Family makes a gruesome discovery in a filthy rental house that was infested with dead mice after the tenants moved out

Sometimes ignorance is bliss and a woman is unsure what to do with an uncomfortable discovery in the house she was renovating with her family.

The unnamed woman, believed to be from the US, shared her terrifying story with Reddit after finding a secret compartment in the ceiling full of hard drives – all with first names written on them.

She explained that her grandfather owned a house that he rented out, and that the plan was for her uncle to act as landlord.

However, her uncle “just collected the rent and did absolutely nothing else,” leaving a huge mess behind when the tenants moved out.

She explained that her grandfather owned a house that he rented out, and that her uncle was supposed to act as landlord

'It was horrible. Terrible,” the woman wrote in disbelief. 'Horrible. How people live in this filth is incomprehensible. Dead mice. Mouse s**t. Probably half an inch of grease in the whole kitchen.”

Despite the mess, the woman and her husband made the decision to purchase the property, explaining that her father could help renovate the entire property and add some additional bedrooms.

“We would be stupid in this market,” she wrote. “So we jumped on board.”

It wasn't just the horrific amounts of dirt and grime that shocked the family, with the terrified woman retelling how they came to the disturbing discovery.

“My crazy story starts on day one,” the mother of three wrote on the website r/weird subreddit. 'My father and I are stripping the basement. It's literally raining mouse turds on me,” she said.

“A half-eaten porn magazine falls out, it must have been from the '70s,” she guessed. 'Mice ate the date.

“Low and behold, there's Viagra dripping out,” she continued. 'This was hilarious. I couldn't stop laughing.'

The woman called it “strange” and joked that “someone thought they might need it for a rainy day and sealed it in the roof,” before continuing.

Most people's reaction was not to look at what was on the tapes, especially since it was so carefully hidden

The next day, her father and husband went to work on the basement and successfully cleared it out so that it was “completely bare, minus a few more ceiling tiles around the ductwork.”

But on the third day, the wife received an alarming photo from her husband, showing a neat stack of hard drives sealed above the ductwork with a sign stapled over them, all with first names on them.

'These were literally in the ceiling. Like it's built into the ceiling,” she said in disbelief.

“These must have been there for a while,” the woman noted. 'My grandfather has owned the building for five years and the same people have lived there during those years, and this has been closed off on many layers.'

The homeowner admitted she was “shocked” by the finding and isn't sure what to do.

'Should I call the police? Will I sound like an idiot? Will I look like the bad guy? Will I ever find out what's on those hard drives?' she asked.

“This is killing me. And no, I won't try to find out for myself because that's a swamp I don't want to wade into,” she added.

Most people's reaction was not to look at what was on the tapes, especially since it was so carefully hidden.

“It's going to be something terrible,” one Reddit user responded. “No one is documenting names and hiding evidence of things they are proud of.”

“That's my thought,” another user agreed. 'First porn magazine and Viagra. Then mysterious hard drives are carefully hidden with first names on them. I would be afraid it was child pornography.'

“More likely voyeur/hidden cameras,” said another. “Yet we are in complete agreement that what is on those hard drives will not be anything enjoyable.”

Others urged the woman to get a lawyer before going to police.

'Maybe they've been arrested. Maybe they died. I think I'd look into home ownership and see what I could find out about previous owners,” one user suggested.