Mom Lets 14 Year Old Babysit, 2 Hours Later Gets Text That Says “I’m Baby”

With her eyes wide and staring at the door, she tried to make herself as small as possible and prayed that he would not try to open it. She moved in front of her niece, who was crouched behind the toilet, and tried to prepare herself for the inevitable. She knew it was only a matter of time before he found them. Then she felt a reassuring shape pressing into her leg; she had totally forgotten what she had stowed in her pocket.

Yesenia Barrigan and her daughter, Zoe, live in California. Yesenia is as protective as any mother and seldom left four-year-old Zoe alone. However, as for any other working mom, this is not always possible. When Yesenia was told that there was going to be a business meeting out of town and that she would be expected to be there, her heart sank. Even worse, she could not take Zoe with her.

She needed a solution. Yesenia weighed her options carefully. Juggling motherhood and a full-time job was not easy at the best of times, but she had no choice. On top of all the leave she had already taken when Zoe had been sick, she knew that if she did not go to this business meeting, it would not look good for her. Her job could be on the line. She was faced with a tough decision.

Yesenia’s mom tried to calm her fears by assuring her that Savannah had looked after children before, but she just could not shake the sinking feeling in her stomach. Indeed, Yesenia knew Savannah well; after all, she was her sister. But that did nothing to soothe her worries. What she did not know was that this simple decision would end up changing the lives of everyone involved.

Savannah Jones had been given a big responsibility, but she had never expected the unthinkable to happen. In her eyes, her older sister had given her a chance to prove that she was grown up enough to babysit her four-year-old niece, Zoe. But while they were in the family home, she found herself in a situation that few would be able to handle. Soon, she would be living a nightmare.

Marie pulled up to Yesenia’s home and dropped Savannah off. But as she pulled out of the driveway, she had an uneasy feeling she could not shake. There was a car with tinted windows parked on the opposite side of the road. She knew the neighborhood well, but suddenly she could not help but worry. Nevertheless, she ignored the little voice inside her head and tried to focus. It was probably just one of the neighbors, she thought to herself. But a mother’s instincts are rarely wrong.

Meanwhile, Yesenia busied herself by showing her little sister where everything was. She gave her a list of emergency numbers, then kissed Zoe goodbye. But by the time her mom got that terrifying text message, everyone was already too far away to help. It was too late to turn back now; what was done was done. Yesenia left, but she was too preoccupied to notice the suspicious car.

Safely inside, Savannah asked Zoe to show her the toys, which she happily pulled out of the toy box in the lounge. Then the pair cuddled up on the sofa to watch a Disney movie. Surely nothing could happen in this quiet neighborhood located in Montclair, California.

It was about 3:30 p.m. Savannah and Zoe were singing along to Frozen when they heard a knock on the door. She turned the TV off and walked into the hallway to see who it was. She did not expect Yesenia to come back for days, so who could be at the door? Was her sister expecting a delivery? But when she looked through the peephole, she knew something was very wrong.

There was a man at the door. He was wearing a hat, and Savannah could not make out his features clearly, but she instinctively knew that something was not right about him. Although she did not recognize him, he did not look like a salesman, and he definitely was not an official. So what did he want?

Savannah quietly crept away from the door, hoping that if she ignored him, he would go away. But she was wrong. The man continued to knock on the door for a few minutes, and then the knocks stopped. Savannah let out a sigh of relief, but it was short-lived. To her horror, the doorknob began to rattle. Whoever the man was, he wanted to get in. Thankfully, the door was locked. Then the knocking began again, and this time the knocks were louder. Savannah’s heart leapt into her throat.

If the man wanted to get in, she knew he would. What could she do? They were trapped. Any minute now, the man was going to burst through the door. She had to think fast. She grabbed Zoe and sprinted down the hall to the master bedroom, but would the girls be safe there? Savannah looked around, calculating. The bedroom had a door, but where was the key? She did not have time to find it. Panicked and terrified, she looked for a place to hide. Then she saw the master bathroom. Without another thought, she scooped up her niece and ran inside, slamming and locking the door behind her.

Then she heard a sound that made her blood run cold. The man, emboldened, was not going to wait to be let in. Savannah heard the sickening sound of wood splintering as he broke down the front door. She gathered her wits and tried to calm Zoe down.

“We are playing a game,” Savannah whispered, though she could not keep her voice from trembling.

“You must be as quiet as you can,” she instructed.

They could not make a sound. Savannah could hear the man inside the house now, stomping around. Then she heard his heavy footsteps walking through the hallway and entering the master bedroom. She told Zoe to hide behind the toilet, and she crouched in front of her, readying herself. She was going to make sure that nothing happened to her niece.

As they crouched in silence, Savannah knew that it was only a matter of time before the man found them. What could she do? Her eyes stared at the bathroom door like a frightened animal as she braced herself for the worst. But what was this? Just then, she became aware of something in her pocket pressing into her thigh. Savannah slid her phone out of her pocket. How could she have forgotten she had it? Now she could get help, but would help come in time?

She frantically texted her mother with shaking fingers, but autocorrect made the first message unintelligible after sending: “i’m baby.”

She tried again: “He’s inside mom he’s going to hear me.”

While she was waiting for her mom’s reply, she could hear the man walking around the house, opening doors and rifling through cupboards. When Maria finally read her daughter’s message, a chill went down her spine. But she was too far away to do anything, and emergency services would take too long. Still, she knew she had to act immediately.

Meanwhile, the girls waited in silence. They could hear the man ransacking the house, but Savannah prayed that he would not try to get into the bathroom.

“I kept staring at the door and hoping he wouldn’t try to open it,” she recalled.

Then, after what felt like hours, she got a text back from her mom. Maria had called a neighbor, and it was not long after that Savannah heard another man’s voice echoing through the house. Relief washed over her in waves as she heard the intruder, spooked, begin to scramble. He sprinted down the hall and pushed past the neighbor before disappearing out of sight.

Soon after, the police arrived on the scene. Thankfully, the man had only ransacked two rooms of the house, and everyone was grateful that he had not found the girls hiding in the bathroom. Montclair police officers, including a canine unit, conducted an extensive search for the home invader, but despite his scent being on just about everything, the man had escaped.

Then Maria and Savannah’s sister arrived on the scene. Naturally, Savannah’s mom and sister were extremely proud of how she had taken control of the situation.

“She was very smart and brave,” said her sister, Yesenia.

“She did everything right.”

Savannah, understandably, has mixed feelings about the ordeal. Her main concern is that the man was never caught and is still out there. Today, Savannah Jones is working with her family to process what happened that fateful day. She shares that she is still experiencing a range of emotions.

“Relief, and then knowing that he’s still out there… I don’t know, scary,” she told a local news station.

She described the intruder to the police, and the investigation remains active. The police in the Montclair area continue their search for him and are confident he will not return to the residence anytime soon. Savannah’s story stands as an enduring reminder for any young babysitter left alone in a house: always keep your phone on you, never engage an intruder, and stay composed so you can keep yourself and those in your care safe.