Imagine this: You just bought a house and just moved in the day before. You’ve set up a little office in the sunroom. The next day, you wake up, grab your coffee, and get ready to work just to discover that the entire desk area has been meddled with. Your laptop screen is broken, things are moved around,… and it is no big deal, you discovered a rug BURIED in your garden. You jokingly make a TikTok, which quickly gains the attention of MILLIONS. People are invested, and now you’re responsible for solving the mystery buried in your backyard.
While this sounds like an amazing thriller you could read, it’s actually the story of Katie Santry, now known as the “Rug Lady,” whose life forever changed the second she moved into her house.
In this blog, we will break down the events that unfolded day by day.
September 29: Guys, I think my house is haunted
On September 29, 2024, Katie’s life took an unexpected turn when she posted a TikTok that would soon go viral. Sitting at her desk in the sunroom, she captioned the video, “I think my house is haunted!!!!” and proceeded to share a series of pretty bizarre events. That morning, she returned to find her office in disarray – her computer screen was broken, and some items on her desk were mysteriously moved around. And you know the craziest part? While building a fence in the backyard, they had found part of a rolled-up carpet buried underground, with a “blood good” tree planted directly above it.
The internet quickly came up with their theories. @Talking_Peter tried to be a bit more reasonable: “Bloodgood, or Japanese Maple, thrive in moist soil. It is possible they used an old rug or carpeting as a way to keep moisture near the roots.” However, others saw a more sinister angle. While @CaraCulture immediately shared a disturbing anecdote: “A friend was having her backyard landscaped. Part of it was the removal of an old lemon tree. Under the lemon tree was the remains of a woman who went missing over 30 years ago.” @MattMan kind of agreed, stating, “seems sinister to me. like someone planted a blood good tree. c’mon now. that’s a killers last laugh.”
Now, personally, as a Black person, this is where I would’ve left. The rug, the ghost, the blood tree. I’d have to return the house, move out and pretend it never happened.
September 30: I guess there’s nothing 🤷🏾♀️
During an update from Katie, TikTok users started speculating about the potential murder. The comment section exploded with theories, ranging from the paranormal to the criminal. @Mary-ann exclaimed, “The ghost wants this cold case to be solved. Dig it up!” while @heather-ren13 theorized, “My theory is there is a ghost but it’s not mad at you, it’s just trying to get your attention since you are digging where it’s body is.”
Upon the internet’s recommendation, Katie called the police. However, after the police came to her house, they decided not to take action. She updated her followers: “At first, I really thought this was about to get insane, but after he called his boss, they decided they could not put resources into something unknown. So there we have it. The story ends, and whatever is in that rug will stay there. Now, back to our regular scheduled programming.🙃”
October 1, 2024: Actually nvm let’s do this thing ourselves
It’s October 1, and at this point, people are too invested to let it go. Viewers were offering excavation assistance. Even Katie caught up in the mystery, started exploring unconventional investigation methods, including taking up the offer of a psychic and asking people if they had ground-penetrating radar.
October 2: Since I can’t physically dig let’s dig into the past
Katie decided it would be best to dig (pun totally intended) into the house’s history. This house was built way back in 1967 and had been a one-family show until Katie moved in. After finding out that information, Katie decided to call the realtor who sold the house, who happens to be her best friend. The realtor decides to ask her best friend a few questions about possible pets they might’ve buried in the backyard. The plot thickens when we learn that the daughter claims to know nothing about the mysterious rug. And get this – they apparently CREAMATED ALL OF THEIR PETS!
Quickly interjecting here. Let’s say they did bury the pet in the backyard why roll him up in a rug? If the rug did get stained, why not just throw it away like normal people do? Why do we need to BURY IT IN THE BACKYARD?
Not only is the realtor invested, but millions of TikTok users are also involved, as is the daughter. So she decides to drive down to the nursing home where her 90+-year-old parents live and question them herself. I can already imagine how productive that will be. (Spoiler alert: we got nothing 🙄.)
