FIELD FILE · MURPHYSBORO-MUD-MONSTERHOMINIDLOCAL LEGEND

Murphysboro Mud Monster

Also known as Big Muddy Monster, Murphysboro Monster

A 7-foot, mud-caked, whitish creature reported along the Big Muddy River in Murphysboro, Illinois, in 1973 – a case local police say is still open.

Murphysboro is a small Southern Illinois town on the Big Muddy River, a few miles from the Shawnee National Forest, the city of Carbondale and its university. In the summer of 1973 it became home to one of the best-documented monster flaps in the Midwest: the Big Muddy Monster, a tall, upright creature with pale, matted hair caked in river mud.

The story began around midnight on June 25, 1973. Randy Needham and Judy Johnson were parked near the Big Muddy River at Riverside Park when they noticed a foul smell and heard a scream; turning, they saw a roughly 7-foot creature covered in whitish hair and mud. They drove straight to the police. Officers who checked the area the next day found large, narrow footprints. That same day, Randy Creath and Cheryl Ray reported watching a creature walk out of a patch of trees at the edge of her parents’ yard. The police report described it as 7 to 8 feet tall, 300 to 350 pounds, dirty white or cream-colored, upright on two legs and smelling musky; Creath said he walked to within 30 or 40 feet of it.

The police chief took the reports seriously. With a posse and tracking dogs, officers followed a trail to an abandoned barn, where – according to later accounts – the dogs fell silent and refused to go in; nothing was found inside. More reports followed, including screams heard at night from the woods and a sighting near a traveling carnival, and the case drew national coverage, including in The New York Times. Then the sightings faded, apart from a dramatic 1988 report from a salvage yard where workers said they shot at a creature that pounded on their metal office for half an hour.

Murphysboro has since embraced its monster. The city’s tourism office keeps an online “case file” of scanned 1973 police reports, witness sketches and photos, and notes that the case remains open. The creature appears on a downtown mural, starred in the 2021 documentary Creature from Big Muddy, and is the subject of a book by investigators Chad Lewis, Kevin Lee Nelson and Noah Voss – who note that plenty of locals also claim to know who was behind a hoax.

Type

Hominid

Status

Local legend

First reported

1973

Best-known location

Big Muddy River, Murphysboro, Illinois

Also called

Big Muddy Monster, Murphysboro Monster

Reported in

Illinois

What witnesses describe

About 7 to 8 feet tall and 300 to 350 pounds, walking upright, covered in long, light – dirty white or cream – hair matted with mud. Some witnesses described glowing red eyes, a foul or musky smell and a high-pitched scream.

Where and when it’s seen

Woods, riverbanks and farmland along the Big Muddy River around Murphysboro, Illinois, especially near Riverside Park; reported mostly at night in summer.

Notable sightings

1. June 25, 1973The couple at Riverside Park Big Muddy River, Murphysboro, Illinois

   Randy Needham and Judy Johnson reported a 7-foot, mud-covered, whitish creature approaching their parked car around midnight, and drove to the police station. Officers later found large, narrow footprints.

2. June 26, 1973Creath and Ray’s close look Farm near Murphysboro, Illinois

   Randy Creath and Cheryl Ray watched a cream-colored creature walk out of the trees and back into a field. The police report recorded an estimated 7 to 8 feet in height and a musky odor.

3. Summer 1973The search dogs and the barn Murphysboro, Illinois

   The police chief led officers and tracking dogs after the creature to an abandoned barn, which they searched without finding anything. The story spread to national newspapers.

4. 1988Siege at the salvage yard Murphysboro area, Illinois

   A salvage yard owner and an employee said they saw and shot at a creature, then sheltered in their metal office while something banged on the walls for over half an hour.

5. July 2021Creature from Big Muddy released Murphysboro, Illinois

   Joe Tury’s documentary revisited the sightings, the police investigation and the hoax theories, with investigators Chad Lewis and Kevin Lee Nelson.

What could explain it?

• A hoax has long been suspected locally – a person in a costume or a prank – and some residents claim to know who was involved, though no one has proven it.
• Black bears, large dogs or other animals glimpsed at night near the river could have been misidentified, especially once the story was in the news.
• As with many monster flaps, media attention and community excitement likely produced additional, less reliable reports after the first two.
• The pale color and mud are unusual for Bigfoot-type reports; skeptics note that no hair, scat or clear photographs were ever collected.

Legend, culture and tourism

The Big Muddy Monster is Murphysboro’s mascot and tourist draw: it appears on a downtown mural, in a comic book, on souvenirs, and in an online police “case file” published by the city’s tourism office. The 2021 documentary Creature from Big Muddy and the book The Big Muddy Monster: Legends, Sightings and Other Strange Encounters keep the story alive.

Places to visit

Where it’s reported

Illinois

Murphysboro Mud Monster in the news

No recent headlines about the Murphysboro Mud Monster. Our news desk checks every day — see all cryptid news.

First published October 13, 2026 · Updated October 14, 2026