I have found myself wandering all over the house trying to feel anything out of the ordinary....it creeps me out thinking someone may have been here.
Thanks for the responses, I don't scare easily and I didn't know if I was being "dumb" or not this morning. I checked the playroom thoroughly and then just put on a movie in there so my son would happily stay in that room with the door closed, and I locked it. Then I went to every single room, closet, everywhere to make sure the house was empty, just for my own sanity. Everything seems fine. After reading the responses, I did go ahead and call the non-emergency police line and told them my story. She said if I thought someone had been in my house, then they must come out and do a report in person (I told them there was nothing to see, apologized for wasting time, but they said it was something they want to take seriously). So, they did a look around and wrote up a report, said they'd do an extra patrol in the night. That's about it. I feel better having done "something".
We own a house 2 miles from here, but have tenants in it. We moved back here on very short notice (but a very good thing) from out of state, but didn't want to kick our renters out (they have 2 small kids same as us, and have a contract that we will honor), so since we needed to come back quickly (job reasons) and couldn't wait around, we found a house 2 miles away that was willing to do a short term lease where we could stay until our renters are out the house we own. SO it's fine for a rental, but the back door's deadbolt hasn't been working right. I did check and there was no damage to the doorknob's lock, so it was my mistake not locking the door last night, but I did go ahead and get the rental agency to get a locksmith out here to get this lock fixed. We have no extra keys and the locks were rekeyed when we move here, so that's not an issue. But we will be more diligent on locking up and basic safety. I think me calling my husband's name is probably what scared someone off...but like I said, I felt more worried when I hadn't done anything. Now that I've taken some steps, I feel much better. But I do miss my dog....she's no longer with us though. Once we get into our home this summer, we'll get another dog though....not just for home protection but also just for companionship with my kids. Thanks for all the advice!
What kind of back door do you have? Is it a sliding door? If so, cut a broomstick or something similar and place it in the track behind the door that opens - it will not allow that door to open then even if it is unlocked....
Ya I would be freaked out. I would start putting squeaky toys all around the doors. I used to do this when one of my sons used to sleep walk. I wake up really easy and I would here it and get up.
A.:
I would go around my house to see if anything is missing. I would look at the back door to see if there are any footprints or anything that looks out of place. If there is, call the police - NON-EMERGENCY number - as IF there was someone there - he/she is no longer there.
No, there is nothing that I am aware of that would make something smell like cigarette smoke other than cigarette smoke. If you are that creeped out by it - call the police and tell them what you suspect happened. Who knows - they might send a team out to see if they can get finger prints or any other "clues"...is there a cigarette outside? if so - LEAVE it alone. DO NOT pick it up. Take a picture and then call the police...you have proof that someone was there.
I would make sure that every night my windows and doors are closed and locked.
Good luck!
i'd have my husband or the police search every nook and cranny of your house/attic/vehicles/etc to be absolutely certain someone is lying in wait... beyond that, i bet you'll NEVER forget to lock a door again, glad you guys are all safe!
Make sure no extra keys are missing, and make sure that your door locks have not been tampered with. There is a way to tamper with a lock so that once locked it won't really lock in place. It may be so the person could come back another time when you are not home. Not trying to freak you out, but I would check everything jst to be safe. It also may have been someone checking out what you have in the house. It may have been nobody, and possibly the smel is from something outside? I don't know, but being the worryer that i am, I would want to cover every base to ensure my family's safety for sure. I'm so glad that you are all safe!! Stay that way please!! Oh, one more tip, if your car has one of those keychain alarms or panic buttons on the keys, I would keep it next to the bed at night. That way if you hear a noise again, and you think that someone is trying to get into your home, you can push the alarm or panic button and set off the honking and lights on the vehicle. It would be enough noise to scare away an intruder and at night would attract unwanted attention for anyone who was trying to gain entry into your home. I know that most of those keychain alarms and panic buttons will work from quite a distance and even through walls, etc. Good luck! I will be thinking of you!!
