The Big Muddy Monster: 1973 Bigfoot Sightings in Southern Illinois

Mention the Big Muddy Monster and everyone in Southern Illinois knows who you're talking about, even though the encounters with the Big Muddy Monster go way back to a few brief weeks in 1973.

ARRIVAL IN MURPHRYSBORO

On the evening of June 25, 1973, two young people heard the chilling, unearthly scream of some creature in the woods along the Big Muddy River south of Murphrysboro, Illinois. Sitting in a car in a remote parking lot from which fisherman often launched their boats, the couple then saw something moving closer in the woods. They'd later describe it as a 7-foot tall creature on two legs, covered with mud-matted light hair.

It continued to emit its screams as it closed on the car. 19-year-old Randy Needham started up the car and sped straight to the Murphrysboro Police Department.

He and Judy Johnson told police what they'd seen. Accompanied by then-Police Chief Ron Monwaring and other officers, Needham returned to the parking lot. Search got underway with lights but all that could be found were vague footprints.

At 2 am, the police were back, and with them surprisingly, was Needham. As the beams flashlights probed the parking lot and trees, there was a sudden, bellowing scream from the dark forest. Everyone ran for the parking lot where Needham identified the scream as the same as what he and Johnson had heard earlier.

The encounter marked the arrival of the Big Muddy Monster, presumably a Bigfoot-variant, in quiet Murphrysboro in 1973. Over the following weeks, more reports flowed in.

THE SECOND ENCOUNTER

The day after the initial encounter, police dispatched a German shepherd to pick up the trail after a woman caller reported a sighting. She told police her daughter and boyfriend had seen the creature in a field behind their house.

The dog picked up the trail and followed it to a barn, which he refused to enter. Police with flashlights entered the barn, but found nothing.

At least, for what it was worth, police now had a better, if still sketchy, description: 7-to-8 feet tall, 300-350 pounds, pale dirty white or cream colored, standing on two feet.

CARNIVAL VISIT