1 00:00:05,719 --> 00:00:08,119 Speaker 1: I signed up for Uber Eats back when it was 2 00:00:08,160 --> 00:00:12,039 really gaining traction in twenty twenty one. I'd just gotten 3 00:00:12,119 --> 00:00:15,400 laid off from my previous job and it seemed nearly 4 00:00:15,439 --> 00:00:19,440 impossible to find any other job quickly, so this was 5 00:00:19,480 --> 00:00:23,039 a bit of a risk that I hoped would work out. 6 00:00:23,879 --> 00:00:27,000 A couple months in, I was enjoying it enough and 7 00:00:27,039 --> 00:00:29,559 it was paying me enough for me to keep with it. 8 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:34,479 This happened just around a year after I started. I'd 9 00:00:34,479 --> 00:00:37,439 fallen into the habit of waking up late and staying 10 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:41,079 up late, so I hadn't started working until around dinnertime. 11 00:00:42,159 --> 00:00:45,320 By eleven PM, I still hadn't made enough to be 12 00:00:45,439 --> 00:00:48,799 good for the night, so I continued on taking pretty 13 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:52,600 much any order that popped up. It was at one 14 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:57,159 am when an order came through that was interesting. It 15 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:00,000 was a grocery order from a twenty four hour set 16 00:01:00,119 --> 00:01:04,239 an eleven gas station. I still accepted it, but it 17 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:07,200 was just odd to me that someone would need groceries 18 00:01:07,239 --> 00:01:09,640 from a gas station in the middle of the night. 19 00:01:11,239 --> 00:01:14,239 I drove up and parked at the mostly empty gas 20 00:01:14,319 --> 00:01:18,760 station and went into the convenience store. The only person 21 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:22,159 inside was a kind old man working at the register, 22 00:01:23,359 --> 00:01:25,760 I picked up the bag from him and also got 23 00:01:25,799 --> 00:01:28,680 myself a cup of coffee for the road, then headed 24 00:01:28,719 --> 00:01:32,599 back to my car. I got in and situated myself 25 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:35,599 before backing out and getting on the road for the 26 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:40,439 final stretch of the drive. Only a moment after getting 27 00:01:40,439 --> 00:01:43,840 onto the main street, though, I noticed a car's headlights 28 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:48,599 right behind me. Mind you, this was very late and 29 00:01:48,719 --> 00:01:51,560 almost no cars were out, so I was sure I 30 00:01:51,599 --> 00:01:56,079 would have seen them before they were so close. After 31 00:01:56,159 --> 00:01:58,719 some thinking, I thought they must have been at the 32 00:01:58,719 --> 00:02:02,040 gas station, parked on the side of the building, and 33 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:06,200 pulled out as soon as I did. I drove along 34 00:02:06,239 --> 00:02:09,159 this same road for a while, reaching the edge of 35 00:02:09,199 --> 00:02:12,719 town when I suddenly felt something wrong with my car. 36 00:02:13,759 --> 00:02:16,879 It was way bumpier than usual and a loud kind 37 00:02:16,879 --> 00:02:21,840 of scraping sound was coming from the right side. After 38 00:02:21,919 --> 00:02:25,199 a minute from noticing this, it became a lot worse, 39 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:28,120 so bad that I had to pull off to the 40 00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:31,159 side before the car would break down in the road. 41 00:02:32,719 --> 00:02:35,840 I parked on the shoulder with woods on either side 42 00:02:35,879 --> 00:02:39,280 of me, but in the mirror I saw the headlights 43 00:02:39,319 --> 00:02:43,800 of that same car slowing down and pulling in right 44 00:02:43,919 --> 00:02:48,919 behind me. Unsure what was going on. I decided to 45 00:02:48,919 --> 00:02:52,639 get out quickly and see what the problem was. I 46 00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:54,960 didn't know if the car behind me was going to 47 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:57,560 try and help me out or if they had something 48 00:02:57,599 --> 00:03:00,520 else in mind, but I knew I couldn't go anywhere 49 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:04,400 until I figure this out. I ran around to the 50 00:03:04,439 --> 00:03:07,960 other side of my car and quickly noticed the problem. 