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Alert CBS13 Viewer Brings Happy Ending To Natomas Clown's Sad Story

NATOMAS (CBS13) — A clown's trailer was stolen, along with thousands of dollars of items.

Say 'Hello Dolly' and chances are you won't have to wait too long to hear a laugh. After all, the former state worker is a professional, award-winning clown.

Dolly Jones goes by the name Dolly Dimples and makes a living making people feel good. That's why the tears of this clown are so hard to take.

It happened early Thursday morning outside her Natomas apartment. Her U-Haul trailer was loaded with all of her clown stuff ahead of a trip to Chicago to help take care of her mom. What she woke up to find was no joke.

"It's all gone," she said. "It's like Dolly Dimples doesn't exist anymore."

The shoes, wigs, handmade outfits and even her nose were stolen. She doubts the thieves knew what was inside, since they just took the whole trailer.

"They're gonna be disappointed because it's of no value to anybody but me," she said. "I mean, what are you gonna do with it?"

She just wants the tools of her trade back.

She may be out of business, but she's not out of what makes her so good at what she does. She's leaning on her sense of humor to get back on the road to her colorful life.

"If you see anybody walking down the street with big shoes and a pink wig, and a colorful dress, it's mine," she said.

The shoes alone are worth $300 apiece, and in total, there was about $8,000 to $10,000 worth of clown gear.

As for insurance, she found out she was insured just for the trailer, and not the stuff inside.

But as luck would have it, an alert CBS13 viewer saw our story and did some investigating of her own.

"I'm watching the news and there had this story about Dolly and her trailer and I thought I'll bet this might be the same one," said Kathleen Howton.

She saw the trailer in her neighborhood earlier that day and knew it seemed out of place. She called CBS13 and the police, and Dolly came out to check it out.

"I did look inside," Dolly said. "Unfortunately my three suitcases are gone, so I don't have my costumes, I don't have all of my face paints, those are gone, but I have my shoes."

She's hoping someone will spot her other items, especially for her.

"If you see anybody walking down the street with big shoes and a pink wig, and a colorful dress, it's mine," she said.

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