Is Someone Living in Your Home? The Disturbing Truth About Phrogging
Imagine waking up to find kitchen cabinets mysteriously open, missing food, or strange noises in the night. Now, imagine discovering a complete stranger has been secretly living in your home. Sounds like the plot of a horror movie, right? Think again. This chilling phenomenon is called phrogging, and it’s more real than you’d ever want to believe.
A Nightmare in the Basement
For Jared Malvic and his roommates, the horror of phrogging wasn’t just an urban legend—it was a terrifying reality. Nine years after they found an intruder living in their basement, Malvic still feels the psychological scars.
“I never leave a door unopened now, even if it’s just a utility closet,” he told A&E True Crime. “It’s made me more cautious, more on edge.”
Malvic, then a junior at Ohio State University, shared an off-campus house with nine others. Another group lived on the first floor, and behind a locked door in the basement—a supposed “utility closet”—a man named Jeremy had secretly set up camp.
The roommates had noticed strange occurrences, like cupboards being left wide open in the kitchen. They shrugged it off—until one of them accidentally ran into Jeremy. The “closet” was actually a makeshift bedroom, complete with a mattress, chair, and Jeremy’s belongings, including a guitar.
When confronted, Jeremy made a polite but quick exit. Turns out, he had moved in with the previous tenants, and when they left, he simply decided to stay.
The Phroggers Among Us
Phrogging isn’t just the stuff of creepy internet stories. Cases have been documented for decades, and some have ended in tragedy.
Retired Massachusetts detective Tom Lane investigated one of the most infamous cases of phrogging long before the term even existed. In 1986, a 17-year-old named Daniel LaPlante became obsessed with Tina Bowen, a teenage girl. He managed to infiltrate her home and found a hiding place within the walls, living there undetected for weeks.
LaPlante wasn’t just lurking—he was taunting the family. He changed TV channels, drank leftover milk, and made eerie noises. One day, he escalated his terror, holding Tina, her sister, and their father hostage with a hatchet. Miraculously, Tina escaped, leading to LaPlante’s arrest.
But the story took an even darker turn. Released on bail, LaPlante later committed a horrifying triple murder, killing a mother and her two young children. He was eventually caught after a massive manhunt and is now serving three life sentences.
“This was the most bizarre and disturbing case of my career,” Lane said. “It started as voyeurism but evolved into something much worse.”
A Hidden Threat Closer Than You Think
Phrogging isn’t always a crime committed by strangers. Sometimes, the intruder is someone familiar.
Detective Kerry Lovallo recalled a 2017 case where a woman was being terrorized in her own home—by her estranged husband. She noticed strange occurrences: missing jewelry, cigarette butts appearing in her yard, kitchen cabinets left open. At first, she doubted herself. But police eventually discovered her husband had been secretly living in the house, hoping to rekindle their relationship by instilling fear.
“He wanted to be her hero,” Lovallo said. “He terrorized her so that she’d call him for protection.”
Even after his arrest, the psychological toll remained. The woman and her child were diagnosed with PTSD, constantly second-guessing their safety.
“This wasn’t a stranger in my attic,” she said. “It happened under my nose, designed to make me question my own sanity.”
Vacation Homes Turned Secret Hideouts
In Padre Island, Texas, phroggers have taken advantage of vacation homes left vacant for extended periods. Dale Rankin, editor of The Island Moon, described how intruders sneak into empty houses at night, carefully avoiding security cameras.
“They don’t trash the place,” he said. “They just want a place to hide.”
One case involved a contractor who returned home early from a work trip—only to find two men and four young people living in his house. In another instance, a woman came home to discover an entire family had moved in, complete with their own clothes and dishes.
Are You Being Watched?
While not a common crime, phrogging is more than an urban myth. If you notice unexplained noises, missing food, or items moved out of place, don’t ignore your gut feeling. Experts urge people to document any suspicions, install security measures, and—most importantly—report concerns to the police.
“Don’t second-guess yourself,” Lovallo advised. “Talk to someone. The worst thing you can do is ignore the signs.”
The next time you hear a strange sound at night, ask yourself: is it just the house settling… or is someone else inside?
