Barrington police received a phone call on Monday, April 20 from someone who spotted a green tent set up in a wooded area of Haines Park near the end of Lake Avenue.

Officers responded to the scene and located the tent. Police said two people were living in the tent — a 27-year-old man from Central Falls and a 31-year-old woman with no known last address.

Both people told police they were homeless, but did not want to stay in any of the homeless shelters, as they were concerned about contracting the coronavirus, which they said was widespread in the shelters.

Police told the man and woman that they could not stay in the Haines Park woods. They agreed to vacate the area.

The very next morning, police received a phone call from someone reporting a second, different tent erected in Haines Park — this tent was apparently in the woods behind Atria Bay Spring Village property.

Officers trekked through the woods at about 9:35 a.m. to find the people staying in the second tent, but no one was there. Police are still trying to contact the people living in the second tent.

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