For one California teenager, babysitting her niece was nothing out of the ordinary. She loved stepping up to the plate and bonding with her family.
So, when her mother asked if she could spend the afternoon after school watching the sweet four-year-old, the teen was more than willing.
However, that afternoon would be far from an ordinary one when the girls heard a sharp knock on the door. What happened next would be absolutely terrifying and the story would rock headlines around the world.
You won’t believe this shocking story.
Fourteen-year-old Savannah Jones loved babysitting her niece Zoey and always jumped at the chance to spend time with her. Not only was it a great way to make some extra cash, but Savannah and Zoey had a special bond between aunt and niece that no one else had.
Together, they were inseparable.
That afternoon everything progressed well. The girls played games, watched cartoons and were just having an overall good time.
Savannah and Zoey always had fun together, but that joy would soon turn to fear in a single moment. You won’t believe what happens next…
After enjoying an afternoon snack, a loud knock on the front door broke through Savannah and Zoey’s laughter. The girls weren’t expecting anyone to visit and her mother was not supposed to be home for several more hours.
Savannah decided to ignore the knock, hoping whoever it was would simply go away.
Unfortunately, the knocks kept coming, louder each time. Realizing something was very odd, Savannah slowly crept towards the door.
Whoever it was, did not want to leave and she began to feel very nervous about the situation.
Quietly, Savannah slowly peered through the peephole of the front door. Outside was a strange man she did not recognize.
The teen froze, silently hoping he would leave. Unfortunately, the situation was about to take a turn for the worse.
The man quickly switched from knocking to jiggling the door.
It was at this moment that Savannah realized that the man was trying to get into the house and she had to do something to keep her and Zoey safe.
Savannah switched into fight or flight mode, telling her niece to hide somewhere in the house. At that moment, the man outside began to throw himself at the door and Savannah knew they only had precious moments to hide.
There was no way she was taking any chances. Her niece’s safety was her top priority.
The girls quickly found a hiding spot in the master bedroom, taking to the bathroom with the hopes if the man got into the house he wouldn’t find them.“I had my niece hiding behind the toilet and I locked myself in there,” Savannah said.
Terrified, Savannah quickly texted her mother. She told her there was a man attempting to break into the house and that she and Zoey were hiding in the bathroom.
After she pressed SEND, Savannah heard the sound she had been dreading since the knocking had started.
A loud crash came from downstairs followed by footsteps. The intruder had successfully made their way into the house by kicking down the door.
Fear turned Savannah’s blood to ice. Would the man find them?
All Savannah could do was try to keep her niece silent while she continued to text her mother what was happening. The thought of this strange man finding them was too terrifying to contemplate.
Who knew what he might do?
Outside of the bathroom, the girls heard the man making his way through the house. The sounds of items being knocked over and drawers rummaged through kept getting closer.
Savannah began to think of her next move.
The teenager’s main goal was to keep her young niece safe. There was no way she would allow some stranger to harm her. Although her options on what to do what were quite limited.
Suddenly, the man’s footsteps grew closer and Savannah realized he was at her mom’s bedroom door. Would he find them?
“I could hear him going through my mom’s room, and he came by the door where we were hiding.
I was just hoping he wouldn’t know that we were in there,” Savannah told the local media.
According to Savannah, her niece’s safety was her main concern in the terrifying situation.
“I was very scared, not so much for myself, but just Zoey,” she said in an interview.
Outside the bathroom door, the sounds of the man ransacking the bedroom grew louder. Savannah shook with fear, holding her niece close to comfort her, all the while trying to keep her from making any noise.
Suddenly, the man approached the door, his shadow appearing in the crack between the door and the floor.
“I kept staring at the door and hoping he wouldn’t try to open it,” Savannah revealed to CBS News. According to the teen, the man seemed to hesitate outside the bathroom door and the knob even turned a little.
If the man entered the bathroom, there was no way they could escape.
Thankfully, the intruder didn’t enter the bathroom.
In fact, he left the home shortly after, leaving the two girls completely rattled by the event.
During the break-in, Savannah’s mother quickly reached out to a neighbor, who in turn called the police.
Unfortunately, the man managed to escape before the officers arrived.
According to Savannah’s mother, no one could understand the sheer terror of having their daughter text that there was an intruder in the house. “I felt completely helpless.
I had to trust that my daughter would make the right decision to keep her and Zoey safe.”
Thankfully, the situation had the best possible outcome with both Savannah and Zoey making it through unscathed. The police even commended the teen for her quick thinking.
No one knows what the intruder would have done if he had confronted the two young girls alone in the house.
“I can’t even think about what would have happened if the intruder had decided to go into the bathroom,” Savannah’s mother told the local news.
“I’m just happy things turned out the way they did and that my daughter was protected during the whole incident.”
While Savannah is happy that she and her niece remained safe through the terrifying ordeal. She is concerned that the man is still out there.
“Knowing that he’s still out there, I don’t know, it’s scary,” she told the local news.
According to the local police, the intruder still has not been found. However, thanks to Savannah’s look through the peephole, they know he’s an African American male in his 20s.
He’s also bald and of average height. While it’s not much to go on, they hope it may be enough to track him down.
Savannah also remembered what the man was wearing, telling the officers he wore a dark sweater and a pair of jeans.
Currently, the police have put out a $1,000 reward for anyone who might have information that leads to his arrest.
Savannah’s story went viral when the news first broke the details about the terrifying incident.
Interviews soon began pouring in as reports of the brave babysitter keeping her niece safe from a stranger began circulating around the world.
The response to Savannah’s ordeal has created quite a bit of debate on social media. Some believe that she should have immediately called the police, although others argue that the intruder could have heard her.
The outcome could have been very different if the young girls had been discovered.
Thankfully, most of the comments about Savannah’s quick actions have been positive with people praising her quick thinking. One commenter stated, “I hope this girl gets a ton of babysitting gigs and makes a fortune.
Super job!” We have to agree. We have a feeling this teen’s babysitting business is going to be taking off and she absolutely deserves it!