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Nighttime sighting from a window by a young woman near Lake Lou Yaeger
The witness was in bed around 2 a.m. when a powerful stench prompted a look out the bedroom window. A partially cut tree about 100 feet away began to topple, and a camera flash revealed a large brown hunched figure about ten feet from the house, possibly with a second figure near the woodline. The figures left into the woods, and the next day the witness found the tree down with the saw bar displaced and many tracks and cracked walnuts nearby.
Possible nighttime sighting and vocalizations in a backyard near Old Ripley
The witness was in bed late at night when barking dogs prompted them to go outside. They saw a dog run under the porch and something retreat into the woods. After shouting and tossing a small stone into the trees, the witness heard a shriek/howl and the stone was thrown back to land at their feet. The witness ran inside, then returned with a flashlight to find twisted vegetation and snapped branches and noted a foul smell.
Hunter finds a possible footprint near Olive Branch
The witness arrived at a hunting area well before dawn and waited in the car, noticing a chill and a faint skunky musky odor. After sunrise he walked to a pond and then east along a fire access road, where he found a single very fresh footprint with visible toes in the dust of a turkey scratch. He photographed the track beside his boot, but wind erased the dust detail by the next day.
Daylight sighting by a motorist near Brookfield Zoo
The witness was driving in the morning when they saw a very tall, hairy figure running through woods beside the road. They stopped, pulled over, and went back to the spot on foot. There they found broken branches and a strong musky odor but no tracks or fur.
Mushroom hunter hears vocalizations and finds footprints near Jubilee College State Park
The witness was hunting with a dog on a sunny afternoon when the dog became agitated and a strong odor was noticed. The witness heard grunt-like noises followed twice by a loud scream or yell, plus cracking and movement in trees and brush, while the dog returned frightened with raised hair. After driving to a more open area across a shallow creek, the witness found two very large barefoot-like footprints that seemed too large and out of place to be human.
The "Big Muddy Monster" flap of Murphysboro
In the late 1970s to early 1980s, residents around the Big Muddy River reported a foul-smelling, hairy hominid-like creature. Witnesses described seeing and hearing it near the river and finding footprints, with size and color accounts varying. The writer compiled these secondhand accounts and notes the creature was never reported as violent.
Scat near Mount Vernon, Illinois
Two family members checking across the pond found unidentified scat, a strong foul odor, and footprints with about a 7-foot stride.
Tracks near Danville, Illinois
While mushroom hunting in April the witness smelled the strong odor again and found a single very large detailed left footprint.
Footsteps near Ottawa, Illinois
Over many years the household heard loud walking and branch breaking at night, noticed quiet beforehand and foul smell, and found footprints and damaged rabbit cages.