51 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:13,479 My right tire was completely flattened, which was crazy. I 52 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:18,080 hadn't run over anything, and usually flat tires happening gradually, 53 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:23,120 not so suddenly like this. I took a closer look, 54 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:26,560 seeing a gash right on the side of the tire 55 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:30,840 that didn't look natural at all. Then I heard a 56 00:03:30,879 --> 00:03:35,439 door open from the car behind me. A man stepped 57 00:03:35,479 --> 00:03:40,719 out and waved at me. I'm okay, thank you, I 58 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:44,400 called out, trying to get them to leave before even approaching, 59 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:49,439 especially after realizing this was all really sketchy, but the 60 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:53,439 man kept walking toward me. Once he got maybe ten 61 00:03:53,479 --> 00:03:57,599 feet away, I could see him more clearly. He was older, 62 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:01,919 with long gray and black hair in a bushy, untamed beard. 63 00:04:02,759 --> 00:04:06,199 He wore basic clothes jeans and a hoodie, but they 64 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:11,039 were covered in stains and grime. He came up next 65 00:04:11,039 --> 00:04:13,400 to my car and asked if he could help me out, 66 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:18,399 showing a large smile. I said again that I was okay, 67 00:04:18,959 --> 00:04:22,639 but he only laughed, looking at my tire and back 68 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:27,480 at me. A few seconds of awkward silence passed as 69 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:31,040 the man held a smile before I lied and said 70 00:04:31,079 --> 00:04:33,040 I had a friend on his way to pick me up. 71 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:38,720 Now having rejected his help three times, the man's smile 72 00:04:39,079 --> 00:04:43,879 gradually fell into a straight face. He turned his body 73 00:04:43,879 --> 00:04:48,519 toward the car and very unnaturally looked around. This is 74 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:51,759 when I got the immediate rush through my body to 75 00:04:51,839 --> 00:04:55,079 get away from this man, and I only had one 76 00:04:55,120 --> 00:05:00,240 option to do so. I bolted off the road into 77 00:05:00,319 --> 00:05:03,519 the tree line, hearing the man follow me into the 78 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:08,480 pitch black woods. It only lasted for a few seconds 79 00:05:08,759 --> 00:05:12,959 before I lost him. After that, I didn't go very 80 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:15,680 far at all, still able to see the headlights on 81 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:18,399 the road, and I could make out the man's figure 82 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:23,279 moving around by the cars. A few minutes later, he 83 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:27,360 got in his car and left. By now, I'd had 84 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:30,000 enough time to pretty much figure out that this was 85 00:05:30,079 --> 00:05:33,480 all a setup from the Uber Eats order. Having been 86 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:38,680 followed from the gas station where he likely slashed my tire, However, 87 00:05:38,959 --> 00:05:42,120 I didn't think it would be so easy to catch him. 88 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:46,439 His full name and everything on the app turned out 89 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:49,720 to be real. I guess he didn't think that we 90 00:05:49,759 --> 00:05:51,959 would have tied it all back to the Uber Eats order. 91 00:05:53,319 --> 00:05:57,399 That being said, the punishment wasn't very harsh because he 92 00:05:57,480 --> 00:06:01,000 didn't harm me. He only stole some thing my car. 93 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:04,720 Though I'm sure that if I had stayed there on 94 00:06:04,759 --> 00:06:08,120 the road, I might not even be here to share 95 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:21,800 this story. I had some spare time this night, and 96 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:24,959 having chugged a few coffees earlier in the day, I 97 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:27,519 figured I'd use this energy to go out and make 98 00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:31,240 some money. I was delivering for door Dash, cruising on 99 00:06:31,279 --> 00:06:34,959 the highway to my next delivery. It was super late, 100 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:39,040 the roads were empty, and the night was very peaceful, 101 00:06:39,519 --> 00:06:44,839 basically every delivery driver's dream. On my way there, though, 102 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:50,759 my phone started buzzing. It was the customer calling me, 103 00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:53,639 but before I had a chance to answer it, they 104 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:57,600 hung up. Since it only rang for a couple seconds, 105 00:06:57,879 --> 00:07:00,680 I thought it must have been an accident, but in 106 00:07:00,759 --> 00:07:06,279 case not, I redialed their number. It rang for a while, 107 00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:10,240 but they didn't answer. I shook my head and blew 108 00:07:10,279 --> 00:07:12,560 it off, not thinking about it for the rest of 109 00:07:12,600 --> 00:07:17,360 the drive. I got off the highway and drove into 110 00:07:17,399 --> 00:07:22,000 the neighborhood. It was a very regular street with average houses. 