A Kentucky mayor has discovered a mysterious woman hiding in his cellar.
Bowling Green Mayor Bruce Wilkerson found the unidentified woman hiding in a crawlspace on Wednesday morning after he heard noises and smelled cigarette smoke outside of a property he has been renovating, WKNY-TV reported.
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Wilkerson, who is a former Bowling Green Police Department officer, told the outlet he found traces of blood on the cellar door and a knapsack filled with women’s clothing when he first ventured down to the basement to investigate. However, he said didn’t find the woman during his initial search and he returned upstairs to continue his renovations.
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The mayor told the Bowling Green Daily News that he had also called authorities to see if there were reports of a missing woman, but found there were none.
Wilkerson only came upon the woman after some of the electrical outlets in the house suddenly lost their power and he returned to the cellar for a second investigation, according to the local newspaper. He said the woman, who Wilkerson described as in her 20s with long brunette hair, told him she was “hiding from someone” before running out of the cellar and into the street.
Wilkerson said he doesn’t know how long the woman had been living in his cellar, but noted to police that she did not steal anything from the property and he has no interest in her arrest.
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Reflecting on the strange incident, Wilkerson told WKNY-TV that officers “were grinning” when they took his statement, joking that “no matter how they write the report, it’s going to say the mayor locked a woman in his house.”
The Bowling Green Police Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
According to the Associated Press, authorities have not identified a suspect.