The State - News from Oct. 15, 1986

A family that moved into the wrong house, fixed it up and lived there for 10 days before the mix-up was discovered has left town in disgust over the affair, police in the San Joaquin Valley town of Atwater said. “It was an honest mistake,” Detective Bill Frost said. “I call it the Clampett case, because it reminds me of something Jed and Jethro (of the “Beverly Hillbillies” TV series) might do.” Shawn Hoopaugh had answered a newspaper ad listing a two-bedroom home for rent at 740 Elm St. It is owned by Maral Saber, 86, of nearby Turlock, who gave Hoopaugh directions and a general description of the house. When Hoopaugh and his family went to check out the house, they mistook another dwelling across the street for Saber’s. They paid Saber $475 rent and moved in. A startled real estate saleswoman who recently sold the house discovered the family and called police. “They’re kind of disgusted with the whole affair, and they’ve since decided they’d just like to get the hell out of town,” Frost said.