An elderly woman in Adelaide spent months convinced that a large possum had moved into her attic. The truth turned out to be far more unsettling. Police later confirmed that an unidentified squatter had built a hidden camp in the ceiling space right above her head, and had apparently been coming and going while she slept.
Small signs that something was wrong
The grandmother lives alone in a Housing Trust property in South Australia. In late 2025 she began to notice a run of strange incidents around the house. Odd noises drifted down from above, her cat grew unsettled, and a number of household items vanished.
She tried to find a sensible explanation. "Lots of different things or items went missing, but I thought, ‘no, maybe I’ve misplaced them,’" she said.
The crash in the night
The real answer arrived in the early hours of one morning, when a tremendous crash echoed through her home. "There was this humungous bang," she said. "It sounded like somebody had almost fallen through the roof." Then came a second shock, as profanities rang out from above her ceiling.
She huddled in terror and did not dare to phone for help. "I was too freaked out to ring the police because I thought if I made a noise, whoever was up there would come down," she said.
What police found
Police later searched the property and confirmed that someone had been living in the attic. They found a makeshift bed, footwear, dishes, canned food and drugs. Authorities believe the intruder got in through broken roof tiles, then made their way down into the house while the woman was asleep.
That grim discovery explained other details she had struggled to make sense of, such as repeatedly finding her toilet seat raised. "There’s been someone up there this whole time, getting up and down in my home when I’ve been asleep," she said. "I got quite upset, and I thought, no, this is not right."
Calls that went unanswered
The woman says she had told the Housing Trust about the noises several times before the break came, yet no help arrived. "They make you out to feel like you’re stupid," she stated.
The Housing Trust said it is dedicated to keeping its tenants safe. Nick Champion, the Minister for Housing and Urban Development, said the organisation only learned of the situation last week. Since then, the property has been inspected several times, the roof repairs have been completed and new locks have been installed.
How things stand now
Champion said the Housing Trust will keep working with the tenant so that she feels safe in her home. He urged anyone with immediate fears for their safety, or who thinks someone is trespassing, to contact police.
A South Australian Police spokesperson said investigations are still ongoing. For the grandmother, the mystery of the missing items and midnight noises now has an answer, though not the one she had hoped for.
Image credit: 7NEWS
Source: Daily Express US
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