Muncie police: Dozens of calls from residents spooked by clowns

MUNCIE, Ind. (WISH) — Fact or rumor? Those living in Muncie are trying to get the truth behind the creepy clown hype.

Dozens of people have taken it to the next level, and called 911, but not to report a sighting. Instead, to ask questions. There have been no reported injuries, kidnappings or any of those terrible things associated with clowns.

The scare started on social media and then spread. Now, police say jokesters are just trying to frighten people, and it’s working.

Many people find clowns, well, terrifying. Some are intentionally creepy. But then there’s the friendly type, and yea, they’re pretty scary too. Cindy Sieler is the owner of Monsters RIP Halloween store in Castleton. She says of all the costumes, one kind seems to be the scariest.

“Adults are scared of clowns. It seems to be a phobia for some people and in fact, we’ve had some customers that won’t even go down an aisle where there’s clowns because they’re too afraid. Grown adults, and it just cracks me up,” she said.

It’s a problem that the Muncie Police Department is dealing with on a different level. People are so spooked, that they’re calling 911.

“The vast majority of them were people inquiring about clowns and whether it was true, whether it was a hoax. I guess they got about 50 calls this week. Which is a lot,” said Deputy Chief Mark Vollmar.

Vollmar says there are not confirmed clown sightings, “I don’t think it’s a threat to even people that live in our community. Because, we’ve not heard of anything where anybody has been in danger by any of this that we can verify.”

And while clown phobia for police has been a problem, it’s quite the opposite for Monster RIP.

“It’s just a good seller. It’s something that people want and people come in for,” said Sieler.

Edinburgh Police in Johnson County also took a report this week. A caller there told police they saw a clown with his face painted white, mouth painted red and a red curly wig. Police there also say they were not able to confirm that sighting either.