Town gets involved after New Jersey family says they are being stalked at new home

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Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Town gets involved after family says they're being stalked at new home
Michelle Charlesworth has the details.

WESTFIELD -- Local officials in one New Jersey town are now getting involved after a North Jersey family spoke out about stalked at their new home.

The new homeowners say that ever since they bought their house in an upscale Union County neighborhood, they've been receiving threatening letters.

It's a case so bizarre and upsetting to this tight-knit community that the mayor now speaking out.

"The homeowners received what can only be classified as disturbing letters shortly after closing on their house purchase," Westfield Mayor Andy Skibitsky said.

The family is so afraid that they dont want their names released. They say the letters come from someone calling himself "the watcher" and were mailed to them just days after they bought the $1.3 million home last June. With three kids, they won't move in.

"Over a year ago, our police department conducted an exhaustive investigation," Skibitsky said. "Such efforts, however, have not yielded information leading to charges being filed."

The family says the letters include messages like "all of the windows and doors allow me to watch you and track you as you move through the house" and "I watch and wait for the day the young blood will

be mine again."

The family has filed a lawsuit against the previous owners, claiming they received at least one letter before they sold the house but never told them about it.

Area residents who know the family don't blame them for not moving in.

"I probably would have done the same thing," neighbor Colleen Schmidt said. "If I had that situation, I would not move in with my young children either."

According to reports, the watcher allegedly wrote that the home has been "the subject of my family for decades" and claims he was "put in charge of watching and waiting for its second coming."

The watcher included an ominous question and promise, writing: "Why are you here? I will find out."

The family also says the watcher wrote: "I am pleased to know your names now and the name of the young blood you have brought to me."

"I'd be horrified," neighbor Kaeley Hay said. "I wouldn't want a stalker."

Nobody knows who the watcher is, but this family says they aren't willing to find out.