Witnesses have seen a huge, hairy, hulking creature stalking the woods and lonely country roads. The creature is similar to the well-known Bigfoot of the Pacific Northwest. It has a pumpkin-shaped head, three-fingered hands and leaves three-toed footprints. This aggressive creature is known to kill animals and antagonize humans.
The creature has been nicknamed “Momo” by the locals who are well aware of the Missouri Monster.
Momo sightings have been reported throughout Missouri. But the most famous sightings occurred in Louisiana, Mo., a town of fewer than 4,000 people. Located in Pike County, Louisiana lies 75 miles northwest of St. Charles County.
Bigfoot-like creatures have been reported in the Louisiana area since the 1940s, but it was not until the early 1970s that Momo attracted serious interest. Joan Mills and Mary Ryan were driving along Highway 79, north of Louisiana, when they allegedly saw a hairy creature that made disturbing gurgling noises. The women described the thing as “half ape and half man.”
The most notorious sighting took place one year later. On the afternoon of July 11, 1972, 8-year-old Terry Harrison and his 5-year-old brother, Wally, were playing in their backyard at the foot of Marzolf Hill on the outskirts of Louisiana. Their older sister, Doris, was inside the house. Doris heard her brothers scream. She looked out the bathroom window and saw a black, hairy manlike creature, standing by a tree.
The thing appeared to be six or seven feet tall. Its head sat directly atop its shoulders, with no visible neck. The face was likewise invisible, completely covered by a mass of hair.
The youths reported “The creature was streaked with blood, carried a dead dog under its arm.
A local farmer reported his dog had disappeared. A neighbor reported hearing terrible growling sounds that afternoon.
Edgar Harrison, the children’s father, also heard loud growls the evening of July 14. He and several other people smelled a strong, unpleasant odor as they investigated the area around Marzolf Hill. Investigators later reported smelling a similar stench, like rotting flesh.
On July 21 Momo revealed itself to Ellis Minor outside his home on River Road. It was around 10 p.m. when Minor heard his dogs barking. He grabbed a flashlight and stepped outside, expecting to see an intruding dog. Instead, he saw a 6-foot-tall monster standing in his yard. The black, hairy creature turned and ran.
According to a July 23, 1972 story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, police sealed off a 200-acre wooded area while a team of 25 hunters searched for the creature, which many believed to be a black bear. Police received reports of a creature crossing the highway with a dog or sheep in its mouth. Another witness told police that the creature lifted the back of his automobile.
Bigfoot investigators swarmed Louisiana, interviewing witnesses and taking plaster casts of the creature’s unusual three-toed footprints. One of the preeminent researchers was Hayden Hewes, director of the Oklahoma City-based Sasquatch Investigations of Mid America.
“What impressed me was the willingness of people to talk to us. Normally people are reluctant to talk about these things,” said Hewes, 61. “This was not just one person spitting in a can, saying `yes sir, I saw it right over there.’ These were good quality people who were enthusiastic about what was going on.”
Hewes said he was impressed with the witnesses’ sincerity.
“These people didn’t want to sell something. They didn’t want publicity. They just wanted to share their stories. I never got any inkling that there was a hoax.”
The Momo scare lasted only two weeks, but it triggered a media frenzy. Television and newspaper journalists from across the nation descended on the small town.
Credit: http://www.stateofhorror.com/momo.html
r v
Momo meets Bobo, commits a no-no. Okay, I’m bored. Time to get to work.
Robert V
I’m tired of the Black bear thing. They could at least come up with something new. No one believes it anymore.
Bob
Carol Germer
I wonder where Momo went after 2 weeks?
jarred m
Being from missouri, momo holds a special place in the sas world for me. It started my interest not only in bigfoot but all unusual things. My mother told me about momo when i was younger and i have been obsessed ever since. So happy to see this on the site. Momo is alive and well. Missouri is a very good place to look for these creatures.
Kay S
Momo having three fingers and toes is odd. Inbreeding may cause deformities, but why such a specific one in BFs? Why not different deformities in each individual, as happens in other animals? Why don’t we hear of groups of BFs with bend limbs, under or over shot jaws or other inbreeding characteristics? Just a thought.
Esther P
Kay S: I agree somewhat on the inbreeding issue, but there’s another stronger issue that could account for deformities and that is waste & chemical contamination from factories into the water supply that affects all living creatures including humans. In looking at the Momo sightings in Pike Co, MO, it’s in close proximity to St Louis Co & the Times Beach incident of Dioxin contamination early 1960’s thru to 1972 when the EPA shut them down. There were and are cases like this kind of waste contamination all over the US and it should give us cause for concern as in the Momo case of 3-toes & 3-fingers.
Christopher c
Esther I think you are right ,I think the dioxin factor is a key point as to why it is deformed,I have a friend who’s family worked pickingd the strawberry fields in Salinas-Watsonville area in the early 70’s. and he was born with six fingers,on each hand he has an extra thumb.
DonRay
Just another cryptid…….. Ciao
Eric M
One lady from Fredericktown (Madison County) thought it took a pie that was cooling on the railing of her back porch.