A couple from Ohio found something incredible while they were renovating their ‘40s home. They worked in the basement once they were done with the first and second floors. They didn’t know back then that something would await them down there. As they hacked plywood, something odd caught their attention.
What they saw piqued their interest and they decided to dig deeper into the matter. As they went along, they never realized that they would have to get in touch with the FBI for what they have discovered.
The husband and wife began to chip away the walls in the basement. As the couple worked, the husband came across into some graffiti that had been spread out across the room. Their renovations at the business were certainly full of bombshells right off the bat.
The husband was so shocked and could not believe what was in front of him. After he removed the wallpaper, he found mysterious writing and drawing behind it. This was what triggered a series of unexpected events.
He checked the sub-floor and the ceiling. Upon further investigation, there was something stuck in between. He decided to take a closer look, however, it was difficult because it was a perfect fit in between the spaces of the rafters. He had to depend on his strength just to grab the stuck object and pulled it to him.
The owner of the house did not take note of the area. Instead, he kept his focus, worked, cleaned, and hammered the surroundings. He documented each step of their work with the use of his camera.
When he finally tore down the ceiling, some of the walls became partly demolished. As he continued with the renovations, he saw something far fetched. It was evident that he would notice such a bulky suitcase.
The suitcase was grey and green. It was obvious that someone hid it there so that no one would ever find it. When he tried to carry the suitcase, he was surprised by how heavy it weighed.
The suitcase was finally on his hands, but his intuition told him to proceed cautiously. He felt hot from excitement as he thought of what treasures could be inside. He took one deep breath and decided to move along.
He called up his wife and waited patiently for her to get back to their home. He wanted to make sure that his wife was there with him when they finally got to see what was inside the suitcase. Additionally, he wanted someone to be there for him in case things went awry.
He was immensely curious why someone went to such measures just to hide the suitcase. As he spent time alone and waited for his wife, he started to check the outside of the suitcase and was surprised when he realized how heavy it was.
While the suitcase wasn’t really that big, the contents must be important as it was heavy. He dwelled on what could be inside the suitcase. He realized that the contents should be of great importance because someone hid it so well.
And yet, there was still a chance that he was just thinking too much and that the contents might not be that important. A part of him really wanted to find out what was inside the suitcase. He explained the situation the moment his wife entered their home.
Christmas
His feelings could be compared to what he usually felt during Christmas. He was about to unwrap a gift and had no idea what was inside. As they checked out the suitcase, they exchanged ideas on what could be inside.
They were hoping to find some cash and jewelry. However, the couple had lowered their expectations and maybe it was just some stack of old sports cards. The contents of the suitcase were way off from their guesses.
Nothing seemed special while they were checking out the contents of the suitcase. They saw a lot of wax paper that wrapped rectangular objects. They had a hard time guessing what the items inside were.
Things started to make sense after they took out the bundles. The husband and wife slowly unwrapped all the wax papers they saw inside the suitcase. The wax papers bound something together, but they just could not figure out what it was.
The husband began to unwrap the wads of waxy papers. He soon realized that the contents held cash. The first bundle was a huge stack of twenty-dollar bills and there were still multiple bundles inside.
Upon closer inspection, the husband and wife realized that the bills were all old. They were surprised at the amount of cash in front of them. And they were curious who placed the bundles of cash inside the suitcase.
During an interview with the journalists, the husband explained, “These are all twenties! There may be a couple thousand here! We are freaking out at this point. This doesn’t happen to us! What do we do? Where are the cameras?”
The couple was excited to unwrap the rest of the other bundles. They wondered whether the contents would be the same. It might even be more valuable than the first ones. The couple was eager to check out the contents.
A part of them had hopes that they would discover the same thing for the rest of the stacks and they hurriedly peeled off all the layers of wax papers. The next stack did not contain twenty-dollar bills but instead had fifty- and hundred-dollar bills.
The husband further stated, “The second package didn’t have any twenties. It was all fifties! What is going on here? There could be 5 grand here! Wait! The third package is 100’s! This is out of control!” By this time, the couple had a lot of questions in their heads.
At first, the husband and wife considered the situation funny. However, the mysterious stacks of money they found in their house was not a matter that should even be joked about. They started to wonder just where the money came from and who was trying to hide them.
Simply judging from how the stacks of money looked, it was safe to assume that they were hidden for a long time, probably even during the ‘20s and ‘30s. So much time had probably gone by and they wanted to know just how much money was there.
As they went on with their investigations on the matter, things started to make more sense for the husband and wife. The money, the suitcase, and everything else was very old. And yet, they still wanted to dig deeper into the truth.
Another surprise laid out in front of them after they retrieved the stacks of money inside the suitcase. One of their questions was answered by a newspaper which they found at the bottom-most part of the suitcase. They stared at the date.
The date of the newspaper stated that it was from March 25, 1951. The newspaper was published by the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The husband and wife were stunned by just how old the paper was.
The issue of the newspaper was from Cleveland. They were in awe that they had found something incredible. The couple had started to wonder just how much the stacks of money was worth in today’s currency.
