McLeod Andrews (13:34)
It was a very cold night in the winter of 2015. The thing that's crazy about McConaughey is his rhythm is all over the place. Like, if you've listened to a little bit of his audiobook, he's got the craziest rhythm. You cannot anticipate how he's gonna say sentence, which I don't know if I want to do that. That could be bothersome, but. Or maybe why not? This is our show. We can do whatever we want. Sorry, Zach. It was a very cold night in the winter of 2015 in a small town called Coleman. I'm the only officer out in the county, and it's just about 3am now. It's been a while since I received any calls or made any kind of traffic stops, and I'm patrolling the residential streets and spotlighting houses. I get to the 600 block of West 5th street, and on the south side of the road, in the middle of the block, I see a small yellow house with white trim, tall grass, and large brush obscuring the front of the residence. I couldn't make out any kind of number or address for the house. From the road, I can barely see the front door, and I can see it's slightly open. So I decided I was going to check on the house and make sure there weren't any intruders or an emergency present. While walking to the door, I had to crouch under the brush to get to the front porch. Upon reaching the door, I knocked and announced, police department. Is anyone in the house now? After several attempts with no response, I turned on my flashlight and drew my sidearm to clear the building, make sure everything was okay. When I first walk into the house, I immediately notice an old piano standing right beside the door, a little ways off the wall. While looking around the living room, I noticed a lot of dust in the air and old furniture, seemingly from the late 1950s to early 60s, all of which was in disrepair. There were stains on the wall where picture frames used to hang and had since fallen to the ground. In some places, the ceiling had caved in and I could see moonlight coming in through the roof. I again announced myself and again asked if anyone was home. Receiving no answer, I began searching the residence, moving right down a narrow hallway. About halfway down the hall, as I come to a doorway on my left, I hear a low, faint grr. Almost a growl, but not quite. It was a little distant, as if in another room. I turned my flashlight off, put my back against the wall opposite the door, and listened for any kind of indication as to where the noise came from. After what felt like 10 to 15 seconds, I turned my light back on, thinking I may have imagined the noise and decide to move into the room. Inside was a child's bedroom, toys scattered around, and as cliche as it sounds, an old wooden rocking horse in the corner. Everything in the room had that same 1950s style. Other than my flashlight, There was a small amount of moonlight illuminating the back of the room. With still no sign of anyone being home, I continue down the hallway, coming to the back of the house, and my radio lets out a quick bit of static. At the end of the hallway, I find a big kitchen. I see a very old refrigerator and a kitchen table that was fully set for dinner with plates filled with old rotten food, like someone had left in a hurry years ago. As I'm walking through the kitchen, I see a door leading to what I thought was another bedroom. I approach the door and I hear the same growl, but this time much louder and much closer. I ducked down with my back against the counter and I started scanning back and forth from left to right, trying to make out any shapes in the dark. At this point, I was breathing very heavily and decided I don't care anymore if anyone is in the house. I'm just ready to get out. I sit there for what feels like 45 seconds, trying to control my breathing while still listening for any other noises. I stand back up, regain my composure, and turn my flashlight on. Very quickly I check the second bedroom, then start moving back to the front door much faster than before. When I got back to the front room, I felt relief and started to feel a little silly for how scared I'd gotten myself while searching the residence. And I don't know what possessed me to do it, but I reached down to the piano to hit the lowest key. As the piano sounded throughout the house, I heard the growl again, only this time it was extremely loud and I felt breath on the back of my neck. I leapt to the front door, opening it and slamming it shut behind me. I sprinted back to my patrol car and drove away from the house and contacted dispatch to let them know everything was Tim. Immediately after sending my broadcast, my dispatcher responds, standby for telephone call. I get a call from her. She asked me where I've been. I told her I'd just finished searching a house and she asks why I hadn't been responding to any radio traffic. I had my portable radio on me and while in the house I'd only received static. I told her I'd only been in the house for maybe five minutes at most, to which she tells me she hadn't been able to contact me for over two hours. I looked down at my car's stereo and the clock said 5:24. Later that morning, I met with my sergeant, who asked me where I'd been and why I'd been unresponsive, and I told him my story. We then reviewed my dash cam video which showed me at exactly three walk in front of my patrol car towards the residence and Nothing else until 5 24, when we could see me running past the front of my car and get back in. The last audio recorded before I went into the residence was me saying, police department, is anyone home? The very next recording was me crashing through the brush, running back to my car and checking into dispatch two hours later. After that, my sergeant told me to take him to the residence. We spent somewhere around an hour searching the 600 block and surrounding areas and we couldn't find anything matching the description of the house. I received a verbal reprimand for not responding to my radio, and I was advised if it ever happened again, the punishment would be much more severe. Over the days and weeks that followed, I would return to the 600 block of West Fifth Street. I never saw any houses matching the description and no overgrown brush. In the years that followed, I began training new officers and put out a sort of bounty, asking anyone to find that house anywhere in Coleman. It's become somewhat of an urban legend within the department, with some people just not believing, while others are still searching to this day. As of December 20, 2024, nothing matching that house has ever been seen again in Coleman County.
