Police: Children missing at 'haunted' Villa Nabila in Danga Bay not true

JOHOR BARU - There's no truth to social media reports that a group of 23 children went missing at Villa Nabila, an abandoned bungalow in Danga Bay here reputed to be among the five spookiest places in the country.

Johor Baru (South) deputy OCPD Supt Abdul Samad Salleh said Monday that police had only received a report about a 16-year-old boy missing since Saturday and purportedly seen entering the villa.

"It is just hearsay. I urged the public not to believe in it and to stop spreading rumours," he said when met at the scene.

Rumours have been circulating on the Internet that a group of kids playing in the abandoned house had gone missing.

Supt Samad Salled said police have registered a missing persons report over the teenage boy.

US-based travel portal Expedia recently listed Danga Bay as among the five most haunted places in Malaysia due to the location of Villa Nabila.

The bungalow is perched on a hill that overlooks the Straits of Johor.

There are several versions of how the 40-year-old building earned its reputation, including one about murder in a wealthy Caucasian family that once lived there.

Another version tells of how the maid killed the family, including a daughter named Nabila, and buried their bodies in the compound.

Yet another tale is that the family was killed by two hit men, hired by a relative due to greed.