Her kids kept talking about a 'man in the sewer,' but mom didn't believe them. Then she heard a voice singing from underground
'Mom, I'm scared,' her daughter said over the phone.
When kids tell wild stories, parents usually laugh them off as vivid imagination. But one Baltimore County mother faced a chilling reality when her children kept warning her about a mysterious man staying in a culvert near the family's home. At first, she refused to believe their wild claims. Everything changed when she walked over to the storm drain herself and heard a mysterious voice singing from deep underground. The story was published on the YouTube channel WJZ on October 23, 2026, gaining over 36,200 views and 410 likes.
Whispers from the drain
The unsettling plot began unfolding when Unique Wiggins' children repeatedly complained about a stranger speaking to them from beneath the street. Wiggins dismissed the warnings at least four times, assuming it was harmless childhood fiction. The situation reached a breaking point when her 21-year-old daughter called her in a sudden panic. "Mom, I'm scared," her daughter urged over the phone. "The man told me I can't walk right here and to just dip." When Wiggins asked who was bothering her, her daughter repeated, "The man in the sewer."
Panic on the lane
Determined to get answers, Wiggins finally marched over to inspect the manhole drain near her house. As she leaned down toward the metal grate, her skepticism instantly vanished. A stranger was casually singing in the pitch-black void beneath the road. "I walk over to the little manhole sewer thing, and I hear somebody singing, and I think, 'This is unbelievable,'" Wiggins recalled. She yelled down into the drain to demand he leave her family alone. But a voice echoed back out of the darkness, "No, tell them to leave me alone!"
'He should not live in the sewer'
Wiggins said she contacted police after her children told her the man had spoken to them and, on some occasions, chased them down the street. Baltimore County Police later confirmed that the man had been arrested on a trespassing charge on October 13 and released on his own recognizance. Another peace order was served on October 22. Wiggins said officers told her that the sewer lines and culverts were public property, limiting what they could do at the time. She called on county officials to secure the area and post signs.
"He should not live in the sewer," Wiggins stated firmly. "I would like Baltimore County to make me feel like I am a member of this community." Baltimore County later told PEOPLE that a no-trespassing sign had been installed and that officials had attempted to connect the man with available services.
Homelessness in the U.S.
Unsheltered homelessness remains a significant issue across the United States, although authorities have not publicly detailed the man’s personal circumstances in this case. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR), 771,480 people experienced homelessness on a single night in 2024, an 18% increase from the previous year. Nearly one in five people experiencing homelessness was age 55 or older, and among adults in that age group, 46% were staying in unsheltered locations not meant for human habitation.
'I've seen this movie already'
Online viewers reacted with a mixture of dark humor and outrage over local law enforcement's lack of action. User @council4950 simply writes, "Pennywise is back." Expressing frustration at the broader systemic failure, user @DragonflyJones-d7t commented, "Allowing someone to live in the sewer just speaks volumes about our society."
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