That would completely freak me out. I am the one who doublechecks that all the doors are locked at night. And I am very thorough about it. Even though our garage has an electric door and a dead-bolted exterior door, I deadbolt the interior door to the house every night anyway.
No, I cannot think of anything else that smells like cigarette smoke.
And yes, I too would make sure someone checks any crawl space or attic space you might have. Also, like another poster mentioned--look around outside for foot prints, or dropped cigarette butts. If you find anything unusual do not disturb it.
I also, like many others said, would call the non-emergency number to report the unusual "activity" and see what they say. It could very well be that others have reported similar experiences, or you might be the first in a string of reports yet to come. You never know. Perhaps, depending on where you live, it might result in a couple of nighttime drive-bys by a patrol car for a few nights anyway.
If you have any keys hidden outside your home, remove them from their hiding spots. And I like the idea of putting a chair behind the door knobs of the exterior doors. If it seems like any of your hiding spot key(s) have been disturbed, I would consider changing the locks.
I DO have a large dog in my home. So I know there would be no mistaking if someone creeped our house while we were home. But it is still a frightening prospect.... you just never know.
That would bug me too. If I was sure I had locked the back door, I would have the locks changed. If I knew I hadn't locked it, I would be sure to lock it from now on.
I agree with having a thorough second look around and notifying police if something looks unusual.
You may also want to make sure A. all your doors are locked in the evenings/when home alone and B. any/all of your extra keys are were they're supposed to be.-- and then, consider moving them to new hiding spots.
I say this because, when I was in high school, I woke up to some sounds down in the kitchen... it turns out one of my mothers co-workers had used our 'hidden' key to let himself into our house, looking for my mom. (It was bad, she was gone and he was drunk.) He either wanted to continue the party, or this was about the most felonious booty call ever... he'd seen her use the key before and remembered it was there. All that to say, just be careful about storing any extra keys outside and if you do, change the hiding places.
Be sure to use broomsticks/sticks in the windows if you leave them open at night to limit access/wedge the open window, or lock them.
Check everything out. I would also look at the lock. You might have locked the door. See if anyone picked it. I agree with everyone else, I would call the non-emergency number. I would want to put this on the record.
I would be totally creeped out as well!!
I would call the police non-emergency line and talk to them. At least report something strange. Here we've had a lot of attempted break ins lately and the local station is fully aware and WANTS us to call. The other day someone was messing with our door handle and even though it looked like all they did was leave a flyer, one has to wonder if they were testing our security.
I would add keyed locks to all of the doors that lead to the outside...and I would do it today.. If you cannot afford it, find a less expensive lock or way to block each door that leads outside...we have " hinged locks" from when our daughter was young.. We still use them.. Go to the hardware store and check out options...
FYI, my husband, was in denial that some sort of animal was coming into our home each night through the cat door.... Finally had him set up a video camera.. It was a possum... Coming in from the garage, through the dining room into our kitchen!
My husband was shocked...he made sure to start locking that pet for every night..needless to say, he takes me serious now when I make these observations...
I am not easily unsettled but that would unnerve me. Our homes are our sanctuaries. I would double check the house thoroughly. I would scour every single nook, cranny and space which could contain someone as small as a midget - politically incorrect but my unfiltered reaction. I would look for any signs of missing items, moved items or general disturbance. I would also report this to the police for the simple fact there could be other similar incidents in your area which the police are aware of and/or are investigating/monitoring. Certainly time to double check all window and door locks. Do the locks work and are they locked? I have a house alarm which I set religiously for this reason. Alternatively you could pull chairs in front of locked exterior access doors at night for a while until you are comfortable again. On a lighthearted note perhaps it is time to believe in the paranormal as that is a far more palatable explanation at this juncture. Good luck.
