Man buys childhood home from his mum, starts digging years later, and uncovers a family secret buried for decades

Michael Carroll’s lifelong search for answers ended in the most shocking way imaginable: beneath the floors of the house where he grew up. Carroll recently discovered his father’s remains buried under his childhood home in Long Island, New York, solving a mystery that had haunted his family since 1963. 

According to the Mirror, his father, George Carroll, vanished when Michael was just eight months old, leaving behind a young wife and infant son with no explanation. For decades, Michael lived with the story his mother, Dorothy, had always told him. George, a Korean War veteran, had gone out one day to buy cigarettes and never came back. There were no phone calls, no letters, and no trace of him. As the years passed, hope slowly faded, but the lack of closure was even harder to bear.

The truth, when it finally surfaced, was far more disturbing than any rumour. Instead of leaving his family behind, George had been there all along; buried beneath the very house where his son took his first steps, unknowingly living above the remains of the father he never had the chance to know.

A psychic’s strange claim turned out to be true

In 2010, Michael’s sister Jean Kennedy visited a psychic. The psychic told her that their father was murdered and buried at their family home. Most people thought this sounded crazy, but it pushed Michael to search for answers.

Documentary maker Patricia E. Gillespie said people thought Michael and Jean were wrong for years. She explained that others kept telling them, “Your dad left. Why can’t you accept this?” But the siblings refused to give up.

Michael bought the family home from his mother in 1993. Dorothy died five years later from cancer. Years after her death, Michael decided to dig up the property with help from his sons, Chris and Mike Jr. This case mirrors other disturbing discoveries, like when a body was found hidden in a freezer.

They found George’s remains buried on the property. Police came to investigate, and tests confirmed the body was George Carroll. His death was ruled a homicide after experts found his skull was fractured from blunt force trauma. Like other murder cases where investigators found chilling digital evidence, forensic teams worked to piece together what happened.

Gillespie noted that solving this mystery created many new questions about what really happened. The full story will be shown in a new documentary called The Secrets We Bury, where Michael talks about finding his father after 50 years.