I tend to avoid answering the door if I'm not expecting someone. I've been roped into too many monthly donations or harassed about getting my lawn fertilized by enough canvassers that it's just not worth it anymore.
I figure if someone really needs to get in touch with me, they'll be persistent at the door or give me a call.
But for a group of neighbors in the Sunrise Ranch area of Montgomery, Texas, they now have to wonder if answering their door a little sooner could have saved a woman's life. It sounds crazy, and it is.
A woman who lives in the neighborhood, who chose to remain anonymous, said that a woman had gone around ringing the doorbells of multiple people in the area, but by the time they answered their doors, she was gone.
At first, it sounds like a childhood game of "ding dong ditch" where you run away after ringing the doorbell, but security footage shows that it could be something much worse.
One of the neighbors had a system called Ring installed, which is a video doorbell and security system. Footage from their system shows a young woman dressed in only a t-shirt and what appears to be broken shackles ringing the doorbell.
I'd be lying if I said this footage doesn't give me chills. While it's unclear if the woman is in distress, it's hard to imagine that anyone in their right mind would be out in the middle of the night, wearing nothing. The fact that she hasn't turned herself in at all, and that police feel it's enough to launch an investigation, seems to imply the Sheriff's office believes this woman is in some kind of danger.
"I've got a 9-year-old daughter at home. It worries me what's going on in the neighborhood," one neighbor, Branson Golson, told Houston ABC station KTRK.
The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office released an official advisory on the incident.
"Numerous citizens in the state and outside have sent missing persons flyers suggesting the women in the video is a missing person from their area," the Sheriff's Office said. "Deputies and Detectives are reviewing these flyers for any similarities, but as of now none are believed to be the women in the video."
Police are asking that anyone with information on the mystery woman contact them at (936) 760-5800 and refer to case No. 18A243347 or direct inquires to mcsomedia@mctx.org.
[H/T: ABC]