She had no idea what was producing the mysterious red light. But something suddenly clicked in her brain, and she realized what it was. Her heart rate picked up when it dawned on her.
She shouted her husband’s name, and he soon rushed up the stairs. His face turned red with anger when she showed him the light. He pulled out his computer to find answers, but he was way over his head. They called the police for help because there was more to the disappearance than they had initially thought.
Seven Months Ago
It became increasingly more difficult for Sarah Boes to enter her daughter’s room again and again. She had been avoiding it, but she needed to clean it. She had no idea that it would tip her world on its side again.
She missed her daughter, Jessica. She had left the house one evening and hadn’t returned for seven months. The family’s hearts were broken, but Sarah struggled most to move forward.
Missing Items
Sarah told the police that she and Jessica had fought the week before her disappearance. They immediately concluded that she had run away, but it didn’t make sense to Sarah.
No signs indicated that she had broken out and everything in her room seemed in order. The only items they had been unable to locate were her phone and bag. They suspected she had taken them with her when she planned to leave. They had no idea how wrong they were.
She Would Never Do That
Sarah started losing hope when the search party was unable to find anything. There had to be something else law enforcement could do, but she needed to find a way to prove that her daughter hadn’t run away. She knew her daughter well enough that a fight wouldn’t make her do something like that.
She had to start thinking about every possibility, including that her daughter may be missing forever. She had been avoiding it for months, but the time had come to face it.
A Reminder
She couldn’t help but cry as she entered her daughter’s room. The last time was when she had accompanied the police who searched the room. Her daughter kept her room tidy, but the mess she saw before her reminded her that she was gone.
Things started as she expected when she entered the room. She eventually managed to dry her tears, but things only got worse from there.
The Mirror
After a few minutes of cleaning, she noticed something strange about the mirror. As she got closer, she realized that a red light was coming from the left handle. Could it have been something from the reflection? But she soon got her answer.
The light was a mystery to her. She stared at it for a while as questions filled her mind. Then it suddenly snapped in her mind, and she knew what it was.
Recording
She looked at the camera with a confused expression. She wondered if her daughter had placed it there but dismissed the idea when she saw the camera was still recording. It had been hidden in a secret spot for a reason.
Sarah shouted her husband’s name before pulling the camera toward her. He husband rushed to the room, worry on his face. He saw she was holding something, but neither of them was prepared for what was next.
Research
He was angry that it had been hidden there for so long and wondered what trouble his daughter had gotten herself into. He snatched the camera from Sarah’s hands before rushing to his computer. He tried researching the make and model of the camera, doing everything possible to find if it was connected to any other device.
He eventually struck luck when he learned that they could track down the device. But it would take professional help to do so.
Evidence
They immediately contacted the police and were told the FBI would be involved. This is what Sarah had been looking for. She was relieved that she had proven there was more to this case than they had thought.
They didn’t get any feedback about the investigation for a few days, and their nerves were shot. They were eager to hear what they had found, but when they were finally contacted, they couldn’t believe the news.
A House Nearby
The Boes were informed that the device had been located and connected to a nearby house. It wasn’t long before they realized it was Matt’s house, one of Jessica’s friends.
The police asked Sarah and her husband to wait for them to arrive before they made any confrontation, but they could do no such thing. They ran to the house but soon realized they should have listened to the cops.
The Police Arrive
There was no getting past the locked door. Sarah had found a rock and was caught mid-throw when the police arrived. They made quick work of the door and entered the house, instructing Sarah and her husband to stay outside.
The next few minutes felt like agony. They were startled when a body came running through the door. It was Jessica who stumbled into her parents.
Telling Her Parents Everything
Jessica cried as she spoke, telling her parents how angry she was when she found the camera. She had stormed over to confront her friend and asked him why he had planted it there. He had panicked when she said she was going to call the police.
He didn’t want anyone to find out what he’d done, and the only way to keep her from spilling the truth was to lock her up in one of the ensuite bathrooms. She had spent the last seven months locked away.
No Contact
He never hurt her and ensured she was fed. He didn’t want anyone to know where she was, so he took her phone and replaced it with a TV.
She cried harder as she hugged her parents close. “I’m sorry for making you worry,” she sobbed. Sarah was still wrapping her head around the events, thinking her family had fallen into a Netflix documentary.
Still Searching For Answers
She cried tears of joy as she held her daughter in her arms. But numerous questions still plagued her mind. If she had found the camera in the bathroom, how could the police have missed it?
How had her daughter been hidden in the house without her friend's parents noticing? She still needed answers despite how happy she was to have her daughter back.
What They Learned
They soon learned that the device was used to control the camera and that the light only switched on when it was recording. It hadn’t been recording when the police were there, so they hadn’t noticed the red light.
They discovered that Mark had been left alone in the house when his parents moved to another state a year ago. Sarah was grateful that she had been in Jessica’s room that day when Mark turned the camera back on. But what happened to Mark?