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The couple who rented to Karl Michael Roush when he lived on Bounds Street described him as a loner whose behavior changed after the abduction of Sofia Silva.
Charles and Patti Hudson rented the basement of their split-foyer house to Roush for $275 a month. Roush answered a classified ad placed by the Hudsons in May and lived with them and their young daughter until mid-September.
Roush had his own entrance through sliding-glass doors on the lower level, and had use of a living room, bedroom and bathroom.
The Hudsons said Roush didn't have a regular schedule and spent a lot of time sitting at his homemade bar, drinking Budweisers and later Jack Daniels. For meals, he went to fast-food restaurants, brought the food back to the house to eat and left the trash scattered about. Frequently, he slept on the couch in the living room rather than in his bed, they said.
Roush is divorced and the father of an 8-year-old daughter. The Hudsons said they do not remember him dating anyone or having any visitors, except on a few occasions when his daughter was there.
Roush was a self-employed painter, who listed the Hudson's phone number in his classified newspaper ads.
Patti Hudson said she got calls intended for him from potential customers. Sometimes he seemed indifferent about the work, she said, telling her to take a message or getting on the phone himself to say he was too busy to take the job.
Hudson said one customer called the house repeatedly to complain about him. The Free LanceöStar stopped running Roush's classified ad because he paid his bill late and because customers called to complain about him, according to Robert Miller, classified manager.
Charles Hudson said he wondered how Roush got the money to pay his bills. He paid his rent on time, Hudson said, and traded his old blue panel van for a newer gray Dodge Caravan after moving there.
Hudson said Roush told him he sold the old van for $500, but Hudson said the vehicle sat for months afterward in front of the Food Lion at the Chancellor Shopping Center on State Route 3.
Several neighbors on Bounds Street said this week that they remember seeing Roush in his gray van but did not know him or speak to him.
Eddie Hurd, who lives two doors away from the Hudsons, said he noticed Roush because he drove so slowly.
Hudson said Roush never drove faster than 10 mph in the subdivision. Hudson said a neighbor complained about his driving, prior to Sofia Silva's disappearance, saying that he slowed down to talk to children.
Charles Hudson described Roush as a casual drinker before Sofia's disappearance. Afterward, he drank continuously, he said.
"The guy just turned," Hudson said. "From the moment she disappeared, he totally snapped."
Roush moved out of the house five days after the disappearance and offered the Hudsons no explanation. Hudson said he is not sure where Roush went.
Hudson said he wondered about Roush's behavior but did not suspect he knew anything about the Silva case until Oct. 14, when her body was discovered.
Staff reporter Kate Bailey contributed to this story.
