I would like to submit the following two stories to you. As they were told to me about
20 years ago. Some of the facts may have become "hazy" with the passage of time. However,
they still make the hair raise up on the back of my neck just telling them. I grew up in
southeastern Martin County, Kentucky. Nestled in the Appalachian Mountains, it was a
wonderful place to live (except for the lack of employment opportunities, etc.). Anyway, I
heard a story from a friend of my father during a camping trip. The story is as follows:
(I will refer to the man telling the story as "Joe")
Joe claimed that when he was about 15/16 years old (approximately 1950 since he's 65/66 now),
he and one of his friends were fishing in a local creek (about 5 miles from where we were
camping in Martin County). They had caught quite a few fish and it was getting dark so
they decided to pack up and leave. They had to climb a fence and cross a field on their way home.
The closest house was about 1/2 mile away. As they were crossing the field (their catch over
their shoulders), they heard a noise behind them. It was at the edge of dark, but they could
make out a figure about 7 or 8 feet tall. He said it looked like it had red eyes and stood
on two legs like a man! (He has hunted the area for many years and knows what bears look like.)
It made some kind of grunting noise and started moving towards them. They immediately started
running for the closest house (one of their neighbors). As they crossed the field, they could
hear this thing gaining on them. In an act of desperation, Joe/his friend (I can't remember which)
dropped the stringer of fish and kept on running to the house. The thing stopped to get the
fish evidently and they managed to get to the house. They pounded on the door and were screaming
at the owner to let them in and that they were being chased. He finally did. Once they were
inside, they told the man their amazing story and he immediately got his shotgun and went
to the windows. They swore that they could hear and occasionally see the thing outside the
house and walking around it.
This farmer supposedly had a dog (a German Shepherd) that was a good guard dog at night.
The man had forgotten to let it out that night and it kept barking incessantly. Sometime
through the night (they all stayed up until dawn!) they had heard the dog make noises as
if it were in a fight. Then suddenly they heard a "yelp" and then it was silent. The next
morning after the sun came up so they could see they ventured outside. They saw some signs
(tracks) in the yard that looked like bare feet and they were pretty big, but he didn't mention
any measurements. Eventually they got to where the dog had been and it was horribly mutilated
& dismembered. It appeared that whatever had done this had tried to eat some portions of the
dog as bits were missing. He didn't mention anything exactly, just that it looked like someone
or something had torn it to bits. He seemed sincere about the story and had an awful lot of
detail for such a short story. I wouldn't have really lent it any credence if I hadn't heard
another story some years later from a Baptist minister who lived about 4 or 5 miles from where
this story supposedly took place. Both trails are very cold now and I haven't heard anything
more recent than this, but I do believe that at one point, there was something or someone who
terrorized that portion of Martin County. It should also be noted that this area is largely
unpopulated (most of it is owned by coal & gas companies). This area is almost completely
undisturbed and wilderness except for a few gas roads criss-crossing it today.
I know it's not much, but I do believe and I am being as truthful about the story handed to
me by this man as I possibly can be, even though it's somewhat disturbing. Thanks for listening.
Good luck in your search for this specimen.
Kevin & Felicia Lowe, pandy@kih.net
Account logged Tue, 14 Nov 2000 Bobbie Short.