The pair could not believe how lucky they were. What made things even more interesting was that there were some bills that were star bills. These were the kind of bills that never found its way to the market. These star bills were over seventy years ago.
All the contents of the suitcase were very valuable. This was a great haul. Because of this, the couple decided to hire a lawyer that could help them appraise the value of the cash they uncovered. They figured out that the money inside was estimated to be around 23,000 dollars.
All of them celebrate for a whole week but they would soon have to return to their normal lives. The husband and wife decided to resume their renovations and realize that the mystery had not ended just yet.
The couple still had to return to their normal routine despite their discovery of the $23,000. They resumed the renovations of their home. The couple was stunned once again upon their discovery of a second suitcase that was stuck in the ceiling.
The first suitcase was already heavy and this second one was way heavier than the first. The husband was excited about his next discovery and was wondering how he had missed this suitcase. Just like the first time, he decided to wait for his wife’s return before he did anything.
The man posted in Reddit, “This was a wild ride for us, and I hope you all enjoyed it, too. We are boring people and have been dumping our extra money to pay off our mortgage, and that is where this money will go too.”
He documented the whole thing with his camera, but he did not know they would be in for more surprises in the future. It was only natural for them to be more curious.
Now that they had found two mysterious suitcases, surely there wouldn’t be anything more. The renovation still wasn’t done so the couple once again resumed as it was impractical to leave the basement as it was. They didn’t know then that it was not yet the end of their search.
The couple needed to continue with the renovations of their basement. As the clock ticked, the husband and wife learned something surprising that they decided that it was now time to call for the FBI.
The husband decided to open the second suitcase the moment his wife entered the door of their house. And like the first, it was filled with wads of cash. The total amount would render anyone speechless.
As usual, the couple just went on with their renovation and the husband saw another suitcase hidden carefully between the rafters. Back then, the husband and wife did not know that they would discover something else aside from the stacks of cash that they had found before.
The first incident was stuck into their minds that they were expecting to see some cash again for this next batch. The couple was very optimistic. They were proven wrong upon opening the suitcase as there were no stacks of money this time around.
The couple was left to wonder whether they would continue to discover a lot of other things as they continued with the renovation of their home. Their instinct was telling them there were still other treasures that they could find. Just like with the last time, the husband waited for his wife.
The suitcases were identical, so it was clearly possible that the contents were probably the same as the previous one. The two rushed in opening the suitcase the moment the wife stepped inside their house.
The adrenaline from their discovery of the suitcases soon dwindled and they resumed with the renovation of their house. This time, they discovered a strange door on the second floor that they did not notice before. They found something disturbing the moment they stepped inside.
The case was once again filled with wads of cash and was lined up neatly. The couple couldn’t help but gulp. They wondered how much they had discovered since the first suitcase. And they wondered just what else would they see inside their home.
They were immensely lucky. Because of their excitement, they decided to have the next batch appraised and it was estimated to be around $45,000. The couple could not believe their fortune. They were now considered rich.
Despite having discovered a lot, the couple was still amazed and shocked. But this only motivated the husband and wife to explore their house and continued to make renovations and improvements as they had originally planned. They decided that it was not time to stop as they could uncover more mysteries.
Because of all the things they had discovered, the husband and wife were left to ponder whether there was still other stuff their house was hiding from them. But back then they didn’t realize that they would need the assistance of the FBI.
The couple started to become curious about what other secrets the house laid hidden and was once again driven to renovate in the hopes that they could explore the house. They suddenly had an idea about where to explore next.
They remembered something that their realtor told them about before they bought the house. There was a hidden door housing the hot water heater and their instincts told them that there must be some hidden gem waiting for them there.
The couple could not wait any longer and decided to investigate it. It seemed that their gut feelings were correct as the place held the biggest secret of the house. The husband and wife opened the tiny white door and realized that they had been deceived by their realtor.
The special room for the water heater was just a trick to make them think that it was a normal house. However, they soon realized that things weren’t as simple the moment they opened the door.
The room was more spacious than what they had in mind. The hidden room was decorated with carpet pieces. The husband made his wife stay behind as they were unsure of what could be waiting for them.
The husband began wondering and his brain was scattered all over the place. He just couldn’t come to terms with the fact that there was a secret room inside his own home that he had no idea even existed.
Unlike with their previous discoveries, this door was shut tight and was heavily secured with a master lock and a bolt. The couple didn’t plan to back down now and was resolved to discover what waited behind the door. The husband rushed downstairs to grab a hammer and began to pound the door.
The couple could tell that the room was purposefully hidden because of the condition they found it in. It had clearly been used for some time. It was now in terrible shape as it was very moldy and dark.
The husband and wife had been living in that house for a few years, but it was their first time coming inside the secret room. They soon discovered that it was even soundproofed. They guessed as to why and one bad reason came to mind.
They couldn’t help but think that this was a place where crimes took place. The walls, the floors, and even the ceiling were all covered with white soundproofing tarp. They could not think of many reasons why the previous owners did not want people to hear them from the outside.
