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Kansas City, Mo. — Overwhelmingly, Waldo, Mo., residents are drawn to the area for the same reasons.

Shops, restaurants and neighborhood bars cluster around thoroughfares. Big trees, quaint Tudors and Cape Cods fill many blocks in between. Neighbors introduce themselves, and people generally feel safe, they say.

But with a serial rapist on the loose, daily life there isn’t quite like it used to be. And with each new report, fear and vigilance have grown.

So have the rumors.

In recent days, unconfirmed reports that the rapist had been arrested rocketed through e-mails and word of mouth — and prompted police to issue a statement Friday dispelling the notion.

“We are still following hundreds of leads and doing everything we can to get an arrest as soon as possible,” police Chief Jim Corwin wrote on his blog. “Believe me, we will be the first ones to tell you when the rape suspect is in custody.”

In the past six months, the same rapist is believed to have attacked five women inside their Waldo-area homes, police say. He first struck Sept. 29 in the 7500 block of Summit Street, near the heart of the sprawling neighborhoods that make up Waldo.

Subsequent attacks have radiated outward — as far south as Porte Cimi Pas Street in Santa Fe Hills and as far north as 69th Terrace in Armour Hills — putting residents from Prairie Village to Brookside on high alert.

People have plastered the police sketch of the suspect to windows and light poles. Alarm-system sales pitches pepper Internet conversation boards. Some single women no longer sleep in their own homes. Others have bought guns.

“The guy’s picture is up everywhere,” said a woman who cuts hair at a Waldo barbershop and salon where conversation regularly turns to the rapist. “Everybody has their own speculation on who he is or where he came from.”

Paranoia has reached the point where it’s “silly,” one single woman said, but it’s hard not to be afraid.

Residents who aren’t gripped with fear say they’re still watching their backs — and their neighbors — more than ever.

‘Almost paranoia’

Rene was at work when she heard about the most recent rape.

She sat at her desk and sobbed. Then went to the bathroom and got sick.

Hearing about the hour-and-a-half duration of the attack disturbed her even more than news of the previous four rapes, one of which happened just blocks from her home near Tower Park.

She thought: I just want to go home and curl up in bed, but I am safer at my office.

Being terrified of your own home has been one of the hardest things, said Rene, 32, whose middle name is being used to protect her identity.

She works days, but her husband works until 2 a.m., leaving her alone throughout the evening.

Each afternoon when he leaves, he calls to tell her all the doors and windows are locked and whether he left any lights on.

When she gets home, she calls him immediately if there’s anything out of place — even if it’s the couch cushion she was 99 percent sure the dogs pulled onto the floor.

“I know it’s almost paranoia ...,” Rene said. “I mean, that’s ridiculous. To have to be told what lights are left on in your house? That’s horrible.

“I don’t know how much more of this I can take.”

After her husband gets off work, he drives up and down the surrounding blocks to make sure nothing’s amiss before coming home to bed.

They used to have one chain lock on their back door. Now they have two.

Floodlights on either side of their house now point toward the neighbors, both single women.

Their two dogs, previously kenneled during the day, roam the house freely.

And Rene doesn’t sleep with the fan on anymore when she’s alone — the hum might mask sounds of an intruder.

If the rapist is stalking people, she figures, who’s to say he doesn’t already know when she’s by herself?

Neighborhood plan

William isn’t afraid.

An inner-St. Louis native with four other family members and a dog in his home, the nine-year Waldo resident guesses his household is an unlikely target for the rapist.

But he is being extra vigilant and constantly communicating with neighbors, even more than before the attacks.

“Our neighborhood has always been really tight,” said William, whose middle name is being used to protect his and his neighbors’ location. After hearing about the rapes last fall, “we were out in the street talking about it over coffee.”

William’s block, home to numerous single women, soon had an emergency plan.

Everyone sleeps with his or her car keys. If someone intrudes, the resident hits the panic button and throws the keys under the bed. When neighbors hear a car alarm, they know to call 911 and, if they feel comfortable, run to the house to help.

The idea isn’t foolproof, William said. But having a plan helps provide “a sense of calm” for people feeling vulnerable.

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