Yelm woman learns of squatter living in her crawlspace

YELM, Wash. — A heating repairman had good news and bad news for Washington state homeowner Velma Kellen.

The good news was he had fixed her heating ducts after she reported her furnace was failing to heat the house.

The bad news: Someone was living in a crawlspace under the home and had diverted the heat to keep warm.

The repairman said he found beer cans and a liquor bottle beneath the house.

Kellen told KOMO-TV on Monday that she had no idea how long the unwanted visitor had been climbing into her crawlspace, which has an opening to her backyard.

Kellen thinks the person also might have smoked marijuana, because she often smelled smoke. The squatter somehow fooled her three dogs that never barked.