The vast reaches of forest and open fields of southern Illinois, combined with the sparse population in some areas, seem to invite weirdness that might not occur in cities and more crowded locales. In the most southern portions of the region, the Shawnee National Forest covers miles and miles of territory. The acres of forest seem almost untouched by man and some believe that strange things occasionally pass through here, unseen by human eyes.

A friend of mine, who grew up in southern Illinois, had an uncle who worked for the forestry department of the Shawnee National Forest. The uncle had the peculiar habit of driving his work truck along the unpaved back roads of the forest in the very early hours of the morning. One day, my friend asked him why he did this and his reply was nearly as mysterious as the habit itself was. “You wouldn’t believe the things that you see on those roads at night,” he told his nephew and that was the last time that he would ever speak of his late-night forays.

This southern portion of the state is sometimes referred to as the “Devil’s Kitchen”, a designation that is very telling when it comes to the question of strange phenomena in Little Egypt. Many believe that the early explorers and the Native Americans left behind evidence of their beliefs in the unknown by the names that they gave to certain places. What we might refer to as “mystery” sites, became the first “haunted” places in America. They were spots where the explorers, settlers and the Indians witnessed strange sights and sounds like unexplained balls of light, apparitions, screams in the night and various other unsettling types of phenomena. The Native Americans often considered such sites as “sacred” but the settlers usually believed them to be “cursed”, or at least well avoided.

The idea that such locations were linked to the "Devil" was the first thought that crossed the minds of the bible-reading, god-fearing folks and they promptly set about to do two things. They learned to avoid these strange and haunted places and secondly, they gave names to the spots to alert other visitors and settlers of the dangers of the area. Such places, they believed, were best shunned or at least entered with caution. Over the years, there have been many locations that bear a link between supernatural phenomena and a “Devil” name. In many of these places, strange things are prone to happen and spirits are sometimes seen. In the case of the Devil’s Kitchen, just about anything is possible, from ghosts reports to mystery animals and weird monster sightings.

In the summer of 1973, the town of Murphysboro in southwestern Illinois was the site of a bizarre series of monster sightings. The enigmatic creature, now recalled as the “Murphysboro Mud Monster” appeared without warning and then suddenly disappeared just two weeks later, seemingly without a trace. In its wake, the monster left a number of confused and frightened witnesses, baffled law enforcement officials and of course, an enduring legend.

The monster was first seen around midnight on June 25, 1973. A young couple, Randy Needham and Judy Johnson, were parked near a boat ramp into the Big Muddy River near Murphysboro when they heard a strange, roaring cry that shattered the stillness of the night. It came from the nearby woods and both of them looked up to see a huge shape lumbering toward them. Whatever it was, it continue to make the horrible sound and they later described the noise as "something not human".

According to their account, the monster was about seven feet tall and covered with a matted, whitish hair. The "fur" was streaked liberally with mud from the river. By the time the creature approached to within 20 feet of them, they quickly left the scene. They went directly to the Murphysboro police station.

A short time later, Officers Meryl Lindsay and Jimmie Nash returned to the area and surveyed the scene. Although skeptical, they were surprised to find that a number of footprints had been left in the mud. The footprints were "approximately 10-12 inches long and approximately three inches wide". At 2:00 AM, Nash, Lindsay, another officer named Bob Scott, and Randy Needham returned to the scene again. This time, they discovered more tracks and Lindsay left to go and get a camera. The others followed the new footprints, tracing their path along the river.

Suddenly, from the woods about 100 yards away, came the creature's terrifying scream. They didn't wait to see if they could spot the monster and instead, made a quick retreat for the patrol car. After waiting in the darkness for a little while, they got back out again and spent the rest of the night trying to track down a splashing sound they heard in the distance. Things quieted down after daylight, but the next night, the creature was back!

The first to see the monster this time was a four-year old boy named Christian Baril, who told his parents that he saw a "big white ghost in the yard". They didn't believe him, but when Randy Creath and Cheryl Ray saw an identical monster in a neighboring yard just ten minutes later, Christian's parents, and the police, quickly reconsidered the little boy's statement.

