The Harlan’s Creek Pines HOA has issued a formal Notice of Concern regarding 14 Elm Street after three separate complaints described three entirely different occupants. Property records list none of them.

HARLAN’S CREEK, WV — The Harlan’s Creek Pines Homeowners Association has placed 14 Elm Street under formal review following three independently filed resident complaints, each describing the property’s current occupant in terms that do not, by any reasonable assessment, describe the same individual.

The complaints were filed within a nine-day window in late October. The first, submitted by neighbour Patricia Holst of 12 Elm Street, described the occupant as a tall woman in her mid-fifties with silver hair who had allowed a wind chime to remain installed in violation of Section 4.2(c) of the Harlan’s Creek Pines Community Standards, which prohibits audible exterior ornamentation between the hours of 9pm and 7am. The second complaint, filed by Dale Murchison of 16 Elm Street, described the occupant as a heavyset man of approximately forty who had parked a utility trailer on the driveway apron in contravention of Section 7.1(a). The third, submitted by Gwen Takahashi of 11 Elm Street — across the street and therefore with clear sightlines — described the occupant as a teenage boy she had never seen before who had been standing in the front yard at 6am for what she estimated was forty-five minutes without moving and who had looked directly at her when she opened her curtains in a way she described as, quote, ‘very aware.’

Community Notice

We are not in the business of determining what a resident is. We are in the business of whether the bins are out before 7am on collection day. Currently they are not, which is also a violation.

— HOA Board Chair Renata Solis, Harlan’s Creek Pines

HOA Board Chair Renata Solis confirmed the association had cross-referenced all three complaints and identified the discrepancy in occupant descriptions before reaching out to the county assessor’s office to verify the deed. The deed, last updated in 2019, lists the property as owned by a Gerald T. Fawkes, no relation to Deborah Fawkes of the water treatment plant, who confirmed this to WTC by telephone in a tone that suggested she had already been asked. The deed lists no current occupants. The property is not listed as a rental. It is not listed as vacant. It is listed as nothing, which the assessor’s office confirmed is technically a valid status under a provision of the county code that has not been invoked in Harlan’s Creek since 1987.

The Department of Cryptid Affairs Has Been Notified, Which Has Not Helped

Arthur Bellamy, the DCA’s permanent field representative for Harlan’s Creek, confirmed he received the HOA’s formal referral on Wednesday and has opened a preliminary inquiry under DCA Form 14-G, Residential Anomaly — Identity Indeterminate. He noted that Form 14-G was designed primarily for situations involving documented bilocation events and that a shapeshifter complaint would more accurately fall under Form 22-C, Phenotypic Instability — Domestic Setting, but that Form 22-C requires a minimum of four witness descriptions to initiate and the HOA has thus far provided three. He has asked the HOA to canvas further residents. The HOA has asked whether this is strictly necessary. Bellamy confirmed it is, procedurally. The HOA has taken this under advisement.

Barry Hutchins, 62, retired, of 9 Elm Street — located two properties removed and therefore outside the immediate complaint zone — contacted WTC independently to report that he had observed the occupant of 14 Elm Street on four occasions and that on each occasion the individual had appeared as a different person but had walked with what Hutchins described as ‘the exact same gait, like the legs hadn’t updated yet.’ He submitted a fourteen-page written account to the DCA in addition to his standard annual filing. Arthur Bellamy confirmed receipt. He confirmed it was thorough. He did not confirm what he would do with it. Barry Hutchins told WTC he considers this progress.

The legs hadn’t updated yet. You could tell if you watched the feet. I watched the feet. I’ve been watching the feet for nine days.

— Barry Hutchins, 62, retired, 9 Elm Street

Sandra Okafor, whose sister Philippa recently relocated to Alderman Street and who was visiting for the weekend, was interviewed briefly outside the Moonlight Diner on Thursday afternoon. She stated she had driven past 14 Elm Street twice and found it completely unremarkable. WTC footage from the interview shows a figure standing in the front garden of 14 Elm Street directly over Ms Okafor’s left shoulder for the duration of the exchange. The figure is not the same in the opening and closing frames of the footage. Ms Okafor did not turn around at any point. She described Harlan’s Creek as ‘very quiet, actually. Surprisingly quiet.’ She returned to Columbus the following morning.

The HOA’s Notice of Concern has been affixed to the letterbox at 14 Elm Street. It requests that the named occupant — the notice uses the phrase ‘current occupant or occupants, however constituted’ following a late amendment proposed by Board Secretary Terrence Hull, who did not explain his reasoning and was not asked to — make contact with the association within fourteen days to discuss the outstanding violations. The notice has not been removed. It has also, neighbours report, not been touched. Renata Solis told WTC the association will proceed through standard channels and that the fourteen-day window is currently at eleven days. She noted that the HOA’s governing documents do not contain a provision for shapeshifter-specific disputes, but that the violation framework is phenotype-neutral and applies to all residents equally, whatever that means in the present circumstances. The wind chime has not been taken down. It has not made a sound since the complaints were filed. Authorities continue to urge caution.