Current:Home > MyTikToker Katie Santry Found a Rug Buried In Her Backyard—And Was Convinced There Was a Dead Body -InvestPioneer
TikToker Katie Santry Found a Rug Buried In Her Backyard—And Was Convinced There Was a Dead Body
View
Date:2025-04-12 18:14:33
A true crime story almost unfolded right before Katie Santry’s eyes.
After a TikToker shared Oct. 1 that she found a rolled-up rug buried deep in her backyard while she and her boyfriend Brandon were digging holes for a new fence, it eventually led to forensic teams investigating her Columbus, OH yard.
But while human remains were ultimately not found, as local police confirmed to E! News Oct. 4, it was a saga that gripped the internet. Here’s a breakdown of exactly what happened—and why TikTok was convinced something afoul was afoot.
While Katie first didn’t think much of the rug she discovered, that turn when she woke one morning to a shattered laptop screen and a desk in disarray. After her boyfriend, his kids and her son insisted they hadn’t been near the sunroom, she wondered if there were a paranormal connection between the shattered laptop and the rug.
“Is there a dead body in that rug?” Katie speculated in an Oct. 1 TikTok. “Or is it the ghost of the rug’s past? What on earth happened? Is there a ghost breaking my stuff?"
So, she and Brandon kept digging, documenting their progress online. Though, the couple were ultimately forced to stop due to the hard ground and existing structures in their lawn.
Yet, Katie couldn’t shake the idea of what could be. “What if there really is a body?” she explained to People. “How could you not help that person find peace? How could you not help a family?”
So, on Oct. 2 she called authorities. And while she admitted the call could be a dumb one, two officers showed up to her home within 15 minutes. While they acknowledged the situation was unusual, according to Katie, they said the effort to dig outweighed the situation so they’d rather do some online digging.
Not that the decision came as a total shock to Katie. "I truly don't think there's a dead body down there," she told People. "The curiosity about why that rug is there definitely haunts me. But my biggest concern is my computer because, at the end of the day, it shattered for no apparent reason. That leaves me with the most question marks.”
Yet as her unusual story gained more attention online—she earned more than 1.4 million followers in three days—the local homicide department decided to send detectives and cadaver dogs (specially trained to locate human remains) to her home on Oct. 3. And in footage Katie shared from the visit, both dogs are seen immediately hitting the area where she discovered the rug.
Which meant the department would then send forensics teams to dig in the area, as police also confirmed to E! News. The investigation resumed Oct. 4.
After the dogs’ visit, Katie shared, “Basically from there everything went to f--king s--t. I was terrified, losing my mind. I asked the cops if I need a lawyer, they’re very aware that I’m the one who called and they have no concerns it was me.”
Next, “Crime scene investigators will be here digging,” she continued. “And they said there’s still a chance that this rug could just have blood on it. It doesn’t necessarily mean there is a body in my backyard.”
“There’s a tent set up, and there’s nine police officers and CSI in the backyard,” she shared on TikTok Oct. 4. “They’ve blocked how far I’m even allowed to go, and they’re bringing equipment in now.”
“They’re digging, they’ve been digging,” she added. “Some of them are in the hole."
“We still don’t know anything,” she noted. “The dogs could have had a bad day, had an off scent, who knows.”
Hopefully, she added, “We can all laugh about this tomorrow.”
And, as it turns out, laugh they will. Or at the very least, Katie can now breathe a sigh of relief because, ultimately, no human remains were found on her property.
“They have covered the hole,” Katie updated her followers. “This has been the most insane experience of my life. No, they didn’t find a body. The found a mother-effing rug with some rubber.”
And while Katie still wondered about her broken laptop, the outcome wasn’t an undesirable one.
“There’s no body,” Katie concluded her video. “Yay!”
For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News AppveryGood! (7)
Related
- Nearly half of US teens are online ‘constantly,’ Pew report finds
- Music program aims to increase diversity in college music departments
- 1 dead, at least 22 wounded in mass shooting at Juneteenth celebration in Illinois
- Ranking Oil Companies by Climate Risk: Exxon Is Near the Top
- Hackers hit Rhode Island benefits system in major cyberattack. Personal data could be released soon
- In Montana, Children File Suit to Protect ‘the Last Best Place’
- What does it take to be an armored truck guard?
- Q&A: Plug-In Leader Discusses Ups and Downs of America’s E.V. Transformation
- Travis Hunter, the 2
- Dying Orchards, Missing Fish as Climate Change Fueled Europe’s Record Heat
Ranking
- DeepSeek: Did a little known Chinese startup cause a 'Sputnik moment' for AI?
- On Father's Day Jim Gaffigan ponders the peculiar lives of childless men
- Microsoft blames Outlook and cloud outages on cyberattack
- COVID during pregnancy may alter brain development in boys
- Apple iOS 18.2: What to know about top features, including Genmoji, AI updates
- Out-of-staters are flocking to places where abortions are easier to get
- Seiichi Morimura, 'The Devil's Gluttony' author, dies at 90 after pneumonia case
- 4 people found dead at home in Idaho; neighbor arrested
Recommendation
Selena Gomez engaged to Benny Blanco after 1 year together: 'Forever begins now'
Global Warming Is Changing the Winds Off Antarctica, Driving Ice Melt
A Young Farmer Confronts Climate Change—and a Pandemic
This Week in Clean Economy: Cost of Going Solar Is Dropping Fast, State Study Finds
IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
Bill Barr condemns alleged Trump conduct, but says I don't like the idea of a former president serving time
Here's what really happened during the abortion drug's approval 23 years ago
Paris Hilton Mourns Death of “Little Angel” Dog Harajuku Bitch