One TikTok user, @SAHM.Chronicles, couldn’t help but throw in a joke at the situation: “Lol the parents were so close to taking this to the grave 😭🤣”
Meanwhile, Katie’s got two friends ready to start digging. Friends who dig together stay together, right? I mean, there’s a whole show about it.
October 3: On Wednesdays, we dig
October 3 Katie got a call from the police department, informing her that detectives and cadaver dogs were on their way. One user, @dontlookatme513, joked, “One of those detectives’ wives are invested and harassed her husband to get it done lol.” The entire internet was holding its breath, with one user commenting, “If the dogs do note something, it’s gonna be crazy.”
In a shocking turn of events, Katie updated her followers: “This is not what I thought was going to happen. Both dogs sat at the hole. Very quickly, the police were here to caution the house off, and news stations were waiting. This is insane. I will get a better video together soon.” What started off as a joke had suddenly become a national talking point, with police tape and news vans transforming Katie’s backyard into a crime scene straight out of a TV show.
The internet, predictably, went wild. @katherine_bryant_author speculated, “The last place Brian Shaffer’s phone pinged was in Hilliard. Can you imagine if she just solved that case. 😭” Meanwhile, @thedivinechoas chimed in with, “Girrrllll! I have a feeling this is gonna solve a cold case or something.”
As the day drew to a close, Katie found herself in a surreal situation. Crime scene investigators were scheduled to dig the next day, and she was left wondering if she needed a lawyer. In her final update for the day, she captioned it with a mix of fear and hope: “After the dog sat until everything was taped off. And now we wait until forensics is here tomorrow. I’m still really hoping maybe someone just had a bloody nose on a rug, and buried it.” The Rug Lady saga had just went from worse to worser.
October 4: The big reveal
The big day arrived on October 4, with ABC 6 providing live coverage of the excavation. Katie felt a mix of emotions, sharing with her followers, “I feel weird with all these people watching. There’s still a good chance there’s no body, but I don’t want to go live during the dig because it feels disrespectful.” As the police cordoned off the area and prepared to dig, viewers across the country tuned in, expecting a grim discovery.
The tension was palpable, with TikTok user Angie Hughes exclaiming, “ABC 6 is live there now!! I’m watching that hoping you’ll go live!!” However, in a surprising twist, Katie soon updated her followers with the caption: “THERE IS NO BODY!!!👏🏼🙏🏼🙌🏼 But i still want to know, WHO BROKE MY LAPTOP?!?”
The mystery deepened as theories flooded in. Amy suggested, “theory – the rug is evidence and the body is somewhere else,” while mcb joked, “those two cadaver dogs in their next performance review like 👁️👄👁️”. Nancy offered a more detailed theory: “My THEORY: The person was killed on the rug, they kept the body in the rug while they figured out what to do. They buried the rug bc its evidence, body is somewhere else. Its why the dogs marked.”
As the dust settled, Katie was left puzzled about how the two dogs had marked the spot when no body was found. The Rug Lady mystery continued to captivate the internet, leaving more questions than answers and proving once again the power of social media in turning a local curiosity into a national talking point.
October 12: So what’s next
Over a week later, Katie addressed hoax accusations, defending the authenticity of her experience. Adding to the discourse, @_Mommy.bod, whose father is a retired detective, chimed in with some expert insight into the case’s handling. She explained that unless a crime was committed, the police wouldn’t have taken the rug. However, if there were suspicious stains, they would have analyzed it. She also noted that if blood was found, the police would return, but such analysis could take months unless there was an active murder case. This expert commentary provided a fascinating glimpse into the complexities of real-world criminal investigations, further fueling the internet’s obsession with the Rug Lady mystery.
So what did we learn besties?
Just move out! On a serious note, it’s crazy how it took this story going viral for the police department to even investigate. While Katie was lucky they didn’t find a body, imagine how many calls get swept under the rug. I think we need to give more attention to cases regardless of whether they go viral or not. What do you think? Do you think there will be more to this story, or is this the end of it?
