Twelve-year-old Jonathan was on his way home from school, walking with another boy, when a black minivan with tinted windows started following them and caught up with them, driving slowly to keep pace with the boys. A man inside the van dressed as a clown reached his arm through the window and grabbed Jonathan’s shirt at his chest. “Be careful,” the boy warned the clown as he turned into the entrance of his house in Santa Marta of Nosara.
According to Jonathan’s mother, Maria Eudemia Mayorga Caravaca, she saw the van, since it remained parked in front of their house for a while as if waiting for the boy to leave the house, and a neighbor was able to write down the license plate number. Three people were in the van, including a man dressed as a clown, and later they saw the van pass by on an alternate route toward Ostional.
Jonathan’s father, Jose Isabel Carrillo Carrillo, known as “Chavelo,” said he called 911 to report the incident, which took place on Tuesday, April 2, and was told that the police had been notified and should arrive shortly. He stayed at home waiting for the police but they never arrived.
“We feel worried and nervous because now you can’t have the confidence to let your children go out to play. Even going to school can be dangerous,” Carrillo said. “This hasn’t been seen here. Here these dangers didn’t exist.”
Nosara Public Force Chief Gerardo Aguilar Aguilar acknowledged that they received a call about a clown sighting but at the time the patrol vehicle was in Nicoya and they weren’t able to locate the suspects, although he said they collaborated with police in Ostional and Santa Cruz and searched in Santa Marta, Guiones and other surrounding areas. Nicoya Police Chief Omar Chavarria said that rumors of clown sightings have circulated for about six months, when an alert came from the sector of Playa de Coco, although he specified that the alert was based on unconfirmed reports. Calls have been received but no formal denunciation has been filed to his knowledge.
As a preventive measure, Chavarria said they have conducted an informational campaign in the schools, warning parents to always pick their children up for school and not leave them alone, and warning children not to accept offers of toys in exchange for favors such as going for a ride or getting to know them.
Also children are instructed to communicate any suspicious occurrences to an adult, a teacher or the police. Security guards at schools should also be alert to vehicles that fit the description: a large dark vehicle with people inside, including a person dressed as a clown.
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