The couple wondered just what else could be hiding in their house. The husband and wife were deeply curious especially since they didn’t know that their house was full of lies and mysteries the whole time they were living there.
As to be expected, another suitcase was lying inside the secret room. This time, the husband was uncertain of what he was going to do and briefly stopped to think. However, their curiosity won over and they grabbed the suitcase.
We all know that hiding places were made to hide mischief. Hiding places frequently signified that something was wrong. The couple only wanted to have a fun renovation project of their house and things started to escalate. And now, they had broken the lock of a strange suitcase and checked the contents.
This time, it wasn’t a stack of dollars that they found. Instead, they saw an ancient wooden box, envelopes with money from other countries, a jewelry box, rings, watches, and four 1 oz silver ingots. It seemed that the suitcase hid prized possessions and they wanted to know just from whom it was hidden.
The secret room even led to another secret room. This other room was covered with a white plastic tarp and heavy soundproofing material. The room felt wrong in all places and was something that could only be seen in movies. He couldn’t help but think that this was a torture chamber.
Their curiosity took over them and they began to search around the room. Eventually, the couple saw something that cleared up a few things about the room. They checked the multiple relics left behind and felt inclined to report this to the authorities as soon as they could.
The pair had uncovered a lot of strange things inside the hidden room, one of which was an old brown briefcase. Because they had luck with the first two suitcases, they figured that luck was clearly on their side for this next discovery.
And yet, they were way off. The case did not contain wads of cash as they had hoped. Similar to what they did during the renovation process with their basement, the husband and wife photographed some of the things they uncovered.
This was one hell of a ride that the couple would never forget. Because of their curiosity regarding the contents of the briefcase, they decided to take a quick peek and found out that it was filled with prized possessions. There was an antique jewelry ring, watches, and 4 silver ingots.
The briefcase also contained envelopes with money from other countries. As the husband and wife proceeded with their investigations, they saw a black Sentry safe hidden in the corner of the room. The couple became even more curious.
The husband and wife had grown curious as to what was hidden inside the secret safe within the secret room. There was something fishy about the whole mystery that surrounded their house. The husband felt intimidated and his instinct knew that it wasn’t cash or jewelry that was inside the safe.
He was certain that what was inside the safe was something he didn’t need. Everything they had discovered was valuable so the hidden room was probably hiding more secrets, and maybe those secrets were something they could not handle on their own.
And they were right. But he decided to ignore the warning bells in his head, and he made his way to open the safe, anyway. When he managed to crack the lock of the safe, he found a note that said, “Save yourself.”
The words in the note were already creepy but the way it was written made it more ominous. The penmanship was rough and was written using black ink which emphasized the eeriness of the situation.
The only way to find out what the words “Save yourself,” meant was to continue with his investigations. Just as he was about to make his way into discovering the truth, they found other items that kept adding questions instead of answering their questions. They decided that it was time to call the authorities.
The husband only grew curious and curious as they dug deeper into the contents of the secret safe. However, what he found next made him feel unsafe. He found a handwritten message that said, “Do not” on a few tapes.
It was obvious that these were videotapes and if he wanted to uncover the secret, he must watch these tapes and was curious about what was in there. The husband took out all the VHS tapes and took a closer look.
The VHS tapes were newer compared to the other things they had found. This added to the scare factor. The husband felt scared and as he inspected the tapes, he found a series of numbers on top of them that seemed like labels.
And yet, not all tapes had a label on them. There were six tapes and only five of them had tags. It was possible that someone came up with these just for the sake of it, but it was clear that things were getting out of hand. He gave up investigating on his own and decided that it was time to call the authorities.
He was curious but was at a dead end and at a loss of what to do. He decided to check what was inside the tapes. After he took a quick look, he did not hesitate to dial the cops and immediately asked them to come to his house as soon as possible.
The FBI decided that it was best for them to confiscate the VHS tapes. No one outside of the parties knew the contents of the footage inside the tapes. Only the homeowner, the maker, and the FBI agents knew what was inside. But one thing was for sure. Curiosity killed the cat. He discovered something he could only wish he could unsee.
It is highly possible that we would never find out what was inside those VHS tapes. The media speculated that it held footage of sinister crimes that took place inside the soundproofed room. However, it remained a mystery and no other person knew what was on those VHS tapes.
The investigation raised a few questions about the other things in their property, including the wads of cash, the suitcases, the safe, the notes and the hidden VHS tapes. We could only wonder what kind of people used to live in that house.
It was possible that there were still other mysteries that waited to be discovered. And if other people were in the same situation as the couple, what would have been their course of action? If someone finds the same things in their house, what would he or she do? The most important question would be could you be confident enough to say that such sinister mysteries would be waiting inside your own house?
When we thought about it, the husband and wife were lucky that they were safe despite all the things they had discovered. They made the right call to ask for the help of the authorities because who knew what could happen if they handled the situation by themselves. And now, they would always have a unique story to share with other people.
