After moving into their new $779,000 house in San Diego, Janice Ruhter and Jerry Rice dived into domestic bliss. They loved everything about their house, and although it was a big financial commitment, they were confident that they had made the right choice.
But unbeknownst to them, someone had been watching them, and this person was determined to make their life a living hell.
A Letter From Neighbor
A few days after they moved in, they received a strange letter through the door with an unexpected offer. The note was from their neighbor, who had also wanted to buy the house and was now desperate to own it.
The person offered them $879,000 if they would sell their house to them. How did Ruhter and Rice react?
They Ignored The Offer
Ruther and Rice decided to ignore the strange note. Although they would make $100,000 if they accepted the offer, they loved their new home way too much to give it up.
Little did they know that the person wasn't going to leave them alone that easily. They would soon regret not keeping the letter for evidence.
Uninvited Guests
A few weeks after receiving the letter, the couple noticed that strange things had started to happen in their neighborhood. People began knocking on their door and asking to see the house.
Ruther and Rice initially thought that their realtor had forgotten to take down her listing for the house, but that wasn't the case.
Someone Was Harassing Them
As it turned out, someone had made a fake real estate listing of their house, claiming that it was up for sale. Their real estate agent had no idea who could've possibly done this.
Then, on Valentine's day, every woman in the neighborhood received a Valentine's Day card with Rice's initials. Their neighbors were furious with them, thinking that Rice was trying to destroy families. But this wouldn't be the last time the anonymous person harassed the couple.
They Feared For Their Safety
At this point, Rice and Ruther were confident that someone was playing pranks on them. They tried to apologize to their neighbors and explain that an anonymous person was messing with them, but no one believed them.
The couple then decided to speak to the police and even invested in a state-of-art security system. "We didn't know who was messing with us, and they could be walking right up to our front door," Rice told ABC News. Little did they know that this was only the beginning.
The Worst Incident Of All
Soon, Rice's wife started noticing a change in his behavior as he grew more and more distant from her. "He would be up a lot during the night," she told ABC News.
Then, one day, a strange man showed up at the door asking to get intimate with Ruther. "My stomach dropped," she recalled. But who was that man?
A Sick Joke
Fortunately, her husband was at home at the time, and he convinced him to leave.
The authorities were able to track down an online message claiming to be from Ruther, in which she offered online entertainment. The ad displayed a photo of Ruther with the message, "Adult entertainment of all types when my husband is not home... Come see me during the day while my husband is at work, and we can get our freak on."
Kathy Rowe
Worst of all, the ad also included their personal information such as phone number and address. That's when the couple remembered the strange note they received from a woman named Kathy Rowe months ago.
Did she have something to do with it?
They Recognized Her
Searching online, Rice and his wife discovered Kathy's photo and were shocked to realize that they both recognized this woman.
She came to their door to trick-or-treat with her children on Halloween. However, they didn't find anything else that suggested Kathy could've been the one harassing them all these months.
"Mother Of The Year"
The couple learned from Kathy's Facebook profile that she had received a Mother of the Year award before and had several disabilities. Ruther thought to herself, "She looked too innocent to be involved in something like that."
But Kathy was hiding a dark secret that the police were able to uncover.
She Had A Difficult Life
Kathy was struggling a lot. She had to carry for her daughter twenty-four hours a day, and her husband had a terminal illness. As a result, she was physically and mentally exhausted.
"I was jealous, destroyed, and devastated with pain and depression," Kathy said. But was she the one who harassed Rice and Ruther?
She Wanted Their House
Kathy admitted that she was jealous of the couple and their perfect house. She was devastated when she learned that she had lost the house to a higher bidder.
In desperation, she listed their house online, forged Valentine's cards, and created a disturbing ad. "I think people have resiliency by their support network, by their family, by their friends… I didn't have those," Kathy explained. But once the couple knew this, would they forgive her?
She Thought It Was Funny
Kathy tried to explain to the couple and police that she didn't mean to hurt them and her pranks were "funny." But, they didn't agree with her.
"She was kind of playing Russian roulette with my family," Rice told ABC News.
She Still Lives In Their Neighborhood
In the end, Kathy received mental health treatment and even bought another house close to where Rice and Ruther lived.
Of course, they are less than thrilled that their stalker still lives in the same neighborhood as them, but Kathy insists that she will never bother them again.