111 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:24,959 When I got up to the house my delivery was for, 112 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:28,319 I parked right in the driveway and started walking up 113 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:31,639 to their porch. As I was setting down the bag, 114 00:07:31,839 --> 00:07:35,600 I saw that the front door was cracked open. I 115 00:07:35,639 --> 00:07:37,600 didn't know if it was meant for me or not, 116 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:40,560 so I just lightly knocked on the door and called 117 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:43,959 out that I was dropping off their food. As soon 118 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:47,879 as I did, I heard a somewhat disturbing sound come 119 00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:52,480 from down the hallway. It was a muffled thump that 120 00:07:52,639 --> 00:07:56,680 almost mimicked my knocking, like someone was banging on a door. 121 00:07:57,959 --> 00:08:01,040 A bit shaken, I opened the front door wider and 122 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:04,279 called out again. I wasn't sure what to say, so 123 00:08:04,360 --> 00:08:07,199 I just repeated myself that I was delivering their food. 124 00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:11,959 A few quiet moments went by. Then I heard a 125 00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:14,839 door open from the back of the house and a 126 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:19,959 guy came around the corner. He looked distressed and bothered, 127 00:08:20,439 --> 00:08:22,360 but I couldn't tell if it was because of me 128 00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:27,519 or something else. The guy walked down the hall and 129 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:30,240 right up to the doorway I was in not saying 130 00:08:30,279 --> 00:08:32,600 a word as he started to reach for the bag. 131 00:08:33,279 --> 00:08:36,279 But that's when I heard those thumps again from down 132 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:41,600 the hallway. I looked past him in confusion as he 133 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:45,200 turned and looked as well, then quickly turned back and 134 00:08:45,279 --> 00:08:50,120 looked at me, recognizing that I heard it too. Is 135 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:56,080 everything okay? I asked carefully. The sound echoed through the 136 00:08:56,159 --> 00:08:59,080 walls again, as the man just kind of stared at 137 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:01,320 me as if we were trying to think of what 138 00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:06,240 to do. Why don't you bring the food inside for me, 139 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:12,960 he said, almost in a demanding tone. Nervously, I picked 140 00:09:13,039 --> 00:09:16,080 up the bag, but quickly realized how terrible of an 141 00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:20,080 idea this was. I felt threatened like I had to 142 00:09:20,159 --> 00:09:23,159 follow him, but I also had a feeling that if 143 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:25,840 I did, I wouldn't be making it out of there. 144 00:09:27,639 --> 00:09:31,919 In my hesitation, the guy's face showed he was even 145 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:37,480 more bothered angry even He then reached out and grabbed 146 00:09:37,480 --> 00:09:40,919 the food right from my hands, then slammed the door 147 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:46,080 in my face. Stunned, I stood there and listened as 148 00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:50,080 his footsteps went down the hallway and the thumping stopped. 