A couple from Virginia kept hearing mysterious sounds coming from their chimney, and they couldn't figure out what was causing it.
So, they called the authorities, hoping to get some answers. But instead, they discovered their worst nightmare inside. They could've never imagined that something like this would happen to them in their tight-knit community.
Someone Was Inside
On that fateful day, the authorities and firefighters arrived at the peaceful neighborhood where the couple was living to inspect their chimney.
When they got closer to the chimney, they heard loud shrieks, like someone was trapped inside and was calling out for help. They immediately tried to come up with a plan on how to release the person stuck inside.
The Intruder
They also couldn't understand how the person ended up in the chimney in the first place. Their theory was that the stranger climbed up the chimney to try and enter the couple's house.
And after the intruder realized he was stuck, he had no other choice but to call for help. However, as the authorities soon learned, this wasn't the case at all.
The Beginning
The rescue team initially wanted to get the person out from the top of the chimney but decided to start from the bottom and work their way up instead.
With a proper plan in place, the firefighters entered the chimney and began searching for the person.
The Strange Voice
They knew it would take them a long time, as they would have to take the chimney apart since whoever was inside was unable to move.
When they began working their way up, they heard a child's voice telling them where to go. With that, the entire crew and even the homeowners began pulling the bricks out, one by one.
It Was Their Neighbors' Son
The strange voice belonged to a 5-year-old boy who lived next door. Apparently, he had sneaked out from his bedroom on the 3rd floor and climbed onto the roof of the house.
Then he jumped on the couple's roof and onto the chimney, where he got stuck.
He Got Stuck While Climbing Down
The firefighters believe he had climbed down the chimney feet first and got stuck in the process.
"Over time, he had shimmied his way all the way to the very bottom of the chimney in the basement of the house," the Fire & EMS Cheif Dennis Hale said.
He Assisted In His Own Rescue
The boy had stayed in there for at least a few hours. However, no one knows exactly how much time had gone by.
Fortunately, his cry for help was heard by the couple, and several other neighbors and the rescuers found him. According to the rescue team, he told them some important information that led to his rescue.
Getting Him Out
He explained to the rescuers how his body was positioned in the chimney and where they should look for him.
It took the crew more than two hours to get the boy out, and fortunately, he wasn't injured. There are many stories of people getting stuck in chimneys, and some of them don't have a happy ending. However, one of the rescue team's biggest fears was possible hoot inhalation.
He Was In Good Shape
"Anytime you have a child involved in an incident, especially one where it's going to take some time to rescue them, it's always stressful," Cheif Hale said in an interview.
They rushed the boy to the hospital for observation, where he stayed for a few days. Despite a few bruises and scratches, he was in good shape. A few years before, an 8-year-old boy from Utah climbed down a chimney to get a glass of water downstairs.
Joshua Maddux
He got stuck in the chimney and spent there 4 hours before anyone realized he had gone missing.
In 2015, construction workers discovered the body of 18-year old Joshua Maddux, who had been missing for seven years. He lived in Woodland Park, a small city where everyone knew each other.
The Day Of
On the 8th of May, 2008, he told his sister Kate that he was going for a walk in the forest. When he didn't return home that evening, his family began to worry.
Since Joshua had always been a free spirit, they didn't think much of it at first.
They Reported Him Missing
Then, after a few days, his father reported him missing.
“I got up one morning,” he said, “and Josh was there, then he just never came home. The next day he still didn’t come home. I called his friends, nobody had seen him. Nobody knows where he is.”
A Free Spirit
"Since Josh was 18, it has been reasonable to assume he may have decided to leave town to start a new life. As one of his two older sisters, I have always chosen to believe that this was the case. I have expected Josh to return home to my father's house at any time with a wife and small children so that they can meet their grandparents and two aunts," his sister said.
She further explained, "Josh has always been known for his musical and literary talent, so maybe we would find him playing music with a band on tour, or catch him writing successful novels under a pen name so that he could keep his preferred lifestyle of solitude in the woods."
In Disbelief
The search for Joshua continued for seven years with no results. His body was discovered in an old wood cabin that hadn't been used in over ten years.
"The situation doesn't make any sense at all. We were really expecting him to be anywhere else in the world, and he was actually very close. The only thing we can figure is he was an 18-year-old kid, checking out a cabin — it had already been abandoned for a long time — and a horrible accident happened," Kate said.