11 Days After 90-Year-Old Goes Missing, Son Spots Neighbor Digging In Yard
Heartbroken
Andrew sat in his living room, staring at the photo in his trembling hands.
He felt like his heart had been ripped out of his chest. He couldn’t believe how cruel fate had been.
It would have been one thing for someone to be lost or missing, but when it was an elderly woman, that’s when it was really serious. What kind of danger was the poor old woman in?
No One Around To Help
The police had already told Andrew that they were trying to do anything that they could to find his mother, but he knew how these things often turned out.
She had already been missing for over a week.
There really wasn’t anyone else around to help. He knew that if he wanted to find her, he’d have to do it himself.
Following Leads
Luckily, Andrew still had the spare key to her home. He decided that he would have to do his own investigating.
He drove to her home and opened the front door, something he hadn’t done since the police led their own investigation.
He walked inside and walked through her house. It was just as she had left it. It evoked old memories and was hard to look at. But he was about to find a lead.
A Threatening Note
That’s when Andrew found a pile of mail on her dining room table.
On top of the pile was an opened envelope with a note half sticking out. He decided to check it out, having no idea what it was.
The note was addressed to his mother, Judith. But it wasn’t particularly friendly. The note seemed to be threatening Judith.
From Their Neighbor
That’s when he realized who it was from. The note was from the neighbor on the other side of the fence.
But why was he threatening her? The more he read, the more it all started making more sense.
It seemed that his mother and her neighbor had some kind of dispute that turned ugly. He knew that his next step had to be checking him out.
Looking Over The Wall
There was only one thing for him to do. He walked up the stairs to the second story of his mother’s house.
He found a room that overlooked his neighbor’s backyard.
That’s when he heard the sound of metal hitting soil. He decided to look over the wall, and sure enough, Judith’s neighbor was in his backyard, thinking no one could see him.
Digging A Hole
All of the blood drained from Andrew’s face as he noticed what he was doing. He was digging straight into the ground relentlessly as if he didn’t have a choice. But what was he doing?
Dread crept over his spine as he considered the possibilities of what his neighbor was doing.
He knew what he had to do. He shouted like an animal and raced over to the neighbor, but he should have brought it back up.
Andrew Fitzgerald
Andrew Fitzgerald was always a bright boy with an exceptional intellect.
Growing up, his parents encouraged him to do well at school so that he could go on to great things.
But that wouldn’t be so simple. Just before Andrew graduated from high school, tragedy struck. It would be something that was hard to recover from.
Tragedy
As a single child, his only family was his mother and father. But in his last year of high school, his father tragically passed away.
It was something that would take years for Andrew to overcome.
But for his mother, it would never be the same. She’d never get over the death of her husband. That’s what compromised Andrew’s future.
Looking After Her
For a few years after his father died, Andrew helped out in the only way he could.
He stayed with his mother and looked after her. Instead of going to study at a university, he found a modest job.
With that, things were okay for a while, but Andrew always wished he could still go and study. But things wouldn’t stay the same forever.
Moving Away
Three years after Andrew’s father passed away, he finally told his mother that he would be moving out. He needed to live his own life and hopefully start a family of his own.
She understood and gave him her blessing. He managed to find a small apartment on the other side of town that he could afford.
He even started saving up for the education he dreamed of.
Working Hard
With Andrew starting a new education and working at the same time, he didn’t have time for much else.
That meant that his monthly visit to his mother turned into a once-in-a-blue-moon kind of thing.
He felt bad, but he still called her every week to see how she was. He just wished he could have seen her more.
Years Pass
Years passed like this, with Andrew having barely any free time and not seeing his mother as much as he would have liked.
But she understood and never took her frustrations out on him.
Then, one day, Andrew got a call from his mother. He was busy writing his thesis and couldn’t take the call. It pained him to do it, but he rejected the call and continued with his work.
Rejecting Her Call
Andrew knew that he could make it up to his mother if he called her the next morning. She would understand that he was busy.
But he had no idea that it was his last chance to talk to her.
He continued with his work throughout the night and forgot about the phone call. When he finished his work, he went straight to bed. But things would take a dark turn in the morning.
Another Phone Call
Andrew woke up and prepared for his morning routine. But before he could get much done, he saw his phone start ringing.
It wasn’t a number he recognized, but he answered it just in case.
But when he answered it, a person in an authoritative tone answered. But he was about to have the worst news imaginable. And it all had to do with his mother.
The Police
Andrew Fitzgerald nearly collapsed when he got the phone call. He never considered something like this would happen to him.
The person on the other side of the receiver was a police officer.
They told him that his mother, Judith, hadn’t been spotted for days. A jogger had found the door to her home opened and called the police. But they couldn’t find her anywhere.
