Homeless people have dug a network of caves under Kansas City to live in
Intricate Underground City for Homeless Uncovered In Kansas City, Mo. | AOL Real Estate
Police in Kansas City, Mo., have uncovered an "underground suburb" where homeless people have been living, the likes of which homeless outreach groups have never seen, local station KMBC-TV reported. An intricate network of tunnels and caves had been carved underground, some as far down as 20 to 25 feet. Inside, police found rooms with bedding and candles. There were tents propped above ground, suggesting that several people were calling the unlikely place home.
"This one kind of goes back," Officer Jason Cooley said, in describing a tunnel to KMBC, while surveying the grounds. "The tents over here, I can guarantee you they're still lived-in because of the condition they're in. They're clean. They were more than likely used just last night."
According to The Kansas City Star, some of the entryways to the underground tunnels were concealed, while others had wood stacked around them or were completely open. Police discovered the underground complex while investigating cases of copper theft in a nearby industrial area. They came back to evict the homeless "tenants" because of squalid conditions, KMBC reported. "We're working to find out if, in fact, they've got kids down here because this is not a safe environment for that," Cooley said. A pile of diapers had been found at the scene. Police used Bobcat bulldozers to dig up the debris surrounding the campsite and to fill in the tunnels dug underground.
