# Clowns in woods try to lure children with money, residents say
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [August 31, 2016, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567 "2016-08-31T14:27:24Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2016, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/1 "2016-08-31T14:27:24Z")
This is weird. It’s probably some kind of mass hysteria, but it may lead to some innocent person or persons being shot.
> **[Clowns in woods try to lure children with money, residents say](https://www.wyff4.com/article/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/7024131)**
>
> Residents of a Greenville County apartment complex say clowns have tried to lure their children into the woods with large amounts of money, and deputies have released the report Monday in connection to the claims.
> [@](#):
>
> Residents of a Greenville County apartment complex say clowns have tried to lure their children into the woods with large amounts of money, and deputies have released the report Monday in connection to the claims.
> …
> The deputy said other children told him that several clowns appeared in the woods and tried entice them into the woods by showing them large amounts of cash. The children said they think the clowns live in a house near a pond at the end of a trail in the woods.
>
> The deputy walked the trail to a house near a pond in the woods behind the apartment. The deputy said there were no signs of suspicious activity and found no one dressed as a clown.
>
> The deputy said he investigated a report of gunfire the night before, and learned that men from the apartment complex, who were aware of the complaints about clowns, fired weapons in the direction of the wooded area after they heard noises.
At least one adult reported seeing a clown. She said that a large clown with a blinking nose waved at her when she was walking home at 2:30 in the morning.
I find the reports of guns being fired at noises in the woods scarier than any supposed clowns.
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### Author:  [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2016, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/2 "2016-08-31T14:56:43Z")
They all float down here.
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2016, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/3 "2016-08-31T15:09:42Z")
[Photographic evidence!](http://www.cryptomundo.com/wp-content/BigfootRonaldsm.jpg)
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### Author:  [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2016, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/4 "2016-08-31T15:16:30Z")
My guess is that this is probably dumb-ass teenagers screwing with people.
Plus, kids are dumb. When I was a kid, there was a drainage ditch near our elementary school, with an old (1940s-1950s era) trestle bridge that a local farmer had used for livestock prior to the development of that area. It was made of creosote-treated timber, so it was black, and it was old, so it was kind of warped and scary looking. And I think someone had set part of it afire at some point in the past.
We children were \*\*CONVINCED \*\* that “devil-worshippers” had ceremonies near the bridge at midnight. Never mind that the bridge itself was like 100 yards from the school, and probably 300 yards from a suburban neighborhood. If anything happened, it was probably dumb-ass teenagers smoking weed by there, and screwing around and maybe setting stuff on fire for kicks.
But all it would have taken would have been a comment to someone’s parents about the devil-worshippers in the early 1980s, and it would have been a Big Deal with equal breathless panic on the news.
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### Author:  [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2016, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/5 "2016-08-31T15:16:47Z")
Now I’m thinking that people may really be seeing what they’re reporting. This seems to be a thing. There are a bunch of Youtube videos of killer clown pranks.
I can't help but laugh at some of them, but it's totally wrong and stupid. People could easily get hurt or killed; either the "victims" while running away or the perpetrators when someone decides to defend themselves.
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### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2016, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/6 "2016-08-31T15:43:59Z")
> [@davidm](#):
>
> I can’t help but laugh at some of them, but it’s totally wrong and stupid. People could easily get hurt or killed; either the “victims” while running away or the perpetrators when someone decides to defend themselves.
A clown could get shot in some places.
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2016, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/7 "2016-08-31T15:56:42Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#):
>
> A clown could get shot in some places.
Shoot 'em in the funny bone. It’s their Achilles’s heel.
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### Author:  [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2016, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/8 "2016-08-31T16:19:55Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#):
>
> A clown could get shot in some places.
Killing a clown outside of clown season can result in a $500 fine and up to 30 days in the county jail.
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### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2016, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/9 "2016-08-31T16:34:26Z")
> [@running\_coach](#):
>
> Shoot 'em in the funny bone. It’s their Achilles’s heel.
_That’s_ why they wear those big shoes!
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### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2016, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/10 "2016-08-31T16:46:47Z")
Well, there was [this guy.](http://i.imgur.com/YIksCQL.jpg)
And they’ve been[spotted in Indiana.](http://www.theindychannel.com/news/local-news/bozos-in-fishers-residents-spot-creepy-clown-once-again)
And in the wilds of [Brooklyn.](http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/creepy-clown-haunts-green-wood-cemetery-brooklyn-article-1.1866552)
Even once [in Vancouver](http://www.straight.com/blogra/578401/horror-vancouver-stephen-kings-evil-clown-stalks-stanley-park-1990).
As a matter of fact, I’m starting to think that the best place to look for a clown is behind a tree.
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2016, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/11 "2016-08-31T17:00:09Z")
Just hope it’s not [this guy](http://murderpedia.org/male.G/images/g/gacy/gacy350.jpg).
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### Author:  [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2016, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/12 "2016-08-31T17:03:36Z")
This looks like a job for the Insane Clown Posse!!! Round them up!
> **[Insane Clown Posse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insane_Clown_Posse)**
>
> Insane Clown Posse, often abbreviated as ICP, is an American hip hop duo. Formed in Detroit in 1989 as a gangsta rap group, ICP's best-known lineup consists of rappers Violent J (Joseph Bruce) and Shaggy 2 Dope (originally 2 Dope; Joseph Utsler). Insane Clown Posse is known for its elaborate live performances and theatrical horror-inspired lyrics. The duo has earned two platinum and five gold albums. According to Nielsen SoundScan, the entire catalog of the group had sold 6.5 million units in...
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2016, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/13 "2016-08-31T17:10:22Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#):
>
> This looks like a job for the Insane Clown Posse!!! Round them up!
>
> [Insane Clown Posse - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insane_Clown_Posse)
Fuck, I’d take Pennywise over those losers anyday.
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### Author:  [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2016, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/14 "2016-08-31T17:23:26Z")
Police were looking for several clowns supposedly spotted in the area yesterday, but the only vehicle they saw nearby was a extra-small compact speeding away, and all those clowns couldn’t have been in that one car.
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### Author:  [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2016, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/15 "2016-08-31T17:26:19Z")
> [@davidm](#):
>
> it may lead to some innocent person or persons being shot.
There are no innocent clowns.
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### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2016, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/16 "2016-08-31T17:38:55Z")
> [@MrDibble](#):
>
> There are no innocent clowns.
-Dashiell Hammett
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### Author:  [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2016, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/17 "2016-08-31T19:36:26Z")
> [@MrDibble](#):
>
> There are no innocent clowns.
Sure but apparently some of the residents, spooked by the clown stories, were shooting blindly into the woods, in the dark, at sounds they heard. So they could hit someone other than a clown.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2016, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/18 "2016-08-31T19:46:30Z")
> [@davidm](#):
>
> t least one adult reported seeing a clown. She said that a large clown with a blinking nose waved at her when she was walking home at 2:30 in the morning.
This was at 2:30am? Where was she coming from?
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### Author:  [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2016, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/19 "2016-08-31T19:51:31Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> This was at 2:30am? Where was she coming from?
I have no idea. The article doesn’t say.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2016, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clowns-in-woods-try-to-lure-children-with-money-residents-say/764567/20 "2016-08-31T19:54:20Z")
The obvious answer is that she was walking home after last call at the local bar. So the question is how sober was she.
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