Serial killers? Drugs? Money laundering? Just some of the wild theories a former-Sooke couple has been sent by the general public after they made a rather strange, but cuddly discovery hidden in the walls of their home.
Pulling back pieces of drywall in the garage at their new home near Spectacle Lake, Connor Nijsse and Brianne Hinkkuri found instead of insulation, 115 stuffed animals crammed into the wall.
“There were dozens of stuffed animal eyes staring back at me,” said Nijsse. “I was in disbelief.”
The bizarre moment was captured on video and shared on Nijsse’s TikTok page, Connor’s Custom Woodwork (c.c. woodwork), which quickly went viral, garnering over five million views.
That’s when the theories started to roll in.
“One woman reached out saying this must be a serial killer house,” said Nijsse. “That the family were adopting and killing orphans and the stuffed animals belonged to them.”
“People watch too much true crime on television."
Suggestions the toys were packed full of drugs or money were also quickly dismissed by the couple.
“We opened up a couple of them, it was just stuffing,” said Nijsse. “There’s nothing good in any of them.”
The truth about the stuffed animal mystery? The couple have their own, rather less exciting theory: the bags of toys were quite simply, insulation.
According to Nijsse, the previous owners had lived at the property for 30 years. When building the garage in the early 2000s, the couple used the toys, no longer wanted by their three adult children, as a cost-saving method to insulate the walls, speculate the couple.
"Not quite as exciting as a serial killer,” says Nijsse. “But that’s what makes sense to us.”
As well as messages from wannabe online sleuths, the couple’s video has also sparked fond memories world-wide.
“People are telling us they recognize stuffies from their childhood and that they’d love to have them again,” said Nijsse.
In response to the outpouring of nostalgia, the retro toys, which Nijsse and Hinkkuri think could originate from the ‘80s and ‘90s, are now winging their way across the world to new homes.
A pink elephant is headed for Las Vegas, a brown bear to Indiana, a pair of yellow ducks to the U.K. and a plaid monkey with brilliant blue eyes is on its way to South Carolina.
Dealing with multiple requests a day, Nijsse says he has become a familiar face at his local branch of Canada Post, with staff also recognizing him from the TikTok video. His viral fame has also changed things, maybe not for the better, at work.
“The girls at work have started calling me ‘Teddy’,” said Nijsse. “I'm not really sure how I feel about that.”
But not all of the stuffed animals will be leaving the couple's home. One ‘big brown bear’ that caught the eye of Nijsse will be staying put, while some unlucky cuddly critters are headed straight back to where they came from: the garage wall.
“Just to make it a little weirder for the next guy,” jokes Nijsse. “Pay it forward in a strange sort of way.”
With files from Christine van Reeuwyk
@c.c.woodwork Things you find… Part 1 #stuffedanimals #beaniebabies #reducereuserecycle ♬ original sound - Connor Nijsse
