The Horrendous Clown Incident: Ku Klux Klan may be responsible.
September 26, 1955 Mobile, Alabama - This is the story of four unknown professional circus clowns who may have mysteriously disappeared as a result of a group murder. The Ku Klux Klan had been suspected but the allegations and any evidence have proven negative so far. The information from townsfolk, and an old barkeep, in particular, spin the story as to almost make it far fetched.
Here is some basic information that may be deemed as accurate but not totally reliable.
There was a sales convention for travelling vacuum cleaner salesmen held the week of August 25th to August 29, 1952. The convention was basically a week of sales meetings with Friday being reserved as a day of revelry and jubilation. Talent and entertainment was hired for the group.
Among the pitchmen's own forms of entertainment were additional talent such as a fire eater. A stand up comic from West Virginia by the name of Don Knotts was booked but cancelled as he landed an acting position. In his place was a guest appearance by CBS radio and television host Steve Allen, of "The Steve Allen Show". Mr. Allen Had agreed to visit on his way from a business trip in Atlanta on account that he had a soft spot for vacuum cleaner salesmen and often used a sales pitch in some of his sketches.
Following Steve Allen on the itinerary were to be an acrobatic act and a vaudeville-style sketch by a circus clown troupe.
Those responsible for booking the event for the entertainment destroyed their records and the names of the acrobats and clowns were never known. The clowns were to stay at a hotel near the venue but never checked in.
The sales meeting and special entertainment day went on without a hitch except for the fact that no clowns showed up.
Here is the local folklore which has been generating ever since for the last 3 years. The four clowns had arrived in Mobile the day of their scheduled performance. They never checked in to their hotel or they never used their real or stage names in any of Mobile's 32 hotels and motels. Nevertheless they were in full clown costume and purportedly on their way to the convention. Nobody saw any clowns at the convention.
The story from the tavern barkeeper (his name omitted for his own safety) is a little more twisted. He alleges that four clowns entered his bar. "They had some time to kill," the barkeeper stated. Here is what he recently reported to the police: "They were joking and having fun with the patrons. They all had clown make-up on and started to get a little rowdy when they had too many beers. A farmer and his boy got offended by one clown that had a wee too much whisky. The clown, and I swear, this is what he said . . . he said, look guys, I'm whiter than you! You're in the wrong part of town. He laughed and thought it as a harmless joke. The farmer slammed his glass down real hard on my table and he and his son left in a huff. He was smokin'. You just can't say that kind of stuff round here or you be gettin' in trouble."
And trouble ensued. According to our bartender he stated that the clowns, realizing they had a performance had better get out and head on down to the convention. That's when things could have allegedly gone wrong, dead wrong.
The four clowns drove off in their Plymouth and headed west. The barkeeper, noting that the convention hall was north, stated that he didn't see where they went but had his own theory.
"I can put two and two together, yup!" he proudly said. His theory, mixed with evidence dug up by County Police, was that they headed out about 20 miles west of Creek Lake. "Maybe they were too drunk or maybe they were lost or maybe both," he surmised.
They ended up at a cornfield in full clown apparel and were followed by 3 or 4 pick up trucks, as the theory goes. They got out of their car and still in a playful mode decided to make their own corn maze. The drivers and passengers of the trucks got out and followed them into the corn. There the happy-go-lucky entertainers were allegedly beaten to death in cold blood with baseball bats and ax handles.
Their bodies were then thrown into one of the trucks and driven east to a wooded area. One large grave was dug and the four bodies were thrown into it after they had been stripped of all their belongings and valuables. The Plymouth was never found. A wooden cross was burned on the grave site and a makeshift grave marker was made using an old "Keep Out" sign. On that sign, written in chalk were the words "Circus Clowns In The Grave."
All of this speculation can fit the puzzle with what discovery the County Police made last Friday. In a secluded wooded area a game warden discovered a patch of ground that had a "Keep Out" sign on it facing down. No burnt cross nor chalk markings on the sign were observed. Obviously, the county was called to excavate the patch and bones were exhumed. The bones were human and matched about four males. According to the coroner, the bodies were all buried together naked and had been buried about three years ago. It was observed that many bones were broken due to heavy blunt objects causing the deaths.
Obviously the bar owner was interrogated by the police for the mere fact that he kept spreading his so-called theory about the clowns. Since no evidence of clowns came to fruition, the police dismissed the barkeeper's story.
As police could not discover the identities of the remains and no missing persons report matches the recent find, the county decided to re-inter the remains where they were found and fenced off the area.
The game warden was given the added responsibility of checking the area to see if any visitors may return to the scene of the crime. The "Keep Out" sign was placed on the front fence of the grave.
In cooperation with the police, if anyone knows of four men who had been missing since 1952 or whereabouts, please contact the Mobile County Police. Police also advise that false information is subject to prosecution and anyone attempting to locate said grave will be arrested for trespassing.
End of Part 1
