Man Burglarizes Home; Lives in Attic for a Week
Renie Workman
It was a burglary investigation right out of a horror movie. A man is accused of stealing from a woman's home and police believe he had been living in the attic of the home for days. A family in Plains Township, near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, USA discovered their home had been burglarized not once, but twice on Christmas Day. It was a mystery until Friday afternoon, when police found Stanley Carter, 21, of Arkansas living in the crawl space of the home. The homeowners had no idea he was there stealing food, household items and even their childrens' Christmas presents. Investigators said Carter was found living in the attic of the double-block home on Wyoming Street in Plains Township for more than a week. The homeowners knew something was wrong when Christmas gifts started disappearing. "My daughters brand new iPod Nano. It was purple. That was missing. Cash was missing from Christmas cards. Then the second time around, the charger was missing for the iPod and my laptop computer," said homeowner Stacy Ferrance. Police said Carter burglarized the home twice on Christmas Day. Ferrance said the day after Christmas, she found footprints in her closet and called police again. "It was when the police were here when we actually heard somebody walking around upstairs in the attic. And then the backup came in and the Swoyersville canine unit came in. They found him in my attic, living here since December 19, he's been staying here," said Ferrance. In the attic crawl space, police found Carter had set up a make-shift bed and had helped himself to things from the family's home. "He had taken my toothbrush, some regular Tylenol, Tums, food, bottles of soda, my little five-year-old's juice boxes," Ferrance said. Ferrance said it is terrifying knowing that Carter came down from the crawl space in her bedroom, just feet from her bed, knowing he lived above her for more than a week. "Very violated. Somebody out there now definitely knows all about me. What I did for a whole week. When I came to the house, when I left the house. Knew everything about myself and my family which is very disturbing," she said. Officials said Carter kept a detailed list of everything he took. "When we were going through the inventory of what he did take, we found a note labeled 'Stanley's Christmas List' of all the items he had removed from the residence and donated to himself," said Officer Michael Smith with the Plains Township police. "It's bizarre. You don't hear of stuff like this in your own back yard, you really don't. And to think we lived the last seven days of our lives like normal people and there was somebody else here. It's disturbing," Ferrance said. The homeowner believes Carter had been staying with people next door, and after being kicked out, hid up in the crawl space, stealing things from both homes. Stanley Carter is charged with several counts of burglary and theft. He is locked up in the Luzerne County jail on $25,000 bail.