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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sophie Norris & Courtney Pochin

Couple thought they'd found 'human remains' in car - and even police were mystified

True crime has become increasingly popular over the last few years, with people getting hooked on podcasts and Netflix documentaries exploring baffling murders and disappearances.

Deborah and William Lieber from Wisconsin, US, are two such people who have become hooked on the craze, with the couple loving listening to crime podcasts while travelling in the car.

And the pair recently thought they'd somehow ended up in the middle of a potential murder investigation after finding what they thought to be 'human remains' in their vehicle.

Even the police seemed mystified as to what was going on when they showed them 'human hair' they'd found in their exhaust pipe.

They thought they had found 'human remains' (Kennedy News and Media)

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Deborah told how she was planning a Valentine's party last Thursday (Feb 10) when her husband arrived home looking 'visibly rattled'.

The 48-year-old A&E doctor had a large 'clump of hair' in his hand, explaining that it had been hanging out of their 2016 Ford Expedition.

Flustered, they headed out to the driveway, where William began fishing more of the stuff out of the exhaust pipe.

Mum-of-four Deborah instantly feared there were human remains inside the family motor, before her true crime knowledge even led her to wonder if it could be 'voodoo' from someone 'out to get them'.

They called the police and even they were left stumped by the whole thing.

"We'd explained that we found it in our exhaust pipe, didn't know what it was and assumed it wasn't human hair," recalls Deborah.

"The law enforcement officer looked at it with total confusion. He was just as baffled as we were. He started kicking it around and looking for body parts. He said there weren't any, there wasn't a scalp that'd make him think it was human hair and there was nothing to indicate it was once alive.

"He said he'd file a report and went to ask our neighbours to review their CCTV."

Thankfully Deborah's brother-in-law was soon able to solve the mystery - it wasn't human hair at all, it was all caused by a broken silencer, which sheds insulation material when it is about to break.

Even the police were baffled by the whole thing (Kennedy News and Media)

Speaking about the ordeal, Deborah said: "When William returned, he came in and was really flustered and rattled.

"He said 'Deb, there's hair coming out of our exhaust pipe'. He held up a clump of hair. He didn't know what was going on.

"He's a very calm guy, he's used to handling emergencies for work but he was very flustered. I knew something was freaking him out.

"He said there was a lot more in there and he couldn't get it with his hands.

"He grabbed a clothes hanger and went off to finish pulling it out. I went outside to help him and when I got to our car, I saw this mound of hair."

Deborah and William Lieber had a good laugh when they learned the truth (Kennedy News and Media)

She continued: "I instantly thought it could be remains in the car. We listen to crime podcasts when riding in the car together.

"We both thought it looked exactly like human hair. I thought 'is this a witch-like thing? Is this voodoo?'

"I didn't know much about it but it seemed like something out of one of the podcasts we'd listened to, or The Ring, or Blair Witch Project.

"It looked like hair. It was soft like hair. I couldn't really process what was going on."

The pair went back inside while William washed his hands and decided they should call the police, fearful someone had tried to intentionally tamper with their car.

"We didn't see anybody parts or claws that would make us think it was an animal. It almost looked like a Halloween wig," the mum explained

"It looked like an intentional act and someone was sabotaging our car. We didn't know who, or why, but more importantly, we didn't know what the hair was."

Soon their mystery was solved and the couple couldn't help but laugh when they learned the truth - admitting they were relieved not to be the protagonists in their own horror movie.

Deborah, 46, shared images of the bizarre find online, where she claims her friends joked the 'highlighted' muffler hair looked nicer than their own.

Deborah said: "We'd sent out a message to say 'look what we found - this is horrible'.

"Our brother-in-law, who's an IT guy, looked it up online and found what looked exactly like what we'd found.

"He said in some cars there's fibrous material they use for insulation. It looks and feels like human hair.

"When that breaks down, when a muffler is about to go, it sheds the hair-like product out of the tailpipe.

"I couldn't believe anything mechanical could cause something like this but sure enough, it looked exactly like what we'd found.

"People were seeing the story on social media and they were as horrified as I was. I was surprised by the number of people who had had similar happen to them.

"A lot of my friends were like 'how does this muffler have such beautiful hair with highlights and lowlights'? They were joking that the muffler has nicer hair than them."

We pay for stories. Do you have a bizarre tale to share? Email courtney.pochin@mirror.co.uk

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