He said he had been with Detective Smith for about an hour the previous day and had just left his probation officer. When officers asked why anyone would make such a serious accusation about his house, he blamed drug users. He suggested the person making the claim was a "crackhead" who might simply want more drugs. When an officer then asked whether he had crack, he became offended that the question had been asked on camera and denied having any.
The exchange about the basement went in circles. Officers kept trying to reduce the situation to a simple question: if nobody was being held downstairs, why not let them verify that and leave? Delante treated the request as an intrusion that could destroy his value as an informant. "There's nobody in the basement," he said more than once, but every request to see for themselves received the same answer: no.
The officers also tried to identify him. Delante repeatedly said he could not provide his name because he was a confidential informant. When they told him that informant status did not end a welfare investigation, he referred again to Detective Smith and insisted the detective would vouch for him. He even moved toward giving identifying information such as his Social Security number, prompting officers to tell him not to say sensitive information out loud on camera.
His anxiety sharpened whenever anyone suggested calling Smith directly. Delante said the number of police cars outside was exposing him and that people connected to the street could drive past, see the scene, and conclude that he was cooperating with police. "You're about to get me killed out this," he said. Officers reminded him that they had not arrived because of his informant work; they were there because someone had reported a possible injured woman being held inside.
One officer pressed the obvious point: why would a stranger invent a story about a woman tied up in this particular basement? Delante blamed people who used crack cocaine. When asked why such a person would target his house, he answered that they probably wanted more crack. That answer immediately led to another question—did he have crack in the house? Delante denied it, then angrily asked why an officer would say something like that while a camera was recording.
The officers' private conversation afterward showed that they had not accepted his explanations at face value. One said that every confidential informant he had dealt with was still capable of getting into trouble. Another said his biggest concern was not Delante's attitude itself but the chance that the original caller had been right. They talked through how to make a limited entry, how to keep backup near the exits, and how to listen for anyone calling for help over the music.
The man was later identified in the source as Delante Edmund Guyger. Officers allowed him to go back inside while they talked among themselves about what they had just heard. One officer asked whether the others had dealt with confidential informants before. Another said that informant status did not make someone incapable of committing a crime and admitted that Delante's behavior made him worry there really might be someone in the basement.
The officers discussed how to handle the situation safely. The loud music inside the house had become another point of concern because it made it harder to hear anything happening deeper inside. They eventually persuaded Delante to allow a limited check. A sergeant went into the house while other officers remained nearby as backup.
Before entering, officers talked through what would happen if someone inside called for help. One stayed positioned to respond if the sergeant shouted. Their plan was deliberately limited because the information they had was still uncertain and Delante had not given unrestricted permission to search every room. That limitation would later become one of the most important facts in the case, because the first visit established only that nobody was visible in the basement area the officers checked.
During that first entry, Delante continued talking almost nonstop. He told officers that he had been stabbed seven times and shot twice and said those experiences were why he reacted strongly to police suddenly surrounding the property. He claimed he was trying to leave his old life behind and help law enforcement instead. The officers did not argue with that history, but they kept returning to the immediate problem: they needed to make sure no one inside was being hurt.
The music remained an issue. An officer told Delante to turn it down and eventually asked that it be turned off completely while the sergeant was downstairs. The reason was practical—if anyone yelled or moved in another part of the house, the officers wanted to hear it. Delante asked them to relax and continued assuring them there was nobody being held there.
At one point officers also noticed scratches on Delante's hand and asked what had happened. He gave no explanation that changed the direction of the investigation. After the basement had been checked, he talked about walking to the store as the officers left. Nothing visible in the limited search established that the original report was true, so the officers cleared the scene.
The basement check did not reveal a woman being held there. The officers left without finding the person described in the original tip. From their perspective, the allegation had not been confirmed, although Delante's behavior remained unusual. From Delante's perspective, the encounter was over.
It was not over for long.