NYC Couple Find Stranger Lounging in Apartment After Doorman Gave Her Keys: ‘Freaking Traumatized’

Bill and Yelim Kim were having the perfect trip at Yellowstone National Park until a single notification about their home back in New York turned it into a nightmare.

The New York Post reported on Tuesday, August 11, that the couple was away from their Long Island City apartment on July 24 when their home security camera alerted them that someone was inside.

When they checked the live feed, it stopped them cold as they saw a woman — practically a stranger — pouring herself a drink and settling onto their couch as if she lived there. “It was panic, panic, panic,” Yelim told the New York Post, describing the ordeal on the final night of their trip.

Bill told FOX 5 the disbelief hit just as hard. “I was in disbelief. I just could not believe what I was seeing. We can’t help or wonder, what would she have done if we didn’t catch her on camera?”

Things got worse when the woman spotted the camera and ripped it from the shelf. “If we didn’t have a security camera set up, would she have just stayed?” Bill said. “This was almost 11 p.m. at night. Would she have slept in our bed?”

Two friends rushed to the building ahead of police, with one confronting the woman directly. “It was incredibly stupid and brave for him to do that,” Yelim said.

According to the New York Post, the woman left but returned minutes later using a set of keys to let herself back in. Police eventually arrived and took her away by ambulance. Two days later, the woman came back again, still in the same dress and heels, wearing a hospital bracelet, but was turned away at the lobby.

Halo LIC, run by Goose Property Management, addressed the incident in a letter to residents, NBC New York reported, writing, “An individual claiming to be a dog walker mistakenly received a key to an apartment at the front desk.”

Management confirmed in that same letter that the staffer responsible for handing the keys to the intruder had been let go, and the rest of the team underwent retraining on verification protocols.

Nothing was reported stolen. Still, the couple says they no longer feel safe. “I’m freaking traumatized,” Yelim told Fox. “I don’t know how else to describe it.” The couple, whose lease is up in September, say they’re already searching for a new place to live.

As of August 12, the woman has not been identified or charged, though the NYPD is investigating the incident as a burglary.