Homeless woman lived inside Michigan supermarket sign for nearly a year

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Contractors working at a Michigan grocery store were surprised to find an extension cord leading to the roof, where they made a startling discovery: a 34-year-old woman had been living inside the business sign.

Police revealed that she had managed to create a living space complete with a computer, printer, and even a coffee maker, according to the Associated Press.

“She was homeless,” Officer Brennon Warren of the Midland Police Department said Thursday. “It’s a story that makes you scratch your head, just somebody living up in a sign.”

The woman, whose identity remains undisclosed, told authorities that despite having a job elsewhere, she had been residing inside the Family Fare sign for about a year, as per Warren. She was found on April 23.

Midland, famously known as the global headquarters of Dow Inc., is located 130 miles north of Detroit.

The Family Fare store is in a retail strip, with a triangular-shaped sign at the top of the building. Warren described the sign structure as approximately 5 feet wide and 8 feet high, with a door accessible from the roof.

“There was some flooring that was laid down. A mini desk,” he said. “Her clothing. A Keurig coffee maker. A printer and a computer — things you’d have in your home.”

To power her makeshift living space, the woman had connected an extension cord to an outlet on the roof, as noted by Warren.

Despite the absence of a visible ladder, Warren speculated that the woman might have accessed the roof by climbing up from behind the store or using neighboring retail businesses, the Associated Press said.

The woman cooperated with authorities and agreed to leave the premises without any charges being pursued.

The director of a local nonprofit organization, specializing in food and shelter assistance, emphasized the urgent need for more housing options for low-income residents in Midland, a city with a population of 42,000.