Top Worst Cases of Phrogging to Make Your Skin Crawl 

Have you ever felt like something just isn’t right in your home? Maybe you hear strange noises, or things aren’t where you left them. Most of us brush it off, but what if someone was secretly living in your house?

This terrifying reality is called phrogging, and it’s more common than you think. The stories below aren’t just creepy — they’ll make you question how alone you are. 

The Chilling Case of Daniel LaPlante

This is one of the most disturbing and well-known phrogging cases in American history. What started as a teenage obsession quickly turned into a nightmare that left an entire town shaken.

Inside the Walls: A Teenage Obsession Turns Deadly 

Image and Info Source: 7 Disturbing True Stories Of Phrogging

In 1986, 17-year-old Daniel LaPlante became obsessed with a girl named Tina Bowen, who lived in the same Massachusetts town. They had gone on a date or two, but Tina didn’t want to continue seeing him. 

Unfortunately, Daniel didn’t take rejection well. Instead of moving on, he broke into her family’s home and hid inside a small crawl space behind the bathroom wall.

At first, strange things started happening around the house. Items were moved, televisions turned on by themselves, and food went missing from the fridge. Tina and her family even started hearing odd noises at night. 

Things got even weirder when messages appeared on the walls, written in ketchup and other condiments. The family thought they were being haunted—Tina believed it might be the spirit of her deceased mother.

But the truth was much scarier.

One night, Tina and her father came home and found something they could never forget. Inside a closet stood LaPlante, dressed in a strange outfit—his face was painted, and he wore a ninja mask, a Native American-style jacket, and held a hatchet in his hand. 

He tried to hold them hostage, but Tina escaped and called the police. When officers searched the house, they found a hidden tunnel behind the wall and learned that LaPlante had been living inside their home for weeks, watching and tormenting them.

You’d think that would be the end of it. But the worst was still to come.

While out on bail just months later, LaPlante broke into the home of the Gustafson family in a nearby town. He planned to steal from them, but when the mother, Priscilla Gustafson, and her two children came home early, he didn’t run. 

Instead, he forced Priscilla into a bedroom, tied her up, gagged her, and shot her twice in the head. Then he drowned her five-year-old son in the bathroom. When her seven-year-old daughter came home, he drowned her too.

Daniel LaPlante was arrested after a massive manhunt and later sentenced to life in prison for the brutal murders.

The Attic Intruder in Oklahoma

Sometimes, the scariest things aren’t what you imagine—they’re far worse. That’s exactly what one Oklahoma homeowner discovered when he followed the sounds coming from above his ceiling.

When You Think It’s Squirrels, But It’s a Stranger 

Image and Info Source: Ten Creepy Phrogging Incidents Faced by Homeowners

In February 2020, a man living in Oklahoma City started hearing strange noises coming from his attic. At first, he assumed it was just squirrels or some other small animal causing the ruckus. Days went by, and the sounds didn’t stop. Concerned that the animals might damage his home, he finally decided to check it out himself.

But when he climbed up into the attic, he didn’t find rodents. He found a grown man lying on an old mattress, surrounded by a few personal items. The man had been secretly living up there, completely unnoticed.

The homeowner, stunned and terrified, managed to keep his cool. He held the intruder at gunpoint and called the police. Officers quickly arrived and arrested the man, who had used an outdoor staircase to quietly sneak into the attic. Once inside, he had settled in, apparently planning to stay there for a while.

It’s unclear how long he had been living there, but if not for the strange creaks and thumps, the homeowner might never have known. This real-life phrogging story is a chilling reminder of how easily someone can invade your personal space without you realizing it.

Unlike the Daniel LaPlante case, this intruder didn’t harm anyone, but the thought of a stranger secretly living just feet above your head is disturbing enough on its own. It shows that phrogging doesn’t always involve violence, but it always involves violation of privacy, of safety, and of peace of mind. 

The Woman Living in a Man’s Closet in Japan

Not all phrogging cases involve violence, but that doesn’t make them any less disturbing. This bizarre case from Japan proves just how far someone can go to secretly share your space without you knowing.

A Hidden Life in Plain Sight 

Image Source: Facebook

In 2008, a man living alone in Fukuoka, Japan, began to notice something strange. Food from his fridge kept disappearing. At first, he thought he was just forgetting things or maybe even losing his mind. But the missing food became more frequent, and soon, he knew something wasn’t right.

Instead of calling the police immediately, the man decided to set up security cameras around his home. What he saw on the footage shocked him to his core. A woman he had never seen before was casually walking around his home while he was away. She opened his fridge, helped herself to food, and even took naps on his mattress.

Police arrived and searched the home. Eventually, they discovered the woman hiding inside a small storage area at the top of a closet. She had managed to create a makeshift space for herself, complete with a mattress and water bottles. Authorities believed she had been living there unnoticed for nearly a year.

She told police that she had nowhere else to go and didn’t want to hurt anyone. But even without violence, the story was deeply unsettling. The idea that someone could quietly move into your home and live alongside you, without your knowledge, is every homeowner’s worst nightmare.

This case gained international attention and gave many people a chilling reason to check their closets, crawlspaces, and attic storage areas a little more closely. It also brought more awareness to phrogging as a real and surprisingly common danger, not just a weird urban myth. 

Conclusion 

These above real-life phrogging stories prove that it’s real and can happen anywhere. What these stories make clear is the importance of trusting your gut when something feels off — unusual sounds, missing food, or even a sense that you’re being watched. 

They also show the need for practical safety measures, like regularly checking unused spaces, securing entry points, and staying alert to small changes in your environment.

FAQs 

What is phrogging in a house?

Phrogging is when someone secretly lives inside another person’s home without them knowing. It could be in the attic, basement, crawlspace, or even a closet. The name comes from the idea of “leapfrogging” from one hidden spot to another, like a frog hopping around.

How common is phrogging?

Phrogging isn’t something you hear about every day, but it does happen. While rare, there are many real cases where people have been found secretly living inside someone else’s house, sometimes for weeks or even months before being discovered.

What does frogging mean in knitting?

In knitting and crocheting, “frogging” means undoing your work. The term comes from the sound “rip-it, rip-it,” like a frog’s croak, because you’re ripping out the stitches. If you go back one stitch at a time, it’s called “tinking,” which is “knit” spelled backward.

What weather is best for frog fishing?

Frog fishing works best during the summer. The warm weather brings fish closer to the surface, especially around plants and shady spots. That’s when they’re more likely to strike at topwater lures like frog baits.