HENDERSON, Ky. (WFIE) – A woman is celebrating her 55th birthday with a party on Saturday, but it won’t be the celebration she hoped for or paid for.

Leanne Vance has 10 grandchildren and tells us her greatest joy is hearing their laughter. She found a page on Facebook called “James Inflated Waterslides and Bouncehouses for Rent” and picked out a slide to rent.

“It’s a double slide, and my kids can slide down and race at the same time,” Vance said. “He said we should send him some money for it, so we did. It was through PayPal.”

Vance sent two payments, $250 for the slide rental and $150 for insurance.

Shortly after Vance paid, everything went quiet and she had to forgo the much-anticipated slide for her party on Saturday.

“We were constantly texting him back and forth and all of a sudden he blocked us,” Vance said. “I have to think of something else they can do. So, we’re going to make a little pool and just have a barbecue. I really wanted to do that. I was so looking forward to it. I can’t find anything else for it, not on such short notice.”

Vance’s husband took the complaint to Henderson police.

“The officer took all of his information and then called the guy on Facebook. He asked, ‘Do you know where Doug Vance’s money is?’ And he said, ‘Bullshit,’ and hung up. And I was like, ‘Oh my God.'”

The party will still take place on Saturday, probably with some water balloons instead.

“I love seeing the kids have fun. That’s the best part of being a grandparent: watching them have fun.”

Henderson Police notified us they are investigating this scam.

Vance says she also reported this to PayPal as a scam. She wants others to be careful. Facebook page.

We also contacted the bouncy castle rental Facebook page. Someone opened our message but did not respond.

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