Ohio woman’s viral TikTok videos lead prompt search for body in her yard

COLUMBUS, Ohio ( WCMH ) — Police in Columbus, Ohio have concluded an investigation after a woman posted on TikTok that she might have discovered a body buried in her yard.

An account for Katie Santry started her story with a video posted five days ago showing her and her family finding a rug buried in the yard of their east Columbus home.

Officers responded to the property and Santry’s social media posts caught fire on social media, attracting millions of views as people waited to find out what was buried in her yard. Comments ranged from wild speculation to greetings from Brazil and other international countries.

Ultimately, no body was found Friday and Santry said on TikTok the saga was “the most absurd, insane experience of my life.”

Police wrapped up their investigation — which included K-9 units and an excavation — on Friday afternoon. According to Columbus police, they collected pieces of a rug buried in the yard.

“The pieces all tested negative for human or animal remains and, at this time, there are no plans for further testing,” police said.

One officer said when homes are built, it is common for people to bury things rather than moving them to save effort. They said K-9 units are not always right, but when they hit, police have to dig to be safe. One officer also said it was possible someone had gotten something as insignificant as a nosebleed years ago that the dogs picked up on.

Over the course of multiple posts in that time, Santry detailed her first phone call to police and two officers who came out to investigate, with the officers declining at that time to investigate the matter any further.

“The entire world was telling me to have the police come,” Santry said. “When I called the police and asked them, ‘Hey, do you want to come to my house to look at a rug?’ I felt insane.”

In a video posted on Thursday afternoon, Santry said Columbus homicide detectives called her house, saying they would be sending out investigators with cadaver dogs.

In a video posted Thursday night, Santry said two different cadaver dogs on two separate attempts “sat” at the hole.

As police investigated on Friday, neighbors watched on curiously. Gregory Napier has lived in the neighborhood for 20 years and said the event was highly unusual. He added that people were coming from all over the city, and said the neighborhood did not appreciate that much in-person attention.

“It’s disturbing and alarming, because it caught me by surprise,” Napier said. “Like here we are, all of a sudden, now we got all these news people out here, police officers, cadaver dogs. We’re usually quiet.”

Santry’s videos on the buried rug saga have racked up millions of views.

“Thanks for the adventure,” an officer said.

Officers also gave her a small medallion for her yard being a potential crime scene.

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