Daniel and his family moved out only weeks later. “I couldn’t stay there,” he admitted. “Every time I tried to sleep, I saw those photographs.” The house remains vacant to this day. Neighbors still call it the house with two basements. Some swear they’ve seen faint lights flicker in the windows at night, even though the electricity was disconnected years ago.
Daniel says he’s done his best to move on, but one image refuses to leave his mind. In the final photograph—the one taken just before the doctor disappeared—the man in the black suit is finally facing the camera. His eyes, hollow and sharp, seem to stare straight into Daniel’s.
To this day, no one knows how many children were taken to that basement, or what exactly happened to them. But one thing is certain: Daniel’s home renovation uncovered a secret that will haunt Portland forever.