149 00:09:51,519 --> 00:09:54,080 I couldn't do anything else at this point, so I 150 00:09:54,159 --> 00:10:00,919 hurried off the porch and got my car. I ended 151 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:04,120 my door dash after that one, and ended up reporting 152 00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:08,399 the really disturbing scenario to the police. I think what 153 00:10:08,519 --> 00:10:10,919 ended up making me report it was that the man 154 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:13,720 tried to get me to go inside his house. If 155 00:10:13,759 --> 00:10:16,159 not for that, I may have not felt there was 156 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:21,320 enough evidence to get me to do anything. Unfortunately, though, 157 00:10:21,679 --> 00:10:25,120 police informed me hours later that the man declined that 158 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:28,840 anyone else was there and declined their request to search 159 00:10:28,879 --> 00:10:33,120 his home. At that point, there was nothing left to 160 00:10:33,159 --> 00:10:37,440 do other than speculate. I believe there was something truly 161 00:10:37,519 --> 00:10:40,679 horrible going on, and he was possibly ready to do 162 00:10:40,840 --> 00:10:43,759 the same to me, but I don't think we'll ever 163 00:10:43,919 --> 00:11:01,120 know for sure. I used to deliver Chinese food for 164 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:05,120 a local restaurant. I was just a teenager in high 165 00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:08,000 school at the time, and whatever job I got wasn't 166 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:09,720 going to be for more than a year or two. 167 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:14,480 I'd say this job was fairly typical to most first 168 00:11:14,559 --> 00:11:18,440 jobs or retail and food service jobs, because it had 169 00:11:18,519 --> 00:11:21,919 some slow and boring days and some busy and stressful 170 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:26,039 days as the delivery driver. Though I was always thankful 171 00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:28,120 to not have to be working in the store and 172 00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:33,480 dealing with mobs of customers. On this night, I started 173 00:11:33,519 --> 00:11:36,759 at six pm. It was a Friday, so I was 174 00:11:36,799 --> 00:11:40,120 working a late six to twelve shift. As soon as 175 00:11:40,159 --> 00:11:43,559 I clocked in, I was delivering orders non stop for 176 00:11:43,600 --> 00:11:46,399 the next two hours, with no time to breathe in 177 00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:51,559 between them. At eight, orders were slowing a bit, but 178 00:11:51,639 --> 00:11:53,919 I still had a few more to deliver before I 179 00:11:53,960 --> 00:11:57,240 could take my lunch, so I grabbed the three orders 180 00:11:57,320 --> 00:12:01,000 and set out to get them done before nine. The 181 00:12:01,039 --> 00:12:04,440 first one was close, but the next two were further out. 182 00:12:05,399 --> 00:12:09,000 This isn't uncommon, as our town isn't all packed together. 183 00:12:10,559 --> 00:12:12,759 I got to the second house and dropped it off, 184 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:16,360 then headed out to the final stop. It was ten 185 00:12:16,399 --> 00:12:18,960 minutes from where I was, and the tag said it 186 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:23,320 wasn't paid for yet. All I was thinking about during 187 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:27,279 this drive was the break i'd get afterward. Going back 188 00:12:27,320 --> 00:12:30,879 and forth for three hours straight tired me out more 189 00:12:30,919 --> 00:12:35,200 than usual this night. I pulled into the neighborhood and 190 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:38,679 followed the GPS until I got to a back portion, 191 00:12:39,039 --> 00:12:44,600 where the whole atmosphere quickly changed. I turned down a 192 00:12:44,639 --> 00:12:49,519 thin road of cracked pavement and potholes with barely visible 193 00:12:49,600 --> 00:12:53,440 small houses on the side, covered by the thick bushes 194 00:12:53,480 --> 00:12:58,240 and unkempt lawns. When the GPS told me i'd arrived, 195 00:12:58,519 --> 00:13:02,919 I stopped the car but didn't see a house. I 196 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:06,440 turned my brights on, and ever so faintly, I could 197 00:13:06,480 --> 00:13:09,679 see the outline of a small house, pretty far from 198 00:13:09,720 --> 00:13:12,879 the road I was on. I then looked at the 199 00:13:12,919 --> 00:13:16,480 grass leading up to it and realized there was actually 200 00:13:16,559 --> 00:13:21,399 a driveway. It was just engulfed in vines and tall grass. 201 00:13:22,039 --> 00:13:24,159 I would never have seen it if I hadn't seen 202 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:29,000 the house first. Knowing I would be unable to even 203 00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:31,679 drive on it, I put the car in park and 204 00:13:31,759 --> 00:13:34,799 got out with the bag, then began to walk through 205 00:13:34,919 --> 00:13:39,879 the overgrown driveway. I couldn't believe how awful it was 206 00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:43,440 to walk through, and I couldn't imagine anyone letting their 207 00:13:43,519 --> 00:13:48,360 driveway get to this point. Getting closer, though, I could 208 00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:52,279 see more of the house. It was very small, kind 209 00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:54,679 of like a trailer home, and looked to be in 210 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:58,919 a matching condition to the driveway, vines growing over the 211 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:04,639 windows and bushes covering every inch of the nearly decaying house. 