No Body Found In Viral TikTok User’s Buried Rug, Police Say

Topline

Columbus, Ohio resident Katie Santry posted a viral series of TikToks this week documenting how she found a rolled-up rug buried several feet below the ground in her backyard, prompting thousands of users to encourage her to try and dig it up and urge police to investigate—though police said Friday afternoon there was no body found in the rug.

Key Facts

Key Background

Santry said in a TikTok over the weekend she thinks her house is haunted, stating she woke up in the morning and found her home office disorganized and her laptop broken, around the same time she found a rug buried underground in her yard while she and her husband were building a fence. At the behest of TikTok users, Santry called the police about the rug, who initially dismissed the situation. She posted another video days later stating police called her back, telling her they had heard about her situation, and wanted to send more officers to investigate. Santry said the police would send cadaver dogs, and if the dogs seemed to detect something, the police would dig up the rug, but would otherwise leave it. Santry livestreamed their investigation and later posted a TikTok video of two different cadaver dogs sniffing the scene, both ultimately sitting at the hole she had dug containing the rug. After both dogs sat down, Santry audibly gasped. She said later in her video police told her the dogs sitting by the hole doesn’t necessarily mean there’s a body buried there and could instead indicate something else, like traces of blood. Police sent excavators to dig up the rug the following morning.

What We Don’t Know

How Santry’s laptop broke. Now that Santry knows there isn’t a body buried in her backyard, that’s her main question, she said in her Friday afternoon TikTok.

Tangent

Santry’s series on TikTok, which contains more than 30 parts, garnered millions of views per video, the latest example of TikTok users’ appetite for longform, multi-part series. Other lengthy series have captivated users in recent months, like Tareasa Johnson’s 50-part “Who TF Did I Marry?” series, which recently landed a television adaptation, and social media influencer Brooke Schofield’s 14-part series about her breakup. Santry compared her situation throughout her video series to a true crime documentary. Thousands of users commented on each of Santry’s videos, offering advice and creating their own theories—with many trying to explain why the cadaver dogs stopped by the hole if there was no body.

Further Reading

Columbus police share test results on rug from viral TikTok investigation (NBC4i)

Columbus police provide update after digging up rug from woman’s backyard (10 WBNS)

What To Know About The ‘Who TF Did I Marry?’ TikTok Series Television Adaptation (Forbes)