I think you did the right thing. If you aren’t sure what’s going on it’s best to leave it to the professionals. There are too many ways it can go sideways for a well-meaning citizen getting into a 3rd party affair. Not saying you should never do it, but you need to be pretty sure what is really going on and it’s best to let the police handle it.
I don’t think you should ever let go what sounds like screaming from pain or otherwise for help. Better to be accused of being a nosy neighbor than the guilt when they find a body later on.
Because you were anonymous, 911 won’t call you back nor will any police officer update you on the status of the case. You will probably never know what happened unless you talk to that neighbor.
As an aside, one time I heard the most horrible screams outside. Sounded absolutely horrifying, I had the phone in one hand to dial 911… Looked out the window. And it was a fox. Someone more knowledgeable than me on wildlife (that’s not saying much) said it was their mating call.
I would consider it the right thing to call, but I would ask… since you stated there was a man in the vehicle with the flashing hazard lights, was he there when you went to check the mail, did he come out of the house, or was there more than one person.
The police knocked on the door, and no answer, yet you were sure there was screaming coming from the house.
Next question, have you seen the homes occupant since?
Man was in the vehicle all the time til officer arrived on scene, window was heavily tinted in rear, couldn’t see through. The only thing that made me pay extra attention was the fact that the vehicle was unknown to me and the flashers were on and sitting parallel to the home not in the driveway. No markings, no delivery. And of course the screams. Only one person came out of vehicle. Person was unknown to me and not seen in that house. I’m not the spying type but I do take note of different vehicles and people in my view from my front door. My head is on a swivel when I exit and enter my home. Occasionally I will drive down the block to see cars, keep myself familiar.
I was sure there was screaming in the direction of that home. If it came from another it would have been more discerning as the other homes are a bit closer. Furthermore in two of the other four homes no one was home. I spent quite a bit of time listening, without being seen, felt weird but something was definitely wrong. When the screaming sounded painful as opposed to get off my lawn type screaming, I made the decision to call.
I did see someone arrive today, not the usual occupant. Young girl, never seen before. There is a chance previous couple moved. They were a nice Latino couple pre elderly as myself , he is a landscaper, never saw her in the eight or so years they lived there except for a wave from the garage as I would drive off. He and I conversed once with a translator app on a phone when he came to admire my lawn and offered to help about a year ago. Haven’t seen him do his lawn in quite some time and I’ve been home since February 29.
That’s the feeling I had when I finally dialed. Anyone would have felt terrible if ambulances showed up later in the evening to remove a body, 20/20 can be a bi&$#! No pun intended
Just had a case nearby where the man attacked his wife with a machete and the deputies had to shoot him when they arrived. You never know.
That being said, I guess I am still trying to fit the pieces. If there was screaming, and the person in the truck was there the entire time, who was inside causing the screaming, and after the vehicle drove off, did it return to pick someone up…
But, if you saw someone, perhaps it was the screamer, and perhaps she was releasing stress.
Being in a rural area, unusual vehicles tend to stand out, and are looked at with more scrutiny… as far as I can tell, you did good. Even if whoever was there is bothered by the ‘nosey’ neighbor… better safe than sorry.
Unfortunately, after the situation had been dispersed, I retreated to mind my own business. Did not see vehicle return in the past 2 days. Right now just keeping myself in condition yellow/orange. Keeping an eye and ear out for anything unusual. Will be monitoring for life signs, trash removal, lawn being mowed, new vehicles in driveway, lights on or off, last night no lights. The couple that did live there sporadically put lights on at night. Maybe people near me don’t turn on their lights because mine light up the neighborhood, 90,000 watts of LED power, my lights, when turned on make the same sound as they do in horror movies! Wwwwooooshphufmp! My home can be seen from space! You can’t sneak up on my home, can see you clearly up to 60 yards!
It’s now, that I begin second guess myself, did I hear what I heard, was it any of my business, would I do it again? However screams like what I did hear, you don’t forget!
Will keep you posted!
Better to get involved and find out you were wrong than to not get involved and find out you were right. You did the right thing. I had an incident happen to me years ago that proves this point: My (now ex) wife and I were going to visit a friend and as we turned on to the street into his neighborhood I happened to look over and saw a car parked in the driveway of one of the homes that had what looked like a vacuum cleaner hose that ran from the tail pipe into the back window which was rolled up most of the way and the other windows were completely rolled up. The car wasn’t running and no one was in the car so I didn’t think much of it at the time. We stayed at my friend’s house only about 30 minutes and as we were leaving I took another look and the car was running and completely full of smoke. It was so clouded up I couldn’t tell for sure but it looked like someone was sitting in the driver’s seat. I said to my wife “I think there’s someone in there. We need to stop and check it out.” Her response: “No, just keep going. I don’t want to get involved.” (Glad she’s my ex now). Fortunately, I listened to my instincts and not her and called 911 on my cell phone. An officer showed up within about 2 minutes and he and I approached the car together. Sure enough, there was a man sitting in the driver’s seat. I yanked the door open and we both dragged the man out, who was already unconscious at this point. The officer started CPR while I reached in to turn off the ignition. The carbon monoxide was so bad in there that it took my breath away. The officer called paramedics who were thankfully able to revive him. Had I listened to her and not stopped the man would have been successful in his suicide attempt. The moral of this story is, always listen to your instincts. They are usually spot on.
