Ohio family 'scared to death' as stalker leaves unsettling notes at their home in lead up to Halloween

An Ohio couple say they have had a stalker watching their family home for weeks and taunting them with "creepy" notes, leaving them feeling "scared to death."

Candace Gardner says she hasn't had a good nights' sleep since she first spotted the man watching her through the windows of the Gardner family home last month.

"He was over there, on the edge of the pond," Candace points out where she saw the stalker on the property to CNN. Watch above.

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"And I was just watching TV and I made eye contact with him."

While the timing has the couple pondering if it is a Halloween prank, the ordeal has left them shaken.

"I am scared to death, honestly. It really does scare me," Candace tells CNN, saying that she and her husband, Billy Gardner, now sleep with a gun nearby.

After spotting the stalker crouching by the couple's bedroom window, Candace and Billy put up surveillance cameras around their home.

"I could draw his face. Like, he's bald. He's got like maybe hazel eyes. Very buff, body builder type. Probably early thirties," Candace says.

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With two sons living at home, when the couple started finding messages left by the stalker at their house, the Gardners went to the local Columbus police and filed reports.

There have been at least seven notes left at the Gardner house so far, with messages including illustrations of smiley faces, and words such as "I am watching you" and "Hello Pretty."

"After we put up the cameras, he still found a way to get notes to us, by taping them to rocks," Billy told CNN.

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"And then standing outside the perimeter view of the cameras and then throwing them at us."

Candace says that the incidents have been traumatising for the family, and they want to raise awareness to make sure other families in the area aren't going through the same thing.

"Seeing if anybody else has seen the same creepy notes with the smiley face, if there is any kind of pattern to this," Billy told CNN, saying the family has no idea who would target them like this or why.

The stalker has also been pounding on the home's windows and doors both during the day and at night.

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"It's like this person just doesn't care about his cheap thrill," Billy says.

"And when somebody does something like this, they get the thrill and they keep on doing more and more."

Per CNN, local police say that the Gardner couple have done the right thing in reporting the notes and setting up surveillance.

Columbus police say they are increasing patrols in the local neighbourhood, and they're checking to see if the incidents the Gardners have reported have any similarities to any other cases.