(The Original) Demon Clown

POLICE SEEK DEMON CLOWN

"Police said they were inundated with calls Friday afternoon from school children who tolf of seeing an elusive demon clown reportedly armed with a knife or machete.

"It´s been close to a hysteria situation" said police Sgt. Jim Treece. We´ve had calls at the rate of about one a minute since school let out. Some parents say their children come in crying, saying the clown chased them home, or that he slapped them. The clown is real to a very young mind".

Treece said police have had trouble sorting out prank calls from those of serious children and concerned parents. He estimated that between 60 and 100 calls had been received between 9 a.m and 4 p.m Friday.

"Whether it´s a joke to these children or whether they think they´re seeing a clown, we just don´t know", Treece said. "We have to alert the citizenry, yet try to keep from generating a panic situation".

The report of the demon clown surfaced across the state line in Kansas City, Kan., earlier this week with children telling of the armed man, his face painted white, roaming the streets in a yellow van.

The calls began to diminish in Kansas City, Kan, Friday, but mushroomed on the Missouri side.

A Kansas City, Mo., woman told police she watched a yellow van approach her daughters, ages 6 and 7, as they left home to attend school Friday morning.

She said the girls ran back to the house, saying a man in a clown´s suit opened the van door and threatened them with a knife. The mother said she could not see the man.

Kansas City, Kan., police spokesman Michael Dailey said concern among parents was heightened early this week when the principal of a parochial school sent home a note to parents warning of the "killer clown". "... The Fort Scott Tribune - May 22, 1981

Loren Coleman, Mysterious America, 1983