A New Jersey postal worker who discovered a disturbing message on a home during his route Friday believes the reclusive family inside may have left it specifically for him.
Don Clements told the New York Post that he was making his usual rounds in Mount Holly when he saw a sign taped to the door of a run-down house. It read “9-1-1 Inside” and featured crude drawings of two frowning faces with X’s over their eyes.
“I thought it was weird, because the only person who would have been able to see that sign would have been me, ’cause I’m the only one who goes to that house every day,” he said.
“And nobody else can see that sign from outside.”
Clements also noticed that the home’s mailbox had been wrapped shut with clear tape—the same kind of tape used to secure the ominous message to the door.
“The only person who goes up to the door is the mail carrier,” Clements said.
“It’s weird. The whole situation was weird. I definitely don’t want it to happen again.”
Clements called 911. When officers arrived, they found blood inside the property and discovered the bodies of three “elderly individuals,” whose identities have not been released.
A postal worker found a note reading “911 inside,” along with drawings of two frowning faces with X’s over their eyes, beside the mailbox near the front door
A neighbor said two brothers and their sister lived in the house
Neighbors said the property was home to a family of siblings. Clements estimated that three or four people lived in the deteriorating house, which had peeling paint and rotting window frames.
An unidentified neighbor also told the Post that four brothers and sisters lived there and largely kept to themselves.
“I mean, we’ve been here 50-some years. They were here before us, but pretty much stayed by themselves,” she said.
“I do know that one sister was a crossing guard for years. My kids knew her and everything like that. She worked parades and other events as a crossing guard here in town.”
“The other brother was like clockwork. He would always walk down to 7-Eleven around 2:30 or 3 and then walk back. I think he got lottery tickets and something to drink.”
Another neighbor, David Babcock, told NBC 10 that one of the brothers had worked at Boscov’s for 40 years.
“They were very nice. They didn’t bother anybody,” he said.
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However, the longtime neighbor who spoke with the Post said that, apart from the brother who walked to 7-Eleven each day, the residents would “barely leave their house” and did not drive.
David Babcock said he was not surprised that something bad had happened in the house, but never expected his neighbors to be found dead
Babcock said he was not surprised that something bad had happened at the property, although he never imagined his neighbors would be found dead.
“We thought the house would be condemned and they would send them to a group home,” Babcock said.
Neighbors described the area as a “quiet neighborhood.” The longtime resident said she heard no signs of violence before the grim discovery Friday.
She did, however, recall seeing something unusual when she walked past the neglected house on Tuesday.
“Tuesday is our trash day,” she said. “And I saw someone coming out of the house.”
“In all the years I’ve been here, I’ve never seen anybody come in or go out of the house [except for the man who walks to 7-Eleven each day].”
“But it was trash day. He had a bag in his hand, took it down to the curb and dropped it next to another container,” she recalled. “It was just a little bag. He put it down and walked away.”
She said the man was dressed “all in black” as he continued down the street.
The Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office said there is no threat to the public. Autopsies are pending.
The cause of death for the three people remains unknown.
Clements said the discovery had left him deeply shaken.
“That sign is so bizarre. It just felt weird… That’s not something that happens every day, you know,” he said.
“This is the first time I’ve ever, ever seen something like that.”
The Daily Mail has contacted the Mount Holly Police Department for comment.
