No body found at Katie Santry's Columbus home after viral TikToks

(This story has been updated to add new information.)

Viral TikTok videos showing a rug found buried in a Columbus woman’s backyard sparked a police investigation and fears on social media that a body would be found, but nothing was found in the search Friday afternoon.

Katie Santry was digging holes for a fence in her backyard when she came across what looked like a buried carpet, she said in a video posted to TikTok earlier this week. She also joked that her house might be haunted, saying her laptop was broken and items had been misplaced.

Santry’s first video has over 3 million views and her entire chain of more than 20 clips about the carpet mystery has accumulated over 100 million views.

Concern grew when two cadaver dogs alerted to possible human remains in Santry’s backyard Thursday.

Police dug in Santry’s yard Friday and eventually brought in an excavator, but a spokeswoman for the Columbus Division of Police said police found “some remnants of a carpet material.”

Friday’s investigation brought a significant police and media presence to the cul-de-sac in front of Santry’s home. A few groups of curious neighbors and onlookers gathered nearby, filming videos and discussing news.

Passing cars slowed down and many drivers held their phones out the windows to take photos and videos.

Columbus police get involved

Several TikTok users urged Santry to contact police as her videos went viral and Columbus police visited the property on Thursday.

Santry streamed the investigation live on TikTok, including moments when two cadaver dogs sat down after sniffing part of the yard. Cadaver dogs are often trained to sit to signal that they have found human remains. Santry said at least 100,000 people watched the livestream.

“I’m still hoping that maybe someone had a bloody nose on a carpet and buried it,” she wrote in a caption.

Watson said Friday morning the dogs could have pointed out a variety of things.

“It could be body oil,” Watson said. “It could be sweat. It could be blood, maybe a nick or a paper cut, something so insignificant. So we don’t know what we’re seeing at this point.”

Who are the previous owners of Katie Santry’s house?

The Dispatch contacted the home’s previous owner — a 95-year-old Ohio resident named Myron Weil — who said police called his family on Thursday. He said he and his wife did a lot of gardening and wondered if they had accidentally discovered a buried burlap sack.

He added that they were both confused by the whole ordeal and that the attention to his wife had been devastating.

Related article: The Columbus Police Department’s emergency hotline is back in service after being temporarily taken out of service

“The police called us yesterday and asked some questions,” said Weil. “They also spoke to my son. Neither of us could remember anything that was buried.”

He added: “I just hope they get lucky if there is treasure there.”

Why are the police investigating?

Watson said investigators at the property “began excavation” on Friday. Police held the scene overnight and continued the investigation in the morning – Watson said they needed “light” to work.

“We’re taking it as seriously as we can,” Watson said. “You know, no stone is left unturned when it comes to these incidents, so we just want to make sure we do our due diligence.”

(This story has been updated to add additional information and change an embedded video.)

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No body found at Katie Santry’s Columbus home after viral TikToks

ByJasper

Columbus police get involved

Who are the previous owners of Katie Santry’s house?

Why are the police investigating?

By Jasper

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