It was late in the night when the police got a call from five-year-old Mia, who was visibly distressed and wanted someone to help her. Her trembling voice could barely whisper, “Please… can you come? Someone’s under the bed. I’m scared.”

Her parents noticed her speaking to the police and tried to assure the operator that their daughter was just imagining things. “You know how children are,” her mother was quick to say. However, the dispatcher wasn’t fully convinced. It could be just her imagination, but based on her voice, little Mia was genuinely scared, and she probably needed someone other than her mom and dad to assure her that she was safe.

It didn’t take long before two officers arrived at Mia’s family’s suburban home.

When they saw her, she was gripping her stuffed bear tightly and led them to her room. They checked under her bed, and there was nothing but some forgotten toys and some dust. One of the officers smiled at Mia and was about to say goodbye, when the other one held up a hand, signaling for silence.

Then they heard a faint metallic scraping coming from under the bedroom floor. It was real. Mia hadn’t imagined it.

Sensing something wasn’t right, the officers took a closer look at the floor. One of them knocked near the bed, and the sound echoed hollow. They went to the garage for tools and started prying up the floorboards. Just beneath, the soil looked freshly disturbed.

After they started digging carefully, they uncovered a sealed metal hatch.

They discovered a narrow tunnel running under the neighborhood.

The officers called for backup and in no time, Mia’s neighborhood was crowded with other officers and detectives.

Soon, they located three escaped convicts, dirty and exhausted, hiding in the shadows. For days, maybe longer, they’d been digging through the night, staying quiet enough to avoid being heard and caught. But they weren’t quiet enough for Mia.

Her sharp instincts brought the escape attempt to an end, with the three men arrested and the tunnels sealed off.

That night, as officers cleared the scene and returned to the house, Mia could finally get some rest and fall asleep. She was glad someone heard her cries for help, despite her mom and dad believing that she was just imagining things.