In the Summer of 1973, in the town of Murphysboro in south-west Illinois, a strange monster called The Mud Monster made a brief appearance, then vanished forever. Those who saw or heard The Mud Monster however, will never forget it.
The first encounter with the Murphysboro Mud Monster occurred on June 25th, 1973. Randy Needham and Judy Johnson were parked near a boat ramp on the Big Muddy River at about midnight. It was a quiet night, then an incredibly loud scream rang out, coming from the nearby woods.
As Needham and Johnson looked in the direction of the scream, they saw it, the Murphysboro Mud Monster. At an estimated 7ft tall and 350lbs, it was a terrifying sight.
The Mud Monster was covered with light-colored fur which was matted with mud and had glowing pink eyes, and it was coming straight at them. The couple quickly started the car and left the area.
The couple drove straight to the Murphysboro Police Department to report what they had seen.
Police were skeptical but sent two officers, Meryl Lindsey and Jimmy Nash, to the scene to look for any evidence. They found footprints, big footprints some 12″ long.
Two more officers were sent to the scene and the four officers began to follow the prints that stretched along the river bank.
Soon they heard the screaming that Needham and Johnson reported and heard what sounded like a large creature splashing thru the water, but they never sighted the Mud Monster. As dawn approached the creature seemed to disappear and all was quiet. But, not for long.
The next night a 4yo boy named Christian Baril was playing in the back yard. He ran into the house, telling his parents that he had seen a big white ghost, his parents of course, did not Believe him.
Then about 10 minutes later the little boys neighbors, Randy Creath and Cheryl Ray were sitting on the back porch, when they saw the Murphysboro Mud Monster. The description was identical to the first report.
They said the monster simply looked at them and slowly moved into the woods.
Police soon arrived with a dog to check the area. At one point the K9 seemed to have found something inside of a barn. But as the officers, with guns drawn entered they found nothing.
The last report of the Murphysboro Mud Monster was on July 7th, by a woman named Nedra Green, who claimed to have heard the screams of the monster, she did not go outside to see what was out there.
