It was last Tuesday afternoon. I was on a business trip to Michigan. About a half hour after my plane landed, my wife, Jennifer called me. When I answered, she sounded panicked. She was out of breath and yelling into the phone. I’ll do my best to transcribe the conversation.
Me (Ed): Hello? What’s going on?! Calm down. I can’t understand a word you’re saying.
Jenn: There’s a guy at the door who won’t leave! He’s scary looking and he keeps banging on the door! I told him to leave and he won’t!
Ed: Call the cops and don’t open the door.
Jenn: I did, but I’m scared! He’s scary looking.. It looks like something’s wrong with him.
Ed: Just try to stay calm and wait for the police. There’s nothing I can do right now. I’m four states away.
Jenn: Just look at the doorbell cam.
Ed: Well, I need my phone for that. Can I call you right back?
Jenn: ..Okay.
I hung up with Jenn and quickly opened the app for the cameras. When it opened, I couldn’t see anything or anyone on the porch. I watched for a minute, thinking whoever had been there left. Then someone walked into frame.
It was a short, stocky man in a large hoodie. He looked awful. He looked almost like a leper. His skin was very droopy and wrinkly. His face was covered in large disgusting boils. Not acne. Large boils. He didn’t look like a real person.
I went back and watched the footage of him first approaching the house. He limped up to the door. He looked like he was in pain. He rang the doorbell and knocked on the door. After a moment, he started speaking in a crackly, raspy voice.
“I need help!” he moaned. “Please let me in!”
He then waited about a minute and began pleading for help again. He started banging harder on the door. The distressed look on his face turned angry for short periods of time. He screamed “open the goddamn door!”
It was extremely unsettling. I felt powerless being so far away. I exited out of the app and called Jenn back.
Jenn: Hey honey. I gotta call you back. The cops just got here.
I hung up and impatiently waited for her to call back. I felt better knowing that the police were there, but still wasn’t comfortable that I wasn’t. I used this time to see what flights were available for the rest of the night. There wasn’t anything back to Buffalo until the following day. I was annoyed, but not surprised. Another hour passed before Jenn called back.
Ed: Hello.
Jenn: What did you do! Did you delete the videos?!
Ed: What? No! I watched it, then closed the app.
Jenn: Well, they’re gone! The guy disappeared before the cops got here and now there isn’t a single video of him. You had troubles with the app when we first got it. Are you sure you didn’t accidentally mess with something?
Ed: Positive! I didn’t have much trouble with it before. I just watched the video, then closed it. What did the cops say?
Jenn: They said they didn’t believe me! The one was a chauvinist who suggested that I was afraid to be alone because I’m a female! The prick! I’m afraid because a damn goblin was just banging on my door! I’m more afraid now because the cops won’t do anything.
Ed: Please try to calm down..
Jenn: What did you just say!
Ed: I’m sorry! What I meant was.. Maybe the cops scared him away. He probably wants to get far away so he doesn’t get caught.
We talked for a while longer and Jenn seemed to be calming down. I understood why she was scared and was so frustrated to be stuck in Michigan. I wanted to be there for her.
We got off the phone and I ran to the rent a car place. I made it right before they closed and got a car. It was always the plan to rent a car, but I wanted to be able to drive back if she needed me.
I went through the drive thru and grabbed some food before heading to the hotel. As I was walking to the front door, Jenn called back.
Ed: Hey honey.
Jenn: He’s back! He’s back! I don’t know what to do!
Ed: What happened? Did you call the cops again?!
Jenn: He came back and started banging on the door again! He says he needs help. I ignored him, but he won’t stop! He went to the back door when I didn’t open the front. I can’t see him now, but I know he’s out there somewhere..
Ed: You need to call the cops.
Jenn: They don’t believe me! They won’t do anything.
Ed: Please just call them. I’m gonna head home, but it’s gonna take me like four hours..
We got off the phone and she told me she would call the cops. I opened the door camera app and looked for the videos. I saw one where the man was out on the porch yelling “help me”. I turned notifications on for the app so I would know if and when he came back. I put my bags back in the car and started driving home, hoping my boss wouldn’t fire me for ditching my meetings.
As I sped down the highway, I tried calling a few friends and neighbors to find someone to go stay with Jenn. It was getting late by this point though and no one was answering. I’d been driving for about an hour when I got a notification from the door camera app. I opened it and watched the footage. The same emaciated looking man was leaned against the door coughing. He banged on the door and wailed a bit as if knocking was hurting his hand. “Please help!” he screamed. The video clip ended with him saying “Please just hear me out.. I need you to open the door”.
Jenn called moments later. Again, she frantically told me that the man was back.
Jenn: It’s horrible! He won’t stop. I don’t know what’s wrong with him. His skin looks like it’s falling off and he keeps screaming like he’s in pain..
Ed: I’m driving as fast as I can! Please just ignore him. Something is obviously off with him. He’s probably a junky or something. Did you call the cops?
Jenn: Not yet..
Ed: Call them! Please! I’ll call if you want me to.
Jenn: I’ll call..
When I got off the phone with Jenn, I grabbed my laptop out of my bag and opened the door cam app. The camera takes a video clip when it senses motion, but you can check the live feed at any time. It just doesn’t record unless there’s motion. I opened the live feed and set the laptop in the passenger seat.
When I first opened it, I couldn’t see anything on the porch. I drove on and looked over at the screen periodically. Before long, the man walked onto the porch again and continued knocking. This time, his tune changed when he spoke. Rather than yelling and screaming, he calmly said that he needed help.
