Clowns ‘Trying to Lure Kids Into Woods’ in SC

Parents at an apartment complex in Greenville, South Carolina, have been warned not to let their children out at night after reports of clowns trying to lure kids into the woods nearby. The Greenville County Sheriff’s Office said it had received numerous calls from residents about a group of clowns acting suspiciously in the area, and attempting to lure children into the woods with money. “There has been a couple of people that have seen them,” said Master Deputy Drew Pinciaro. “Mainly it has been children who have reported they have seen these clowns in the woods. Every time we have gone out there, we have not seen any clowns.” After the first sighting on Aug. 20, of a “suspicious character, dressed in circus clown attire and white face paint, enticing kids to follow him into the woods,” a resident reported the clowns had been firing guns, though police were unable to confirm that. Although many parents initially dismissed their children’s accounts of the clowns, other parents at the Fleetwood Manor Apartments reported seeing the clowns for themselves. The panic surrounding the strange sightings prompted the apartment complex to issue a notice to all parents warning that “at no time should a child be alone at night, or walking in the roads or wooded areas at night.” Police have been unable to get to the bottom of the mystery. Although several people tipped police off to a house where a group of clowns was supposedly living, police found “no signs of suspicious activity or characters dressed in clown attire” at the house.