Parents Realize Party Mascot Is Kidnapping Their Kids

You know that feeling when you see a mascot character at a kid's birthday party? That mix of delight and slight unease? For the families living in the Cedar Hills subdivision of Portland, Oregon, that feeling would never be innocent again. Cedar Hills was exactly the kind of place young families dreamed about. Tree-lined streets with names like Buttercup Lane and Meadowbrook Drive. Houses with swing sets in the backyards and basketball hoops over garage doors. The kind of neighborhood where kids still played outside until the streetlights came on, where everyone knew everyone, and where parents felt safe letting their children ride bikes to the park three blocks away.