Call From the Dead
As a 911 operator, Reddit user penguinluvinman was used to getting all sorts of strange calls. But there was nothing unusual about an elderly woman calling claiming she wasn’t feeling good and needed help… until first responders arrived and told them what they found at the house.
“I used to work as a 911 operator in a relatively large metro area. One night at about 3 am or so I answered a call from an elderly lady who said she didn’t feel good. I tried to get more info about what was wrong, chest pain, trouble breathing, headache, is she diabetic etc. I got her address and age, she said no one else was home but the door was unlocked so they could go in.
No matter what else I asked about what was wrong, all she would say is “I don’t feel good, can you please send someone to help me?” After a few min she said “I’m gonna put the phone down for a minute, I need to go to the bathroom.” I tried to get her to stay on the line with me, told her she can do whatever she needs to get ready but I’d like to be able to stay in contact in case there’s a problem.
She said “I’m gonna put the phone down, I’ll just be a minute.” A couple min passed, then the fire department called on scene so I just disconnected and didn’t think much about it. Told them the patient advised front door is unlocked and she was in the bathroom. A couple more min and the one of the firefighters called over the air with a weird tone and said “Fire alarm (which is how they addressed dispatch)…uh how exactly was this called received?” I told them call was first party from the patient’s home phone approx 8 min ago.
He didn’t respond over the air, but called the desk from his cell phone, which usually only happens when something weird is going on that they don’t want broadcasted since anyone can listen to the radios. On the phone he said “are you sure this wasn’t a third party call from a family member or something?” I said “negative, caller advised ‘I don’t feel good’ and said no one else was home, so to the best of my knowledge, the caller is the patient…have you made contact?” He said “yea, she was in the bathroom like you said, but she’s been dead for about 12 hours. Cold to the touch, fully livid, full rigor, we’re gonna need a deputy out here.”
Afterwards we pulled the tapes of the radio and phone calls and checked the timestamps, address, phone number, and went over everything a few times to see if I missed something. I called them back in the morning after the shift to see if they had anymore info, but they were just as weirded out as we were. The phone was in the living room and the patient was in the batbroom, but the call was definitely from that phone. Still have no idea what the most likely explanation is.”