Parapedia - Big Muddy Monster
The Big Muddy Monster or Murphysboro Mud Monster is an unidentified homonid inhabiting the region around the Big Muddy River in Southern Illinois. According to eye witnesses, the Bigfoot or Sasquatch type creature first appeared in 1973 and was described as a loud, tall, white-haired creature caked with mud.
The first recorded sighting of the Big Muddy Monster took place on June 25, 1973, near Murphysboro, Illinois. According to the Murphysboro Police Department, the Big Muddy Monster remains one of two open cases in the history of the department. Two visitors to Riverside Park in Murphysboro were parked in a car when they heard a loud screaming sound in the wooded area and observed a large creature approximately 7 feet tall. The creature appeared to have light-colored hair matted with mud. The creature appeared to be walking on two legs and was proceeding toward their car. Police searched the area with flashlights and spotted tracks in the mud approximately 3 to 4 inches deep, 10 to 12 inches long, and 3 inches wide. While officers were searching the area they reported hearing another scream coming from the woods. The next night, two teenagers sitting on a porch reported a tall, white-haired, hairy creature in a field just to the edge of the woods. Using a police dog, officers followed the creature making note of a discernable foul smell and slime on the branches. The dog tracked the creature to an empty barn. Loren Coleman, a cryptozoologist who studied the Big Muddy Monster in the 70s, believes that the sighting was within the context of other reports of Bigfoot. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper, the Mud Monster emerged again as a possible culprit to an attack that allegedly occurred at the Rend Lake campground near Benton, Illinois in August 1989.
The first recorded sighting of the Big Muddy Monster took place on June 25, 1973, near Murphysboro, Illinois. According to the Murphysboro Police Department, the Big Muddy Monster remains one of two open cases in the history of the department. Two visitors to Riverside Park in Murphysboro were parked in a car when they heard a loud screaming sound in the wooded area and observed a large creature approximately 7 feet tall. The creature appeared to have light-colored hair matted with mud. The creature appeared to be walking on two legs and was proceeding toward their car. Police searched the area with flashlights and spotted tracks in the mud approximately 3 to 4 inches deep, 10 to 12 inches long, and 3 inches wide. While officers were searching the area they reported hearing another scream coming from the woods. The next night, two teenagers sitting on a porch reported a tall, white-haired, hairy creature in a field just to the edge of the woods. Using a police dog, officers followed the creature making note of a discernable foul smell and slime on the branches. The dog tracked the creature to an empty barn. Loren Coleman, a cryptozoologist who studied the Big Muddy Monster in the 70s, believes that the sighting was within the context of other reports of Bigfoot. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper, the Mud Monster emerged again as a possible culprit to an attack that allegedly occurred at the Rend Lake campground near Benton, Illinois in August 1989.
- * Moran, Mark; Taylor, Troy; Sceurman, Mark, Weird Illinois: Your Travel Guide to Illinois' Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets, Sterling, ISBN 9780760759431