Regret
Andrew felt pangs of regret as he thought about the last time he had seen her. He’d moved out close to five years ago and called her regularly, but he wished he had visited more often.
His life was so busy that he just never had the time to see her. But now it sounded like he might not ever see her again.
He didn’t know what to do. The first step was talking with the police.
A Statement
Andrew went down to the station to talk to the police about his mother’s disappearance.
They needed him to give out a statement, even if he knew little about what had happened.
He told them a bit about her, but other than that, there wasn’t much he could do to help them. They assured him that they would do everything that they could to find her, but he knew what that meant.
Looking Everywhere
The police sent out a search party and looked around the town for the elderly lady.
But Andrew knew that if they didn’t find her in the first 48 hours, then their chances of finding her would go down drastically.
All Andrew could do for now was hope that her fate was in more than capable hands. But the search wouldn’t turn up anything.
Grief Stricken
A few days passed, and the reality of what was really happening set in.
Andrew’s mind started to darken as he imagined never seeing the woman who had raised him again. She was the only family he had.
Without her, he wouldn’t know what to do. He’d feel truly alone without his mother’s guidance. That’s why he decided that he needed to do something about it.
Cruel Fate
Andrew sat in his living room, staring at the photo in his trembling hands.
He felt like his heart had been ripped out of his chest. He couldn’t believe how cruel fate had been.
It would have been one thing for someone to be lost or missing, but when it was an elderly woman, that’s when it was really serious. What kind of danger was the poor old woman in?
Do It Himself
The police had already told Andrew that they were trying to do anything that they could to find his mother, but he knew how these things often turned out.
She had already been missing for over a week.
There really wasn’t anyone else around to help. He knew that if he wanted to find her, he’d have to do it himself.
Spare Key
Luckily, Andrew still had the spare key to her home. He decided that he would have to do his own investigating.
He drove to her home and opened the front door, something he hadn’t done since the police led their own investigation.
He walked inside and walked through her house. It was just as she had left it. It evoked old memories and was hard to look at. But he was about to find a lead.
That’s when Andrew found a pile of mail on her dining room table.
On top of the pile was an opened envelope with a note half sticking out. He decided to check it out, having no idea what it was.
The note was addressed to his mother, Judith. But it wasn’t particularly friendly. The note seemed to be threatening Judith.
Why Was He Threatening Her?
That’s when he realized who it was from. The note was from the neighbor on the other side of the fence.
But why was he threatening her? The more he read, the more it all started making more sense.
It seemed that his mother and her neighbor had some kind of dispute that turned ugly. He knew that his next step had to be checking him out.
His Backyard
There was only one thing for him to do. He walked up the stairs to the second story of his mother’s house.
He found a room that overlooked his neighbor’s backyard.
That’s when he heard the sound of metal hitting soil. He decided to look over the wall, and sure enough, Judith’s neighbor was in his backyard, thinking no one could see him.
Confronting Him
All of the blood drained from Andrew’s face as he noticed what he was doing. He was digging straight into the ground relentlessly as if he didn’t have a choice. But what was he doing?
Dread crept over his spine as he considered the possibilities of what his neighbor was doing.
He knew what he had to do. He shouted like an animal and raced over to the neighbor, but he should have brought it back up.
The Truth
He rushed over to the fence and looked over it. “Hey, what are you doing?” He shouted to the neighbor digging the hole.
He jumped back, surprised that someone had seen him doing shady things.
That’s when the real confrontation started. Andrew was ready to resort to violence, but the neighbor was about to explain the truth to him.
A Misunderstanding
“You’re Judith’s son? Well, she caused me a lot of trouble. Enough that I even had to do this,” He shouted as he looked at the hole. What had he done?
Andrew hopped over the fence and started walking towards him.
That’s when the neighbor recoiled. “What did you do to my mother?” He shouted as he waltzed up to the neighbor. But it was all a misunderstanding.
A Borehole
The neighbor started explaining everything. “She wouldn’t let me create a borehole on my property. She even got the local Homeowners Association to stop me. But now that she’s out of town, I can do it behind her back.”
That’s when Andrew stopped in his tracks. “What do you mean out of town?” He said with a glance.
The neighbor then explained that Judith had taken a bus out of town to visit her husband’s grave. But why hadn’t she told him? Either way, He was relieved to hear that she was okay, even if he couldn’t reach her.
This story was handcrafted with love by a creative novelist to thrill and entertain, mirroring real-life situations to awaken your imagination and evoke profound emotions. All events, places, and characters are products of the author’s imagination, and all images and videos are used for illustrative purposes only. We hope you enjoyed reading it just as much as we enjoyed writing it!