Discovery During Home Renovation Leads To FBI Investigation

Disturbing Demolition

An Ohio couple was renovating their 1940’s home when they stumbled upon something incredible. They had just finished the work on the first and second floors and moved on to the basement area. They had no idea what was to come. As they started the DIY demolition of the basement, hacking away at the plywood which formed the existing structure something caught their eye. The couple intrigued by what they could find started investigating further. But once they did, they unearthed something so groundbreaking they had to get the FBI involved.
As he began chipping away at the walls, he uncovered unassuming graffiti splattered across the basement. He didn’t take much notice at the widespread colors surrounding him. The homeowner continued with his work, cleaning the area before he began hammering through it and documenting every step of the way with a camera on hand.
Some walls were partly demolished when he took it upon himself to start the daunting task of tearing down the ceiling. As he began doing so, he soon discovered something that had him shouting for his wife’s attention.

Hidden in the Ceiling

Something was hiding between the ceiling and the subfloor. He went to take a closer look, but the object was placed incredibly well between the rafters. With some strength and a lot of courage he grabbed onto the object and pulled it towards him. He soon noticed that this massive bulk was a suitcase. A vintage green and grey bag that had been left here for no one to find.
Something inside of him told him to be wary of it, so he called his wife and waited for her arrival. Someone had gone to great lengths to keep this object hidden for so many years, what could be hiding in the vintage suitcase?

Awaiting the Reveal

While waiting for his wife, he started inspecting the suitcase and became slightly shocked to uncover how heavy it was. The size of the suitcase was small but whatever mysteries it had inside must’ve been big.
He started to dwell on ideas of what could be inside the suitcase, as it was so well hidden it must be something of value or importance to someone. The possibilities of what lied inside this vintage bag were mind-boggling for him. He couldn’t wait any longer.

Little Suitcase, Big Dreams

As soon as his wife arrived, he explained everything in excitement. It felt like Christmas, to open something they knew nothing about. Together, they opened the case, but at first, nothing seemed to be off.
Inside the case were bundles of wax paper that wrapped something rectangular. They still had no idea what contents and good fortunes this little bag held within it. But when they took out the bundles, everything made sense.

Mysterious Bundles

The homeowners then went to unwrap the layers of wax paper that held together the mysterious object beneath.
As he began peeling off the paper, it suddenly became more evident that what he was looking at, was in fact money.

Bundles Full of Money…

The bundle revealed a giant stack of $20 bills, and that was just the first bundle! They inspected the bills a little further and to their surprise found that these bills were all old money. “These are all twenties! There may be a couple thousand here! We are freaking out at this point,” the man later told newspapers.
“This doesn’t happen to us! What do we do? Where are the cameras?” Eagerly they started unwrapping the rest of the bundles. Would they contain the same as the first one or could there be something in there even more valuable?

…And Even More Money

The couple looked at the bundles in awe. They really hoped their luck from the first bundle would repeat itself with the others. Excitedly, they started peeling off the layers of wax paper. But they didn’t contain $20 bills. Instead, they were full of $50 bills and $100 bills! “The second package didn’t have any twenties. It was all fifties! What is going on here? There could be 5 grand here! Wait! The third package is 100s! This is out of control!” The man described later.
Their heads filled with questions. Where had all of this come from? The bills were clearly from years ago, dating back to the ’20s and ’30s. How long had this suitcase been hiding in their house? And more importantly, how much could all this old money be worth?

Blast From the Past

Upon further investigation, it was clear to the homeowners that everything, from the suitcase to the contents within, were very old. But they wanted to know more. They took the bundles out of the suitcase and got another surprise that would answer some of their intriguing questions. A newspaper laid flat at the bottom of the bag and was dated March 25, 1951.
Not only that, but it was the local newspaper of their own hometown, Cleveland. Excited and surprised they both knew they had stumbled upon something incredible but was this money worth anything in today’s day? What other mysteries was this basement hiding?

A Pleasant Windfall

The couple couldn’t believe their windfall. Some bills in the bundles were star bills, meaning that they never circulated through the markets. Moreover, they all were from more than 70 years ago. It was an incredible find! Shocked and surprised they consulted a lawyer and got help asserting the value of their treasure. The lawyer admitted that all the money that was found in the suitcase was roughly worth $23,000. The homeowners couldn’t believe it. “This was a wild ride for us, and I hope you all enjoyed it, too,” the man would write as he posted his pictures on Reddit. “We are boring people and have been dumping our extra money to pay off our mortgage, and that is where this money will go too.”
The man had documented the whole process through pictures. As he posted his last image on the internet, he didn’t know that this wouldn’t be the last of their surprises. Their curiosity grew stronger. What other mysteries were hiding within their walls? The homeowners soon discovered more secrets and something so shocking they even had to get the FBI involved.

More Surprises Await

The homeowners knew they had to continue their renovations; they couldn’t leave their basement half finished. Little did they know the bundle of bills weren’t the only surprises they would uncover.
As soon as the DYI man went back to demolishing more of his ceiling, he realized there was another case hiding between the rafters. Could it be true? What would this suitcase contain, and what else did their mystery house carry within it?

Another Mystery Case, Another Windfall?

He knew something precious would be inside, so he waited for his wife to get home so they could excitedly open it up together. Examining this new case against the last one, they both were seemingly identical.
It could be entirely possible that this suitcase contained the same as the previous one, couldn’t it?

The Mysterious Contents

The couple didn’t waste any time opening the case up. They knew the fruitful treasure the first one held, so the second one had to be as good. But the contents within this new suitcase was different.
There were no bundles of money wrapped in wax paper. Instead, the case was filled with money lined up tidily. They both gasped, how much money was in this case? And what other surprises were they going to be subject to?

