An Arkansas couple discovered a man living in their basement after noticing items mysteriously disappearing from their home. Dutch Hoggatt and his wife, Sharon, reported that food, shoes, and furniture had been moved or gone missing over several days. On April 29, their daughter and son-in-law, Cherisse and Mark Gregory, helped search the home while Hoggatt was at church. Sharon found a man hiding in a storage closet beneath the basement stairs. Preston Landis, 41, was arrested after being confronted by the family. Police confirmed Landis had been living in the home for several days, moving from a crawl space to the basement before being discovered.
The family had initially suspected they were imagining the missing items. 'I came in looking for my work shoes. I always leave them by the back door. My work shoes were gone,' Hoggatt told KTHV. 'I asked my wife if she had thrown them away, and she had not. Over time, we noticed that chairs had been moved around in the house. We noticed that some of our food was missing.' The family also found a deadbolt on their door locked when neither of them had touched it. Donuts and apples had been eaten while they were out of the house.
During the search, Sharon saw a leg peeking out from beneath the stairs. 'I could see that she was freaked out, so they backed out of the room, and I went in,' Gregory said. Landis initially remained silent but eventually scampered out of the house after being confronted. Police confirmed Landis had been living in the home for several days before his arrest.