What began as a routine renovation quickly turned into a startling discovery for real estate broker Nikki Snyder.
While pulling up carpet in her first rental property, Snyder uncovered what looked like a dark handprint on the hardwood floor.
“The property was my first rental property I purchased a few years ago. We had a tenant move out who destroyed the carpet so we had to replace the flooring,” Snyder told Newsweek.
Before purchasing, the home had been flipped, with fresh carpeting laid down. But old listing photos revealed hardwood floors beneath a large area rug in the living room, which raised suspicions.
The Story Behind the Stain
When the property needed an overhaul between tenants, Snyder pulled up the carpet, and underneath was the outline of a human hand, permanently on the floorboard.
“I contacted the agent who’d handled the sale previously, and he let me know that there had been an ‘unattended death’ on the property in the middle of the summer with no air conditioning,” Snyder said. “He said there would likely be a significant body print underneath the carpet.”
What they found under the carpet was even more surprising. It appeared that the main portion of the damaged floor had been removed, leaving just the handprint.
“They had cut most of the body print out … But left what appears to be the arm and handprint. It definitely wasn’t done professionally and my reaction was actually amusement because they had cut corners—literally,” Snyder said.
Snyder, who often shares her real estate experiences online, posted a video of the haunting stain. The clip quickly drew attention, sparking fascination and discomfort among viewers.
Viral Reaction
With 3.4 million views, the video on TikTok prompted plenty of comments.
“Oh so this house is haunted,” said one commenter. While another wrote: “I couldn’t live in that house omg.”
“As a flooring guy, thanks for the new fear,” said another commenter.
Other commenters were shocked by the reality of the aftermath of the death, and couldn’t believe the imprint was still there.
“The reaction it got was a little surprising,” she said. “It made me realize that people tend to have a romanticized view of death, or they avoid the subject altogether. Unattended deaths in homes don’t get talked about often, let alone shown on video.”
Between 2000 and 2018, the share of deaths occurring at home rose from 22.7 percent to 31.4 percent of all deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While there is no official numbers on the amount of unattended home deaths, stories of unreported deaths in the home are common.
From people discovered after swarms of flies are spotted inside a home to heartbreaking stories of pets found waiting with deceased owners, while unsettling, Snyder said that such occurrences are not as rare as many might believe.
“They are really common, and I’m afraid they will become more common,” she said. “In this age of technology and social media, people are less connected than they were 20 years ago.”
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