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A professor from Harding University and his family, residing in Arkansas, were startled to discover a stranger secretly living in their basement after noticing a series of unexplained disappearances of items from their home.
In an interview with KTHV, Dutch Hoggatt revealed that his suspicions were first aroused when he found a pair of shoes missing from their usual spot near the back door.
“I asked my wife if she had thrown them out, but she hadn’t,” he explained. “As time passed, we realized that chairs were being moved around, and even some of our food had vanished.”
Authorities eventually identified the intruder as Preston Landis, who had managed to live undetected in the family’s home for several days, relocating from a crawl space to the basement before being discovered.
Preston Landis, 41, spent three days stealthily residing in the Arkansas professor’s house before his presence was uncovered and he was taken into custody. (Photo courtesy of White County Sheriff’s Office)
Hoggatt and his wife then told their daughter and son-in-law, Cherisee and Mark Gregory.
“I think they thought they were both going crazy. And I’m like, ‘That doesn’t happen at the same time suddenly,’” Cherisee Gregory said.
On April 29, the family began searching the house while Dutch Hoggatt was at church, when his wife, Sharon Hoggatt, entered a storage closet beneath the basement stairs.
The Hoggatt family discovered a stranger living in their basement after noticing chairs and shoes were missing. (Dutch Hoggatt)
“She went further into the closet, and that’s when I saw her eyes get really big. She starts to back out and says, ‘There’s someone in there. I see their leg or their jeans or something,’” Mark Gregory said.Â
Mark went downstairs to see for himself what was happening as the person in the closet remained silent.
“When I get in the closet, I yell at the guy to come out,” he told KTHV. “I have a baseball bat in one hand. I start hitting the door, or the frame, kind of just to scare him a little bit. And he finally says, ‘OK, I’m coming.’”
The stranger slept in a storage closet, creating a make-shift bed (pictured). (Dutch Hoggatt)
The man, later identified as Landis, told the family he was homeless and stepped out as deputies from the White County Sheriff’s Office arrived to arrest him.
According to authorities, Landis first arrived on April 27, living in the Hoggatts’ crawl space before moving to the basement the next day, April 28, where he created a makeshift bed in a supply closet.
The sheriff’s office charged him with residential burglary and theft of property, with his bond set at $15,000.
The White County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The family emphasized that nothing was stolen from their home, and that they felt bad for Landis.
“We’re not angry at this man,” Dutch said. “I feel sorry for the man. I’m glad we figured out there was somebody living in the house because this could have gone on for much longer than it did.”