Absolutely call the police non-emergency number and ask them to come. Even if nothing was taken, even if you cannot be 100 percent sure someone was in your home-- the police DO want to know. Our local police are very good about wanting to hear about anything like this from residents. Do not feel like "It's nothing big, we're fine, nothing was taken." If this was someone coming into your home, the next time that person enters another home things could end very differently, even tragically. The police keep these things on files so they can build up accurate pictures of what's happening over an entire neighborhood or city. It's just good citizenship to call and talk with them.
Meanwhile: Ensure doors are locked and windows too. Put chain locks on all exterior doors -- they prevent someone from just walking in. If you can't manage a whole-house alarm system, you can get inexpensive stick-on alarms that you can attach to doors or window glass; any vibration will set them off and though they do not connect you instantly to the cops, they could scare off an intruder. if you have sliding glass doors use a cut broomstick etc. as someone else posted, to block the door; if you own the home put up motion-sensor lights over every door.If you don't own, insist that your landlord do this, or defray your cost for doing it. Motion sensor lights will suddenly switch on if someone approaches the door and are very effective at scaring off the kind of intruder who doesn't break in but looks for conveniently unlocked doors (so our police have said).
Do NOT ever go look or ask your husband to go look if you think there is an intruder there! That's a recipe for someone getting hurt or killed. Lock your bedroom door and call the cops. One of you should go into your kids' room quickly and lock yourself in with them. Don't approach an intruder, ever.
That is creepy. I might have to check my attic, ect. So I might have to call the non emergency police #. I might trade my cat for a dog!
I might look at home depot or somewhere for a small motion detector for my back door, too.
Then I would be on my knees Thanking God!
We left our front door unlocked just a couple of weeks ago couldn't believe we did such a stupid thing. Thank goodness we purchased alarms at Lowes for a reasonable price and put them on the exterior doors including the laundry room door that leads to the garage. If any door is unlocked the alarm will still go off if you turn them on that is! Just another secure way of being safe....
I think I'd call the non emergency number and see what they can do. That happened to a lady a few hours away. A guy was living in her attic!!!! There was an elderly lady on the news, and the police found a homeless guy living in a crawl space under her house!! I don't think someone is living in your attic or in a crawl space, but that is my biggest fear, so I'd have my husband or a policeman looking everywhere!!!
Shudder.
I would be creeped out too! Can you change the lock on that door?
I'd have the police check it out...no harm in that + if it's somebody in your lneighborhood, they'll know you know. :)
I'd call the police and have them come check it out. Absolutely lock the doors. We ALWAYS lock them, because I'm scared by too many things.
Do you have an alarm system? If so, set that every night.
Wow, that is very creepy. Definitely report it to the police. Ask if they can do extra patrols on your street for a while. Also, lock your doors from now on. I would install motion detector lights outside...those really bright spotlights. If you cannot install an alarm system maybe get those stickers that say you did. It sounds like someone is casing your house and luckily this time they got scared off. But they may come back.
Yeah, that would creep me out too, no doubt. I don't think I'd call the cops at this point, there's really nothing they can do. But, I can see how you would feel very unsettled. I'm glad you're safe, though. :)
Holy sh*T I would be freaking out too! Do you have an alarm? I would go get one, even just one from the hardware store that doesn't require monitoring. Thank God you went to the couch because you probably scared them away. I know exactly what you mean with the cigarette smell. Yes, lock your doors for SURE every night and maybe trade in that cat for a dog.
so your husband heard it too? his responce was not questioning why you loudly said his name but that he knew what the shout out in the am was and that he had heard it and chalked it up ot being the cat. does you laundary room lead to the outside? do you think your "intruder" might have left out that way? If the laundary room is connected to the outside. would some one have stood there to smoke? and the smell lingered inside? are you really sure neither one of you left that door unlocked. do you think anyone had a old key(rent property?) or the lock was picked? We have those hotel chains (but its a rod idk what they are called) at the top of our door. everyonce in awhile they will look as if someone tried to come inside. i now know its my son getting up in the night wanting to go outside he started it when he was 4) we dont have one on one of our outside doors because i worry about fire and them escaping. I constantly teach them about escaping the house incase of a fire.
