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A woman and her family were left "terrified" following a "horrifying" incident when booking accommodation for a family celebration, after discovering a man concealed behind one of the property's walls.
This past weekend, Therese reserved a rental home to stay in with her partner and two children for the evening following a family birthday celebration in the Leinster region. The residence, listed as not being owner-occupied, was conveniently located near the venue and appeared to be the ideal spot for an overnight visit, but shortly after their arrival things started to go downhill.
"I met with the landlord to get a key," Therese told Kieran Cuddihy on RTÉ's Liveline. "That was in a key lock box. He showed me around the house. He had his clothes in his dryer at the time, and so they were drying away. I was leaving, heading back to the party, and I said, 'Will you be here tonight when I come back?' And he went, 'Oh no, no, I won't be here'."
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She added: "At the time I didn't realise when I booked it, the entire piece. It does have advertised the entire home is yours. But even with that regardless, I wouldn't have minded if he was staying there because BandB hosts still stay in the house sometimes. I just asked, 'Are you going to be here tonight?' And he went, 'No, no, I'll be gone'".
In addition to the dryer running, she noticed something peculiar about the children's bedroom downstairs being positioned next to a locked room, and although she felt uneasy about having the kids sleep there, she believed at that moment there was little she could do to change the situation. Despite this discovery, confident the property would remain vacant during their absence, the family departed for their celebration.
Only upon returning did they realize something genuinely peculiar was happening at the rental. When the family arrived back, they discovered the washing machine was now operating, suggesting the landlord had visited. The key to the property was also located on a chain within a lockbox outside the residence.
"That did make me think that he was here," she shared. "I knocked off the washing machine because the kids were going to bed at that point, and I was like, 'I'm going to knock off the washing machine because the single beds were right beside it'.
Unsettled by the entire situation, Therese requested her partner inspect the rooms, which led them to notice something highly unusual about the property.
"Still I felt a little bit weird. So I said to my partner, 'Will you go upstairs and just check all the rooms.' And he went up, then he came back down. He was feeling a little bit weird. We didn't initially notice that there was like this partition-looking wall.
"It was actually a really thin piece of plasterboard with a nail. So there was no nails on one part. This was in the sitting room, in the living room. So my partner went, 'What's behind that?' Because it looked like it could move. So when he went to move it, it came off.
"It was just darkness behind it and I hear 'hey, hey', so we obviously died. And I went, 'Is there somebody behind that wall?' And he went, 'Yes'. Now the man didn't come out near us, but like straight away, I went to get the kids and just leave right now."
Therese described how she encountered the landlord afterward, who allegedly had no recollection of meeting her previously, and expressed how deeply disturbing the incident had been.
"It was pitch black, so you couldn't say a thing," Therese said. "And obviously, when you get frightened, you're not expecting to hear somebody go, 'Hey, hey', from a wall, which I thought was just a wall at the time.
"We left, initially had the kids outside. In the end, I did end up meeting him at the front of the house. He said that he didn't meet me before. And I said to him, 'Why have you done this? You have traumatized myself and my kids when you easily could have just said, 'Yes, I will be here later on'.... And he went, 'Well, my Google reviews don't say that'."
Therese revealed the entire ordeal has left her reluctant to reserve any accommodation outside of hotels going forward, sharing how she occasionally feels vulnerable even within her own residence.
"It's horrifying. It's so scary," she said. "I genuinely. The only way to describe it is... I feel like I was on a Netflix documentary. I wouldn't believe this.
"The blood drained from my face. The kids were frozen in one spot. We had to physically move them. Their jaws had dropped. They heard the hey, and all we could see was this black hole. We didn't know what size it was, whether it was a small space or big space, and we knew there was a man behind that. It's the most terrifying feeling ever.
"I'm still not over it," she continued. "It's terrifying, and I feel sorry for the kids. Genuinely, will put me off booking any sort of holiday home in the future.
"I think I'll probably be hotels from here on in. I don't think the kids would want to stay. You just don't feel safe. Even in my own home now, it's crazy. I know I am safe, but I'm still psychologically affected by it. It's terrifying."
Booking.com has confirmed an investigation has been initiated into the incident, with the property listing removed while inquiries are underway. A Booking.com spokesperson told the Irish Mirror: "We take safety and security very seriously. As soon as we were made aware of this incident, we launched an investigation into the property, which is ongoing."
They added: "The property has been suspended while the investigation is completed." Gardai stated they had attended to the matter and confirmed no criminal offense was identified at this time.
