NEENAH, WI (WTAQ) – After a Neenah mom posted a photo on Facebook showing a nail inside a Tootsie Roll that her daughter got while trick-or-treating, police sought reports about other suspicious looking candy.
“Based on that one we heard from a couple of other people and ended up taking two additional pieces of candy for evidence,” says Kevin Wilkinson, Neenah Police Chief. “They looked like they possibly had a contaminant, or substance, not a nail placed into them.”
As the investigation continues, Wilkinson says they didn’t perform too deep of a search of the tainted treats in order to preserve any possible evidence.
“Because we’d be potentially compromising any DNA evidence,” Wilkinson says. “We’re going to be sending those to the (state) Crime Lab and have them analyze exactly what, if any, form of foreign substance might be there and then is there DNA to show a possible perpetrator that may have tampered with it.”
The initial Tootsie Roll incident, police say, took place in an area between Laudan and Division, east of Commercial Street. These new complaints didn’t come with any specific location, making it difficult for investigators.
“It’s always hard when you don’t have a defined area where the crime may have occurred and certainly DNA may be our salvation in that,” Wilkinson explains. “When you think about, it’s not just the area where the person trick-or-treated, it’s was candy combined with somebody else’s and after the candy was in the home, and did anybody have access to it? There’s a lot of little avenues that you have to explore.”
Anyone with questions or concerns is asked to call Neenah police at (920) 886-6000. Anonymous tips about the candy can be sent to Crime Stoppers by phone at (920) 231-8477 or online.
