A North Carolina woman believes that there may be a trafficking system taking place at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville. After a couple of years, she’s ready to tell the reason why.
In a video with 429,000 views, @tnmamabear5 explained how a day of horse riding, a tour of the mansion, and attending a laser show turned sinister. That’s because she, and a friend who had joined her for the day, encountered a man named Elon halfway through the tour.
Originally, Elon offered to take the two women’s photographs for them. @tnmamabear5 got an uneasy feeling standing next to him, feeling an “intuition” that something wasn’t right that her friend didn’t notice. They let the man, who may have been in another tour group, take a photo for them. They quickly moved away, but @tnmamabear5 noticed Elon in the frame of multiple other photos they took throughout the day—always alone.
After they had finished touring the mansion, Elon appeared again, asking if they wanted their picture taken. They obliged and even took a photo for him. Then, two of Elon’s friends who seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Then, they left for a laser show scheduled that night.
No matter where they go—the men follow
When they arrived at their next event to close up their day, they quickly realized that Elon was also there, alongside his two companions. There were several moments where @tnmamabear5 felt followed, especially as the men appeared in various separate rooms they walked in.
@tnmamabear5 questioned if they were being followed, but she didn’t have confirmation yet. Then, it got worse. They went to a restaurant around six minutes away from the laser show afterward and saw the same three men there. “ We park, we go in to put our name on the list, and as we’re coming out, we literally run into these men. And I’m like, oh my gosh, we know we’re being followed,” @tnmamabear5 said.
Letting the restaurant know
The women had to alert the restaurant staff, pointing out that they had seen the three men “everywhere” at that point. Their waitress brought them to a secluded area where they could eat in peace, pointing out that the men were eating at the patio anyway and probably wouldn’t find them inside. They ate slowly, to see if the men would leave first, but it was of little use. After a full dinner service, the waitress let them know that the men were still sitting at their table, and it wasn’t safe for them to go just yet.
Restaurant staff agreed to call a sheriff in town to escort them, and both women decided to go to the bathroom to cool off. But as they got up from their table, @tnmamabear5 noticed a peculiar man sitting behind them in the restaurant.
A gut feeling
@tnmamabear5 said, “ I just got this gut feeling. The spirit [told] me [that man was] involved. We [got] down to the bathroom, and I turned to my friend and I said, ‘That man sitting behind me, he’s involved.’ And she’s like, ‘You think? I don’t think so… He was with a woman. They were drinking wine.’ I’m like, ‘We’re at a restaurant, like why would they not be eating food?””
Her friend eventually agreed, and they both quietly went back to their table to avoid further suspicion. When they came back, the man had left.
@tnmamabear5 said her suspicion’s got confirmed due to his quick exit: “ He just went out and alerted those guys that we were leaving and he’s coming back in… That is when I knew he was absolutely involved…. I’m grabbing onto my friend and we’re just watching him… We’re… kind of freaking out ’cause we realized we [were] being followed, we [were] being trafficked.”
The sheriff arrived and safely escorted them outside, but not before two of the men stared at them as they left. As they exited toward the road, they saw the third man.
“ I got the sickest feeling in my gut then right at the edge of the road, right, the right before you cross the road. To go down into the parking lot,” @tnmamabear5 said. “The third man is standing right there at the edge of the road. I know without a shadow of a doubt, he would’ve tried to talk to us.”
@tnmamabear5 #trafficking #fyp #biltmore #ashvillenc #biltmoremansion ♬ original sound – TNMAMABEAR5
Women share similar stories of the Biltmore
Toward the end of her video, @tnmamabear5 warned her viewers to always be aware and trust their intuition. “ Look… we were 42 at the time. We are old. We didn’t think we would ever be trafficked, but it is happening everywhere. Always [watch]… and [look] out.”
Other commenters shared similar sentiments, adding, “The theory of trafficking at the Biltmore is really plausible because you don’t tour the whole house so there’s rooms available to hide people.. I’ve always said that place would be a good hideout.”
Others said that Asheville isn’t safe in general. “Asheville is the worst! It’s not a safe place to be,” added one viewer.
The Mary Sue has reached out to The Biltmore and @tnmamabear5 for comment.
Update Nov. 7, 2025:
In a comment to The Mary Sue, @tnmamabear5 clarified when the incident took place.
“This happened [in] January of 2023,” she said. “We did not report it to the Biltmore. We just told the Sheriff. Unfortunately, I had to leave out a lot of the little details because I didn’t have a lot of time on here to share every detail of the experience we had. But it was absolutely terrifying.”
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