'It's just weird:' Seattle man finds stranger living in his attic

When Davis Wahlman arrived at his Green Lake home on Monday night he noticed a couple of lights on inside that usually would be off.

"I don't immediately freak out but I'm like 'This is not ordinary,'" recalled Wahlman, who is an employee at KOMO News.

Once inside, Wahlman also found a screen from a bathroom window inside the tub, but he didn't think too much of it until the next morning when strange noises in the attic startled him.

"I am kind of jolted out of bed," said Wahlman. "I hear rummaging around above me, which I know is the attic so I'm like 'That's kind of weird.'"

As Wahlman tried to figure out what was going on he noticed a light was on in the office. The door was locked so he knocked but got no response. He then tried to find something to protect himself then knocked on the door again. It was then he heard a woman's voice.

"'Jimmy? Is that you, Jimmy?'" recalled Wahlman. "I'm like 'No, it's not Jimmy. Who is this and why are you In my house?'"

Wahlman immediately called 911 . Then the woman -- a stranger -- opened the office door and was face-to-face with him.

"I'm like 'Who the heck are you?' Why are you in my house?'" Wahlman said. "And she just keeps kind of going 'This is my house. I live here. I've been here for three days. Jimmy said I could live here, Jimmy said I could stay here.'"

Wahlman tried to keep the woman inside the house until police arrived, but she got away. He said his phone log shows it took at least 18 minutes for an officer to arrive after he called 911, which was frustrating to him.

"I absolutely support the cops, I love the police officers and I'm really happy they did show up, but as I'm telling someone on dispatch that there's someone in my house, 'Hey, please bring help' and it took 18 minutes -- that's a little disappointing," said Wahlman.

A spokesman for Seattle Police said records show the call was received at 9:01 a.m. and the first officer was dispatched at 9:07 am. The spokesman said at 9:03 a.m. the victim reported the suspect left the home in an unknown direction.

Wahlman is now puzzled as to how the woman even got into his home -- nothing appeared stolen, just a few things out of place including a fire escape ladder that Wahlman found hanging from the deck.

"It's just weird, you know?'" said Wahlman.

Wahlman said the woman living in the attic had dark, shoulder-length hair and wore gym warm-up pants with a black track-style jacket and white hood. She also had a white-knit cap and carried a backpack.

On Tuesday, a locksmith changed the locks on all the doors of the home where Wahlman's family members have lived for nearly 90 years. For Wahlman , it's hard to believe someone was staying there without anyone noticing.

"To come into a house like this, in this neighborhood, that's clearly being lived in that's bold," Wahlman said.

Seattle Police detectives in the burglary unit are now reviewing the report.