Iowa couple discovers secret room behind bookcase in the home they've lived in for FOUR years

After living in their home for four years, an Iowa couple was astounded to find a hidden room tucked away behind a wall in their basement.

Maridith Morris, a nurse and certified midwife, shared the discovery to TikTok in a series of videos that racked up nearly 20 million views.

She recorded her husband stepping behind a bookshelf and sliding the wall aside to reveal a metal door and, beyond, a cramped room only big enough for a few people.

'What the f***, we have never seen this in our house and we have lived here for four years,' Morris remarked in one clip.

She explained how the couple stumbled across the room when they were tearing up carpet in the basement. 

The room was largely unremarkable, save for some peculiar red smudges surrounding a drain on the floor.

The blood-like spots prompted Morris to ask, 'Should we bring in a cadaver dog?'  

Her husband, a physician, had his own theory. 'I think this was meant as a kind of panic room,' he said.

Users in the comments pitched their own ideas about the room's intended purpose, with some theories more sinister than others.

'Ma’am, that screams murder room. You can only open the door from the outside, there is a floor drain and “rust” on the floor,' one commenter wrote. 'I think you guys need to have the police come in and look at that.'

'It actually looks like a room that a serial killer took his victims to chop them up. Look at the random drain in the floor,' another remarked.

Yet another user suggested the couple use a black light to 'see if it's blood or not.'

Other users were not convinced. 'Everyone is saying jail cell, but with all that electrical in there, I think they were growing pot,' one commenter wrote.

In subsequent videos, the couple showed their kids the mysterious room. Morris recorded her daughter and two young sons - one of whom entered the space armed with a wooden cross - as they gazed around in disbelief.

The nurse later revealed that the room was not an oddity in the house, as it boasted several other hidden spaces.

The couple was already aware of one hidden room at the time of their discovery. This one was located on the other side of a mirror and had been converted into a playroom.

Morris demonstrated how the mirror swung open like a door, revealing a staircase and beyond, a pile of toys.

'One of the reasons that I wanted this house was that I loved the hidden room,' she said. 'Unfortunately, the mirror isn't as tight since the kids use it all the time. It's been kind of abused.'

Still, some TikTok users expressed that their was cause for concern regarding the strange 'rust' spots and drain on the floor.

'This is wildly inappropriate,' one commenter raged under a video of Morris' boys exploring the space. 'There's a real chance that one or more crimes were committed here and instead of calling the cops you're joking about it online.'

According to the mother of three, police stopped by the house to take a look at the room but found no reason to investigate.

'They did not see any signs of crime, they are not investigating anything, they did not see anything that looked like DNA evidence that needed to be collected,' Morris said.

However, she added, 'they were really impressed on how the room was hidden and that it was really cool.'