212 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:08,360 As I made my way up to the front door, 213 00:14:08,759 --> 00:14:12,000 I knew something was wrong. I knew it in my 214 00:14:12,120 --> 00:14:15,039 gut and in my head. But I was just some 215 00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:18,159 kid with the first job that was scared to lose it. 216 00:14:18,519 --> 00:14:20,960 So I felt like I had to do my job, 217 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:25,600 which was to deliver the order to this address. I 218 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:29,559 pushed all my bad feelings aside and knocked on the door. 219 00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:35,480 Right away, I heard footsteps coming up to the door. 220 00:14:36,679 --> 00:14:41,200 It opened, revealing a young lady behind it. At first, 221 00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:44,679 in the dim lighting, she looked very normal, and I 222 00:14:44,799 --> 00:14:48,320 felt a huge relief, But it only took a few 223 00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:52,759 more seconds to realize that her normal look was eerily 224 00:14:52,879 --> 00:14:57,360 out of place. With the house in this condition, there 225 00:14:57,480 --> 00:15:00,200 was no way she could be so well dressed and 226 00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:05,159 taken care of. As these thoughts scrambled through my head, 227 00:15:05,519 --> 00:15:08,919 she opened the screen door and said, in a creepily 228 00:15:09,039 --> 00:15:13,799 calm tone, come in. Everything hid me in that moment, 229 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:17,279 as I stumbled back a few steps and decided that 230 00:15:17,320 --> 00:15:21,799 I needed to leave right away. I turned around, and 231 00:15:21,960 --> 00:15:25,360 only a second after beginning to leave, I heard a 232 00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:29,039 thud from the side of the house. I looked over, 233 00:15:29,519 --> 00:15:33,080 seeing two men running out from behind the house and 234 00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:38,200 sprinting through the bushes toward me. I dropped everything and 235 00:15:38,279 --> 00:15:41,840 started running. I did everything I could to get through 236 00:15:41,879 --> 00:15:44,919 the thick grass and vines, but just as I reached 237 00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:47,919 the end of the driveway, I stumbled to the ground, 238 00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:53,799 tripping over something. I hurried up, hearing their footsteps closing 239 00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:57,279 the distance on me. I couldn't even get myself to 240 00:15:57,360 --> 00:16:01,519 look back as I ran straight into my car, turning 241 00:16:01,559 --> 00:16:05,399 it on. The men immediately stopped and ran back to 242 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:10,279 where they came from. With my whole body still shaking 243 00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:14,159 from the adrenaline, I turned the car around and drove away. 244 00:16:16,200 --> 00:16:19,000 Of course, I let my boss know what happened, and 245 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:21,559 he urged me to call the police and report it. 246 00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:25,080 I was really relieved to know he didn't care about 247 00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:28,879 the order and only for my safety, which looking back 248 00:16:28,919 --> 00:16:31,159 on it, it would have been horrible if there were 249 00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:36,159 any other way. Police interviewed me and my boss and 250 00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:40,279 did a whole investigation, ultimately unable to find any of 251 00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:44,360 the people. The property I was on, though, was actually 252 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:47,919 state owned, and the trespassing sign at the beginning of 253 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:50,440 the road had been dug up and thrown into the 254 00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:56,240 tall grass. Their intentions are unknown, but it seems like 255 00:16:56,320 --> 00:17:01,279 the most obvious possibility is likely the answer. I just 256 00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:04,000 hope nobody else has to go through what I did, 257 00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:07,559 or if they do, I hope they can be as 258 00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:30,200 lucky as I was to get away.