People Who Have Cleared Out Homes After Occupant Has Died Reveal the Strangest Things They’ve Discovered

A house can be home to many of its occupant’s deepest secrets—some of which remain hidden until long after their death.

Some of those secrets offer an emotional glimpse into their life, while other more sinister oddities can reveal aspects of their personality that were kept carefully concealed throughout their lives.

Now, those who have cleared out the homes of recently deceased loved ones are lifting the lid on what it’s like to uncover those closely guarded mysteries—and how, exactly, they learned the kinds of fascinating or unsettling facts that can be discovered about someone in a living space. These revelations run the gamut from dark habits to unusual hobbies and heirlooms.

From a grandson who found a terrifying item in his late grandmother’s house to a woman who made a heartwarming discovery in her uncle’s house, there is no shortage of intriguing house clean-out tales in a Reddit thread dedicated to documenting the finds made in the homes of the deceased.

One of the most harrowing stories is that of a man who found the petrified remains of a cat tucked into a corner of his grandmother’s living room—a discovery that was made all the more scary by the fact that his relative had never actually owned a cat.

When one commenter named Maria was forced to clean out her uncle’s house, she discovered a stash of silver dollars he had collected over years of bartending. He had hidden them in a hole in the wall behind the refrigerator.

One grandchild on the thread found her grandparents’ love story written in letters.

“In cleaning out my grandparents’ home, I discovered a shoe box tied up with string in the attic. In it was a collection of love letters my grandfather wrote to my grandmother during his years in military service abroad,” they wrote. “They were beautiful – priceless statements of love and devotion.”

But not every discovery is heartwarming. One woman found a floor-to-ceiling wall filled with blood-stained underwear.

One woman who went to clean out her grandmother’s house found out about her hidden obsession with owls. She found figurines, paintings, stained-glass windows, and spoons adorned with the bird.

Sometimes, the job is left to strangers, people who clean abandoned and neglected homes for a living.

One man who makes his living this way writes that he once found a box with Nazi officer items.

In another home, he discovered the owner had been hoarding Beanie Babies and stuffing them in the walls.

Throughout his years of cleaning, he’s also found sex dungeons and other oddities that he’s had to toss into a giant dumpster.

And on a good day, he can find cash or jewelry. He once found a paper bag filled with $40,000 in cash sitting under a pile of junk mail. Another time, he found a diamond earring worth over $100,000 in a basement. He says he passes these types of treasures to the family.

Sometimes, the owner’s mental health had gotten in the way of caring for the home, with one person writing about a disgusting discovery.

“The worst was a guy’s booger room. Wall to wall and even the ceiling just covered with snot rockets. He was mentally challenged but it came as such a surprise because the rest of the house was pretty damn clean and the kitchen was spotless,” they wrote.

One commenter who cleaned out her grandmother’s house discovered her obsession with Snoopy, writing, “My sister and I cleaned out my grandma’s apartment after she died. She had an affection for Snoopy and Jesus. Every drawer, every shelf had at least one picture of each stashed away.”

Another found “well-organized junk” in her grandmother’s home, which was filled with history. She writes, “When my great grandmother died we found a newspaper from the Lincoln assassination. There was some scuttle about the legitimacy but it was cool as hell.

“Also found a personal letter from Ronald Reagan to my great grandma. There was a giant stack of every Life magazine ever printed. This along with an entire basement of a Victorian house filled floor to ceiling with well-organized junk.”

Among the weirdest items listed in the thread couldn’t even be explained. One found “100-plus boxes stacked floor to ceiling filled entirely with leather boots.”

“Hundreds of pairs of stinky, heavily worn, suspiciously residue-d boots,” they wrote.

Another found “a perfectly looking cake,” writing, it “had to be about 20 years old and looked like new. Never tasted it tho.”