Randy and Cheryl spotted the monster at about 10:30 PM, while sitting on the back porch of the Ray house. They heard the sound of something moving in the woods near the river and then spotted the muddy, white creature staring at them with glowing pink eyes. Cheryl would insist that the eyes were actually glowing and were not reflecting light from some other source. They estimated that it weighed at least 350 pounds, stood seven feet tall, had a roundish head and long, ape-like arms. Cheryl turned on the porch light and Randy went for a closer look. The creature seemed unconcerned and finally ambled off into the woods. Investigators would later find a trail of broken tree branches and crushed undergrowth, along with a number of large footprints. They also noticed a strong odor left in the monster's wake, but it didn't last for very long.

The officers who arrived on the scene, Jimmie Nash and Ronald Manwaring, quickly summoned a  local man named Jerry Nellis, who had a trained German Shepherd that was often used by the police department as an attack dog and to search buildings and track suspects. The dog immediately was sent in pursuit of the monster. He managed to track the creature through the woods and down a hill to a small pond. Eventually, the trees and undergrowth became too thick for the dog to continue and it was pulled off the track just moments after almost pulling its handler down a steep embankment. The officers began searching the area with flashlights and the dog began sniffing near the trees, hoping to pick up the scent again. He then set off toward an abandoned barn, but refused to go inside. In fact, the animal began shaking with fear and barking.

Nellis called the two officers over and they opened the barn and went inside. After a few moments, they realized that it was empty. The three men were puzzled. The dog had been trained to search buildings and Nellis could not explain why it had refused to enter the barn. A short time later, the search was called off for the night.

The Mud Monster was reported two more times that summer. On the night of July 4, traveling carnival workers stated that they spotted the creature looking at some Shetland ponies that were being used for the holiday celebration. Then, on July 7, Mrs. Nedra Green heard a screaming sound coming from a shed on her rural farm. She did not go out to investigate.

So what was the Murphysboro Mud Monster? Local authorities admitted that they didn't know. "A lot of things in life are unexplained," Police Chief Toby Berger admitted at the time, "and this is another one. We don't know what the creature is, but we do believe what these people saw was real."

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 in August 1989. During the attack, gaping holes were left in a tent and animal blood was left behind at the scene. The attack was later determined to have been from dogs, but that didn’t stop local residents from speculating about the Murphysboro Mud Monster again!

In the 1989 newspaper reports, Jerry Nellis, the dog handler in the original case stated his own theories on the famous case, which left he and the other witnesses to the events as “hunted” as the Mud Monster itself. Reporters and “monster hunters” came from everywhere asking questions about the case but Nellis maintained that "in my opinion ... we were tracking a bear."

But for the rest of Southern Illinois (the news story continued) and for every outdoorsman who has, as Nellis suggests, "seen something we can't make out just beyond the headlights," that original vision reported to police on June 25, 1973, is all we need to imagine.

Sources & Bibliography:
Blackman, W. Haden - Field Guide to North American Monsters (1998)
Bord, Janet & Colin - Alien Animals (1981)
Clark, Jerome - Unexplained! (1999)
Clark, Jerome & Loren Coleman - Swamp Slobs Invade Illinois (Fate Magazine / July 1974)
Clark, Jerome & Loren Coleman - The Unidentified (1975)
Coleman, Loren - Curious Encounters (1985)
Coleman, Loren - Mysterious America (1983/2000)
Coleman, Loren - Mystery Animals Invade Illinois (Fate Magazine / March 1971)
Coleman, Loren & Jerome Clark - Cryptozoology A to Z (1999)
Hauck, Dennis William - Haunted Places: The National Directory (1996)
Murphysboro, Illinois Newspaper files
Rath, Jay - I-Files (1999)
Taylor, Troy - Haunted Illinois (2001)
Personal Interviews Writings & Correspondence

Any materials not listed have been left off unintentionally from the list and may have a bibliographic listing in one of Troy Taylor’s book if the material on the website was excerpted from the book. If you recognize a reference that has not been listed. Please Email us!

(C) Copyright 2002 by Troy Taylor. All Rights Reserved.

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