JimmieJoe / KC6YRU

The place was locked up and appeared secure when the first unit arrived that afternoon to check out the call to 9-1-1.  Since nothing seemed amiss, and there was nothing to suggest someone was inside who needed help, the Deputy cleared and left.

That evening, it happened again.  In both instances, the 9-1-1 call was just static, with no one speaking.  The 9-1-1 screen also indicated “Quick Dial Tone”, which means the line has been disconnected, and it’s not possible to call it back. These lines can ‘glitch’ in certain circumstances, and that glitch gets sent to 9-1-1.  It’s particularly common during wet weather.

The evening shift Deputy went to check again, and this time found an open sliding glass door in the back.  He told us he was going to check the residence.  After a few minutes, he called for another deputy to respond, and for the sergeant.  We immediately assumed he had found a body in the house.  Turns out that’s not what happened.

People in our professions often develop a black humor, in order to deal with the stresses of the job.  While we were getting other units responding, we were joking that the deputy had found a body, and the ghost had dialed 9-1-1, twice, and that it might not be too happy that it took two calls to get results!

Well, it turns out it wasn’t a dead body, after all.  There is one important lesson to be learned here, however.  When you rent some run down house out in the middle of nowhere, go ahead and hook up the phone line.  Pay the few bucks a month to have a working line.  That way, the phone line won’t ‘glitch’, and the cops won’t come out and find your meth lab.