Woman finds ex-boyfriend hiding out in her attic

Woman finds ex-boyfriend hiding out in her attic

Creepy felon was spying on her.

If you hear noises in your attic, there are a lot of things that might spring to mind. Squirrels, rats, or possums, for the literal-minded. Or resident ghosts, for the paranormally inclined. But here is one thing you might not suspect as the cause of the noise: your creepy ex-boyfriend.

But that is exactly what happened to a South Carolina mother of five named Tracy. Twelve years after she and her boyfriend broke up, "she heard a thump from up above and saw nails start popping out from her bedroom ceiling." Upon investigation she discovered that her ex-boyfriend had been living up there for the last two weeks, ever since being released from prison. 
 
Earlier this year, the man (who is unnamed, as he is still at large) was convicted of stealing her truck. While serving his sentence, he had sent Tracy numerous letters from jail in which he professed his love for her, and swore that he had changed.

 After being released, the man took up residence in her attic. Police found several large fast food cups "filled with feces and urine." They also discovered that the man had "rigged the ceiling vents so that he could look down at Tracy in her bedroom from his spot in the attic."
 
My first thought on hearing this story was that the man was acting under the influence of this 1995 made for TV movie starring Neil Patrick Harris. "The Man in the Attic" starred Anne Archer and Len Cariou as a married couple. Archer is cheating on her husband with Neil Patrick Harris, with the twist being that Harris is secretly living in the couple's attic.
 
The movie was inspired by real world events that took place in the late 1800s. Dolly, the wife of a wealthy textiles manufacturer conducted an affair for 10 years with a boyfriend named Otto who was hiding in their attic. Neighbors had started noticing Otto coming and going at all hours, so they hit upon the idea of just hiding him in the house. Otto later described himself as Dolly's "sex slave."
 
Tracy and her five children are not sleeping well these days. After the initial discovery, her ex-boyfriend ran out of the house and escaped, and is still at large. Given how many of these situations end up in tragedy, here's hoping that Tracy and her family are able to remain safe from this dangerous and creepy ex-boyfriend.