A creepy looking man hanging around the Empire Mall has several people lighting up social media at the moment in the Sioux Empire.

KDLT News is reporting since Wednesday (July 26) a number of people have posted having encounters with what they describe as a strange and scary looking individual in and around the Empire Mall in Sioux Falls.

Taelyn Phillips was in the Empire Mall on Wednesday when she spotted a well-dressed man wearing yellow sunglasses and carrying a Macy’s bag staring at her. She quickly ducked into a store in an attempt to getaway from his creepy gaze.

Phillips told KDLT News, “That little voice in the back of my head told me to go into a store and just wait and make sure everything was all clear before you know, I came out.”

The encounter weirded out Phillips enough, that when she returned home, Phillips started checking out Facebook only to find other people in the area reporting similar encounters near the mall with what appears to be the same man.

Another woman reported seeing a man carrying a wrinkled Macy’s bag in the mall parking lot. According to this woman, the man asked her daughter for directions, and then a ride.

As Phillips investigated a little further, she found yet another post, this time from a woman who claimed a man carrying the same type of Macy's bag got into her car at a gas station, also asking for a ride.  After reading that post, Phillips knew she too needed to post her own warning. Phillips post started to go viral immediately, receiving more than 800 shares and hundreds of comments.

According to Phillips, “I think awareness is so important and this is something that people should know about so I posted that on Facebook just to let people know that this is something that’s happening, you know, travel with somebody, trust your gut I guess.”

KDLT News reached out to the Sioux Falls Police Department to see if anyone had contacted police yet regarding these strange encounters.

Captain Loren McManus told KDLT, “Nobody has called the police department about what happened, so it makes it difficult for us to number one believe that it occurred, and number two try to figure out what’s going on.”

Authorities told KDLT News, should you ever have an encounter similar to the one that Phillips and others are reporting, you must first, attempt to find a place of safety. If possible, go to a location where there’s a lot of people. Or go to your car, lock the doors and call police immediately for assistance. Most importantly, report the incident. Placing a call to authorities helps protect you and others.

Source: KDLT News


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