Viswa Vanapalli
Lifetime’s ‘Phrogging: Hider in My House’ features stories of unassuming people going about their lives and suddenly finding an uninvited guest in their homes. The episode ‘Close Call’ has Helena Jayne Bryant recounting her experience with a stalker who refused to give up. In ‘Stabbed in the Dark,’ Brian O’Neill talks about the increasingly scary sequence of events he and his wife faced as they returned home after a night out in the city. Apart from their house being in disarray, the couple faced the prospect of a stranger hiding in their place. So, if you’re curious to find out more, here’s what we know.
What Happened to Helena Jayne Bryant?
In 2005, Helena Jayne Bryant was living in Columbus, Ohio, with her young daughter. At the time, the single mother split her time between raising her daughter and working as an instructional assistant in Columbus schools. While things appeared to be okay initially, they took a turn for the worse by July 2006. As per the show, when Helena and her daughter decided to go shopping for tennis shoes, she got a call from someone saying there was a local store that had tennis shoes on sale.
Soon after that, Helena began getting calls every morning and night at the same time, 10:04 am and pm. The caller ID didn’t show the number at the time, and she wouldn’t hear anything from the other end. Fed up with it, Helena once blared an airhorn after answering the call, putting an end to it. But in the following weeks, it felt like someone kept entering her house without her knowledge. Helena would find things moved around; the mustard jar in the toilet or the coffee pot on the couch.
When Helena did call the police, she said they didn’t take it too seriously. One day, as Helena was spending time with her daughter at the local community pool, she saw someone sitting in a car with sunglasses on. The person appeared for several days, and she eventually recognized him as the man she had casually dated a couple of years prior. Helena then realized he had been stalking her and following her everywhere she went.
Therefore, Helena decided to leave town with her daughter and moved to Mississippi. But the stalker followed her even there. In the end, Helena mentioned on the show that around the time her daughter graduated high school, she made changes to her life. Helena became a long-haul truck driver and traveled on the road for months. This helped her because she eventually stopped seeing her stalker or hearing from him.
Who is Brian O’Neill?
In July 2014, Brian O’Neill was living in Seattle, Washington, with his wife. The couple shared a condo with their two cats, and everything seemed to be going well. Brian and his wife went out to dinner one summer night and returned home around 9 pm. The second they unlocked the door, they knew things were different. They noticed that the living room had things out of place, and a suitcase was out of the closet and on the floor. While Brian’s wife thought he did it, he felt the other way round.
According to the show, the pair then noticed that the kitchen window looked busted, and it appeared that the screen was messed with. However, it was unlikely that someone got in from there because of its accessibility and size. But for Brian and his wife, it was only the beginning. The door to their bedroom was closed, and that immediately stood out for them because they always left it open. Inside, Brian saw that it was a complete mess. The room was ransacked, and it appeared someone had rifled through all the drawers and left the items out.
The couple also noted that many of their things were covered with lotion. They soon called the police, who arrived at around 11 pm. The authorities also thought it was bizarre, but there wasn’t much they could have done then, so they left. As the couple was cleaning up, they noticed a pair of women’s shoes that were not Brian’s wife’s. Then, they also saw clumps of blond hair all around the room. As they were trying to make sense of what was happening, Brian heard a weird breathing sound from under the bed, and they immediately rushed out of the bedroom, closing it behind them.
Brian then called 911 and waited outside the house for the police to arrive. When Brian let the police into the house, they saw a blond-haired woman in the house trying to get into the closet. The authorities immediately arrested her, and as per the show, she was known to them. The woman had trespassed on construction sites in the past. The police said she was paranoid, believing someone was after her. With the intruder gone, Brian and his wife breathed a sigh of relief.
Where is Brian O’Neill Today?
As Brian and his wife started cleaning up, they noticed a needle and a kitchen knife under the bed. The intruder had been stabbing the bottom of the box spring. Eventually, the couple moved on from the incident, but Brian said that he couldn’t sleep for a while after that; he kept wondering why she chose them and how long she had been there.
Ultimately, the couple decided to continue living there. Today, Brian still lives in Seattle. On the show, he did mention that he worked for a coffee company. During his free time, Brian enjoys traveling and is an avid movie and music buff. Besides regular trips to the movie theater, he loves concerts.
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