Imagine having a house party you're not even at? A couple contacted KFOX14 after strangers broke in and celebrated in their home in East El Paso.

"We didn't know if there somebody was still in the house and we were afraid to come in," said Yvonne Elmore.

She owns the house but doesn't live there; she rents it out and has crews fixing it up for the next person who will call it home.

"In the past occasionally they've forgotten to shut a window or lock the doors and so I came on Thursday to make sure that everything was locked that all the windows were secured," said Elmore.

But when she came back to check on the home Sunday afternoon it looked like someone had moved in for a night and decided to throw a party.

"I looked in the window and just was really shocked. The living room was completely littered with beer cans, hard liquor bottles and there was food all over the floor. There was jello-shots splattered on the walls, blankets and sheets and I had no clue if anyone was still inside the house," she said.

Elmore and her husband called police right away, but she said it took hours for them to respond.

"We called the police several times because they weren't responding. They showed up hours later because they had a high volume of calls. Eventually my husband went in and no one was inside.
I was really upset because we don't even have parties at our own house. Why does somebody think its okay to have a party at my home because it's unoccupied and think they can be irresponsible and do whatever they want? Using my electricity my water, they left my air conditioner on, they used my fans, my back yard and then they left a mess for me to clean up," said Elmore.

After speaking to neighbors they found out police had been there the night before, too.

"There were four squad cars, she said it looked like roaches scattering, probably underage drinkers," she said.

Elmore said eventually police showed up Sunday afternoon, but she isn't happy with how the situation was handled.

"I understand they have a very difficult job but I have to question the poor judgment of letting a bunch of people who've been drinking leave in their automobiles and not notifying the owner," she said.

KFOX14 reached out to El Paso Police about the situation and this was spokesman Chris Mears written response.

"An officer responded and noticed a 'house party' going on with most of the subjects fleeing when they observed the officer," the response said. "The officer was able to detain three subjects and completed a police report. At the time of the incident the officer did not have contact with the home owner; therefore, he identified the subjects present and completed the police report. The following afternoon the home owner contacted police to report damage to the residence. This was also documented in the police report and it is currently being investigated by detectives from the Pebble Hills Regional Command."