Welcome to Wednesday One Shots, the series where we share a bite-sized bonus story for you in the middle of the week.

This time around, we have a story by a listener named Shannon.

I'm a true crime fan and a new listener to the podcast.

Let's Not Meet was recommended to me a few months ago,

and I have been binging it ever since. I have quite a few

sketchy situations that I could write about but I will start with a story that has been told in my family

for years. My dad has that has a big Irish Catholic family and is one of nine siblings. At the time

of this story during the 80s, none of his siblings were still living at home with my

grandmother since they were all adults and away at college.

One evening, she was listening to the news on the radio when she heard a report of a man who was believed to have been involved in a series of burglaries and assaults in the area.

He would break into people's homes through basement windows or cellar doors and turned the washing machine on when he got inside.

This may seem strange, but it prompted confused owners to go downstairs to check

why their washers randomly turned on, and that's when they'd be met with a burglar attempting

to assault and rob them. Within 20 minutes of hearing this news alert on the radio, guess what my grandmother heard?

The washing machine started.

She then opened the basement door and took a few steps down the stairs. But luckily she quickly came to her senses, ran

back up the stairs and slammed the door shut. She called one of my uncles who was

living close by and had him come over to check it out.

My uncle arrived with his gun and he went downstairs.

There was no sign of anyone down there.

However, the latch on their outside cellar door was broken and the doors were wide open.

I'm not sure if that burglar was ever caught by the police or not.

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