By Tim Binnall

A strange mystery has reportedly gripped a city in Missouri as some clever prankster keeps leaving creepy dolls in prominent spots throughout the community. The weirdness seemingly began earlier this month when residents of Festus began noticing the eerie toys in front of buildings and atop street signs. The odd dolls soon became the proverbial talk of the town as numerous people posted photos from their sightings to a community Facebook page.

For the most part, residents seem to be largely amused by the recurring appearances of the mysterious toys, with some wondering where they will show up next as well as, of course, who might be behind the elaborate prank and what their motivation might be. Others, however, don't particularly find the dolls to be all that funny and, instead, consider the whole affair to be rather unsettling or potentially dangerous should someone who is not in on the joke encounter one.

Festus Chief of Police Tim Lewis is concerned about just such a scenario as he observed that the prankster seems intent on putting the dolls "where they are going to be seen." He noted that this is particularly worrisome since the toys are fairly realistic-looking, especially when spotted from a distance, and are often posed in a manner to suggest that they are in distress. As such, should an unsuspecting driver stop to attend to the 'troubled child,' he warned, "they are going to get hit or they are going to get run over and then you're dealing with a catastrophe."