Stranger at the door: I’m truly sorry for bothering you and probably scaring you.. I know I look creepy. I’m sick.. I swear it isn’t contagious. I need help though. I really need some water and an aspirin. Please.. Help me..
After seeing that, I immediately called Jen.
Jenn: Hey.
Ed: Do not let him in!
Jenn: I wasn’t going to.
Ed: I think he’s trying to trick you by acting like he’s calmed down.
Jenn: He calmed down? I didn’t hear him. I was in the bathroom.
Ed: Just don’t let him in no matter what. Did you call the cops?
Jenn: I did, but it sounded like they didn’t believe me. I heard the cop sigh on the phone. Then he said they’d send someone out when they get a chance..
Ed: Well, call again. Keep calling. Exaggerate if you need to. Just get them to the house.
Jenn: I’ll try..
I had a hard time keeping my eyes on the road after I got off the phone with Jenn. I kept looking over at the laptop. I watched the man walk off the porch, then back on. He paced back and forth for a while, scratching his chin like he was trying to come up with a plan. After that, he left again and didn’t reappear for about an hour. I checked in with Jenn a few times. She had calmed down a bit but was still really rattled.
I was 40 miles from home when I heard the notification ding on the computer. I watched as the man walked up to the door yet again. He looked even worse this time, somehow. It was like he was deteriorating. The blisters and boils on his face seemed worse than before. He knocked on the door again.
After a few moments of waiting, he started to plead for help again. “Please save me,” he whimpered. He wasn’t yelling this time. He looked scared.
I looked back to the road to realize that I had drifted to the side a little. I jerked the wheel to straighten out and immediately saw lights turn on behind me. I didn’t even notice the cop behind me and now I was being pulled over. I quickly shut the laptop. I didn’t want a ticket for driving while distracted or whatever.
It was agonizing. I tried telling him that my wife was in trouble but he didn’t believe me. It was frustrating that the cops at home wouldn’t come check on her but they always still have time to pull someone over for a minor swerve..
He thought I had been drinking so he gave me a long, slow sobriety test. It felt like it took hours. Finally, he believed that I wasn’t drunk and let me go with a lighter ticket. I drove the speed limit until I was out of his sight. After that, I floored it.
When I opened the laptop, it had closed out of the door cam app. I tried to reopen it but I was in a dead zone for cell signal and couldn’t get it to load. I was close to home anyway. I sped the rest of the way home.
When I arrived at the house, I jumped out of the car and ran up to the porch. I saw no sign of the man from the camera. I looked around the side of the house and didn’t see anything. I went up to the door and opened it. I was surprised and concerned that it wasn’t locked.
I ran inside and started shouting for Jenn. There was no response. I frantically ran through the house searching for her. She wasn’t there..
I almost called the cops, but decided against it after how useless they’d been all day. I ran to a friend’s house in the neighborhood and banged on their door and woke them up. They hadn’t seen her.
I ran back to the house and opened the doorbell cam on the laptop. I looked through the recent video clips. There was nothing other than the wind blowing the branches of a tree in the yard. No sign of Jenn, and no sign of the stranger who was knocking..
It didn’t make sense. I searched around the neighborhood for her. I looked for hours. Finally, I decided to go to the police station to report her missing.
I Pulled into a gas station near the police station. I just needed to scream for a minute. I had no faith that the police would be of any help. I might have made it home in time if I wasn’t pulled over for a frivolous reason. She’d have been fine if the cops took her seriously when she called them.. When they ask me why I waited this long to report it. That’s why.
I sat in the parking lot looking over at the police station. I took a deep breath and prepared myself to go over there. Then, I heard that notification ding.
I opened my phone and it was the doorbell cam. I switched to the live feed. I could see the camera blocked by someone. Then they stepped back.
It was her! It was Jenn. She stepped back further and I noticed something on her face. It was a boil, just like the one the guy who was knocking had. She looked rough. She looked tired.
I started the car and drove to the house as fast as I could. I watched the feed from the camera on my phone as I drove. At first, she was just standing there. Then, she started knocking. After another few minutes, she yelled that she needed help. She said she was in trouble.. Just like the stranger did. Then she walked off the porch and around the side of the house out of view of the camera.
I reached the house and immediately ran out back. I ran around the house and saw nothing. I ran inside and found nothing. After searching every inch of the house, I headed back to the police station.
They responded exactly how I thought they would. They found my story suspicious. They assumed I had something to do with her being missing. They found the lack of footage from the cameras “awfully convenient”.
I was in the barracks when I realized that they were going to place me under arrest. I had overheard two of them talking. I opened my phone one last time before they confiscated it. I opened the door cam app. There she was..
Jenn was on the porch pacing. She kept looking in the windows and at the door. She looked worse than the previous video. Her skin looked wrinkled. She had boils and blisters, She looked just like the stranger.
I tried to show the cops, but by the time one of them looked at the phone, she was gone.. That was the last time I saw her. I don’t know if she let the stranger in. I don’t know what could have possibly happened. All I know is that the cops feel certain that I’m the cause of her disappearance. I know that somehow, my video evidence to the contrary was erased or vanished somehow. I know that no one will believe me..
They think I made her disappear. All I wanted to do was help her. They wouldn’t help me help her. They want me to fry because they could have prevented it.
I’m nothing without her. Until they find her, I don’t care what happens to me.
I swear that my statements are truthful and accurate.
-Ed is currently awaiting trial. No footage of the stranger or Jennifer on the porch knocking has surfaced to this point. My client asserts that his statement is 100% truthful. If anyone has information regarding Jennifer’s whereabouts, please contact the Buffalo police department.