An Even Bigger Fortune

The windfall in the second suitcase was more significant than the first. The couple couldn’t believe it. They were so lucky, they thought. They got it appraised again and found out all of it was worth $45,000. Once again, the homeowners were surprised and amazed but still, were determined to finish their renovations and even put that money into making their house improvement even more perfect.
As they continued with their work on the basement they couldn’t help but wonder, what else was this house hiding? Soon, they will know, and soon they will have to call the FBI.

The Secret Door

The couple had the inspiration to explore their house knowing it hid some vital secrets. Their motivation grew bigger when they knew where they had to look next; behind a secret door which the realtor told them housed the hot water heater.
They had a gut feeling, this was a perfect hiding place for anything small in size and big in value. They decided to look behind the door but to their excitement, discovered their homes biggest secret yet.

The Space Behind the Door

The couple opened the small, white door and realized that they had been clearly deceived by the realtor. There was no utility room hiding behind the door, but an entire room big enough to become another living space.
Carpet covered some of the floors of this mystery room but of course, was in terrible shape. This made one thing clear: Someone had used this room, and someone had gone to great lengths to hide it.

More than Meets the Eye

The room was dark and moldy. The couple had been living in that house for several years and had never known about this room. An uneasy emotion settled within him and asked his wife to stay back while he inspected the strange room.
As he began looking, he discovered something even more mysterious. Another door. But this door was no ordinary one. It was highly secured with heavy locks. Why and who would go to such lengths to hide something?

Breaking Down the Door

As the DIY man he is, he had to know more about his own home. He had been living in a structure full of mysteries and lies. He got a hammer and was determined to force his way into the highly secured door. No locks or heavy-duty security was going to stop him now.
He had to know. His determination to understand more lead him to another shocking discovery. Could it be more treasure? More money? But somewhere that has hiding places surely must have something awry.

A Sinister Environment

A fun home renovation quickly turned sinister when the man broke the lock and peered inside. The door opened up to another door, and behind this one was a room covered with heavy soundproofing material and white plastic tarp. The room didn’t feel right. It felt like something from out of a movie, a torture chamber perhaps.
But as they kept looking around the wrong place, they uncovered more secrets their house possessed and would give light to the rooms strange past. As they explored artifacts left behind in this room, they knew they had to call the police as soon as possible.

More Treasures to Unfold

As the couple uncovered more strange things with the room, the first thing they discovered was an old brown briefcase.
Given their luck with their last two bag discoveries they only hoped their luck was still with them, but as they looked around the room, they knew that whatever this bag contained couldn’t be in any way good. The couple would quickly find out.

Someone’s Prized Possessions

As he did with the basement, the couple continued to take a couple of pictures and document their findings as they wanted to keep these memories alive forever. The suspense was killing them, and they finally opened the briefcase and peered inside. The case was full of someones prized possessions: antique jewelry (watches, ring, 4 silver ingots) all which seemed to be very valuable.
The case contained someone’s things, they even found some envelopes stuffed with money from different foreign countries. All of these treasures were valuable, so what were they doing hiding in this room? They had a feeling this mystery room would hold a lot more mysteries. And they were right.

A Mysterious Safe

As they kept their investigating, they stumbled upon a black Sentry safe hiding in the corner of the room. Now they became skeptical. How could it be that a room within a room had a secret safe?
It all seemed so mysterious and secretive that the man felt intimidated with it all. He was confident the safe would not contain money, a few watches, and other “common” items. He knew that whatever was inside that safe was going to scare him.

A Dire Warning

Leaving his strange thoughts apart, he forced his way into the safe. As soon as it opened, he saw a note that confirmed everything the man suspected. The note read, “Save yourself.” Not only was the wording terrifying but it was written in black ink which was written in a rough manner that made it seem even more sinister. What was this note? Was it a warning?
The man knew he had to keep investigating if he wanted to know the truth. But soon after this realization, the couple found more mystery items that were beyond their bounds. They knew they had to get the police involved.

Another Warning

Intrigued, the man dug deeper into the contents of the safe. But what he found next would make him worry even more. Inside the safe was a couple of tapes with a handwritten note marked on the safe which read “Do not.”
The tapes seemed to be a series of videotapes. He knew the truth that he was seeking would surely be on those tapes. What would they reveal?

An Unsettling Revelation

The man took the tapes out one by one and inspected them further. Surprisingly he noticed that the tapes looked a lot newer than the rest of the artifacts he had found. This scared him, but they revealed little else.
On top of the tapes were series of numbers which seemed to be labels, but one tape, in particular, did not have a label on it of any kind. Out of 6 tapes, 5 had tags. Was this all a game set up by the previous homeowner? They knew that this was all too much for them. They were in over their heads and needed to call the police.

Recordings of Disturbing Past Events

The homeowner’s curiosity got the best of him, and he soon discovered what was on those tapes. After viewing them for only a couple of seconds, he called the authorities and told them to come to his house urgently.
The FBI quickly confiscated the tapes, and no one knows what were on them. Except for the homeowner, the FBI and whoever made them.

A Federal Investigation

The man’s curiosity led him to find something he certainly wished he hadn’t. What was on the hidden tapes? We might never know. The media has speculated that the tapes contained videos of horrific crimes carried out in the mysterious soundproof room. But the mystery continues as no one can really answer the question – what was on the tapes?
The investigation the homeowners had done on their home raised a lot of questions regarding the connection between the money found in the cases and the tapes. What was this home’s past? And more secret may it have lurking around? Matter of fact, what would you do if you found money or mysterious artifacts hiding within the walls of your house? More importantly, can you say that you know your home and all that lies within it?