Yesterday we brought you the heartwarming story of half-sisters, who had never met, until in a bizarre twist of fate, they became neighbours. 

It’s great when family comes together.

It’s not so great when families lock themselves in a basement for nine years to wait for the end of the world, though.

According to The Guardian, a man and what was first assumed to be his adult children were found by police, holed up in the basement of their remote farm home in Drenthe in the Netherlands:

The group of six were discovered after the oldest son, 25, visited a local bar, the Kastelein cafe. On the first occasion, 10 days ago, he “ordered and drank five beers on his own”, the owner, Chris Westerbeek, told broadcaster RTV Drenthe.

When the man reappeared last Sunday, he “looked confused”, Westerbeek said. “He was unkempt, with long tangled hair. We got talking. He said he had run away and needed help, and that he had never been to school. Then we called the police.”

When he arrived at the bar, he revealed that it was his first outing in nine years and that he had younger brothers and sisters who all wanted to change their circumstances.

Keep reading. The story gets weirder.

Six adults were removed and were being taken care of, police confirmed, while a 58-year-old odd-job man who was renting the farmhouse was arrested after refusing to cooperate with their inquiry.

Named by local media as Josef B, he is not the father of the young adults, according to police.

Several neighbours in the village of 4,000 inhabitants told RTV Drenthe they had only ever seen a man who drove an old Volvo car on the property and assumed he lived there alone, although one said they had seen young children there some years ago and several reported hearing noises from the farm even when the man was absent.

You can see some of the interviews with some of the locals here:

BBC has more on the relationship between the people found in the basement:

The older man, who has been arrested, was initially assumed to be the father, but local mayor Roger de Groot later told reporters that was not the case. Nor was the man the owner of the farmhouse, Mr de Groot said, adding: “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Needless to say, there is an ongoing investigation into what exactly happened on the farm.

“We still have many unanswered questions,” they said, adding that all scenarios were open and their investigation was fully under way.

The farmhouse and the surrounding grounds were cordoned off.

It was unclear how long the family had been in the basement or what had happened to the children’s mother, although the mayor said she had died some time ago.

I’m sure all will be revealed in time.

[source:guardian&bbc]