Woman who discovered rug buried in yard says she was getting ready to dig it up when police called

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Columbus woman has gone viral on TikTok after sharing a story about finding a rug buried in her yard. The discovery prompted the Columbus Division of Police to get involved.

Katie Santry has lived at the east Columbus house for about a year. She said she stumbled upon the strange discovery while digging holes for fence posts.

“We were building a fence, and we, through digging a post wall, came across a carpet. It was weird but I kind of let it go,” Santry told 10TV on Thursday evening.

Some time later, she said her computer was shattered and her desk strewn about in the middle of the night, but no one in the home reportedly did it.

“I jokingly said, ‘did the body in the rug do it?’ and I put that on TikTok, and now everyone at this point has seen it,” she said.

Santry said she was going to leave the carpet-like fabric alone but was influenced by TikTok viewers to call police to dig it up.

“When they first came out, they thought nothing of it, and I think because of the virality of the TikTok, they called me today [Thursday] when my friends and I were actually going to dig this rug up today out of curiosity,” she said.

Columbus police told her they wanted to bring K-9s to investigate.

Santry streamed some of the investigation on TikTok Thursday afternoon. More than 100,000 users tuned in to watch at times, as she showed video of the K-9s sniffing through her yard.

At one point, Santry watches as the dog sniffs a spot and then sits down. She can be heard gasping in the video.

“The world saw the dogs sit on the hole and it kind of ended there,” Santry said.

When asked about the previous owners of the home, Santry told reporters that they were in their 90s and had moved into a nursing home. She believes they were the only owners before her family moved in.

While viewers have tuned in to watch what happens next in the investigation, Santry has watched her following grow.

“The day I posted it I had 6,000 followers,” she said, “It happened like snap of a finger. I didn’t anticipate virality in the slightest.”

A nearby neighbor who has lived in his home for 20 years told 10TV that the attention has been disturbing and alarming.

“This is the loudest it has been in a long, long time,” he said. “I hope they find what they’re looking for and we can get back to life as normal and quiet and peaceful.”

Columbus police began excavating outside the home Friday morning. Officers provided an update in the afternoon saying that no remains had been found.