Elderly woman discovers naked man living in crawl space under her home in California

LAPD officers were forced to deploy tear gas and unleashed its K9 officers in an attempt to extract Betancourt from underneath the home, but the suspect remained unphased. Police finally removed him after spending countless hours and resources.

Ricardo Silva, the son-in-law of the elderly homeowner, told NBC News that the family had been hearing strange noises for weeks, but first assumed it was a wild animal. The noises became impossible to ignore and the family decided to call the police.

"He refused to leave," said Silva. "He wasn't scared of the dogs, and the first two attempts at gas didn't fish him out." Betancourt had reportedly been residing underneath the home for at least six months, police said.

"The noises were kind of like knocking. It was kind of like, as my wife was walking, they were kind of knocking back from under the house so she says, 'You know something's wrong," Silva explained.

The crawl space is only two feet high and has three separate entrances that extend across the bottom of the home. The family intends to board up the space as quickly as possible. Silva said that while the situation has been "bizarre," people "in this day and age" are "looking for shelter." He believes the incident is "probably not uncommon" in the homeless-ridden state.

Betancourt was released from jail on Sunday afternoon. His arraignment has been scheduled for Dec. 6.