Momo The Monster

On June 30th, 1972, two young men, named Tim and Vaughn, were out at a secluded area of the Cuivre River. They had spent the day fishing from a high bank that overlooked a lower bank on the opposite side of the river. As Vaughn smelled the air, he noticed a rancid smell in the air. He looked around and saw what he believed was a naked, hairy hippie walking along the opposite side of the river.

Vaughn yelled at Tim to look at the Hippie who he figured must have been on drugs. Tim jumped up and looked, but knew it wasn’t a hippie. The creature was much taller than a typical man and was covered with hair. Also, it looked as if its head sat right on its shoulders. Both men attempted to come down to the bank to get a better look, but the creature turned, saw them and ran right for them causing the men to panic and flee for their lives.

Only twelve days later in that same area another sighting would occur. 

On July 11, 1972, two young boys, eight-year-old Terry Harrison and his five-year-old Wally, were playing in their backyard of Louisiana, Missouri a rural town located in northeast Missouri, on the Mississippi River. After playing for time, Doris, the boy’s older sister suddenly heard a panicky scream. As Doris looked out the window, she would be terrified to see a dark-haired massive creature around 7 feet tall with a pumpkin like head. Doris recounted that the creature was holding a bloody deceased dog and standing by a nearby tree. She described the being as having orange eyes and also oddly enough having no neck, with its head just sitting on its body.

Later in July that year, a report came from a man and woman from West Virginia, who were passing through Missouri. They had planned to stop and rest at Logan Conservation Area in northern Lincoln County. However, when they exited their vehicle, they smelled something that was similar to an entire family of skunks. After looking around, they spotted the creature standing there, with his big pumpkin like head and glowing candle eyes. They described the beast as being nearly seven feet tall and weighing four-hundred pounds. Suddenly he ran toward them, and they ran straight for their car. They barely made it inside when he reached it and shook their car for around thirty minutes before finally becoming tired and disappearing back into the woods. Luckily, there was no significant damage to the vehicle, and they were able to drive away. 

As the year progressed, more reports of a strange creature would surface around the area. Perhaps the most known of these was that of Richard Allan Murray. Murray was a local fire department chief and member of the city council. Murray reported driving along a creek bed when he saw something moving in the woods. When his headlights reflected on it, Murray saw a huge hairy creature that dashed into the woods. 

Fed up with these reported encounters, a 20-person posse formed to hunt the mysterious creature, but no monster ever found. Over the years many names were given to the creature, but eventually Momo was given and stuck. 

In the 1970’s it’s said that the Monster roamed up and down the Mississippi, with dozens of sightings in the area. 

Still, with sightings are almost non existing today, one has to wonder whether the creature may have died.