Police in Greenville, South Carolina have stepped up patrols after receiving more reports of people dressed in clown outfits trying to lure children into a wooded area.
On Aug. 21, Greenville County sheriff’s deputies responded to reports of clown sightings near the Fleetwood Manor Apartments complex in southern Greenville which backs onto a cluster of trees.
“I was conducting a follow up investigation in reference to residents making several reports of a suspicious character, dressed in circus attire and white face paint, enticing kids to follow him/her into the woods,” an officer wrote in an incident report.
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While the story may sound like something taken from a Stephen King novel, according to the report, a woman said her son had seen clowns in the woods “whispering and making strange noises.”
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When the woman went to the area to investigate she “observed several clowns in the woods flashing green laser lights.”
However, deputies who investigated the report last week said they found no evidence of anyone in the woods behind the apartment complex.
But that hasn’t eased the minds of members in the community. Local media outlets identified the woman in the report as Donna Arnold who initially thought her son was lying.
“And then the next day, there was like 30 kids that came up to me and said, ‘Ms. Donna, Ms. Donna, there’s clowns in the woods,’” she told WYFF. “My child was with me, so I knew they had to see something. There was more than one kid that seen them, so I feel confident that he was telling the truth.”
A letter from the property manager of Fleetwood Manor that was posted to Facebook warned residents of a “clown or a person dressed in clown clothing” who was “trying to lure children in the woods.”
Police received more reports from family member who called Monday night from Emerald Commons apartment complex, also in Greenville, after a child saw a man wearing a clown mask in woods.
Deputies said there was a third report of someone dressed as a clown about 10 p.m. at Shemwood Apartments where a 12-year-old told deputies that two clowns were in the backyard area.
The incident in South Carolina follows reports earlier this month where Wisconsin police responded to calls about a creepy clown see wandering Green Bay carrying black balloons.
*With files from the Associated Press