The Minerva Monster

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The Minerva Monster -

Bigfoot sightings in northeast Ohio are nothing new – inexplicable bipedal cryptids been sighted in the area for at least 75 years – but the Minerva Monster incident, which triggered a massive coordinated search for an elusive “huge, hairy creature” that stalked the woods and terrified a local family near the town of Minerva, has long been regarded as one of the most convincing Bigfoot incidents in history.

Cedar Bog opens – locals report ape-like monster -

In 1942, Ohioans shook with excitement when the Ohio Historical Society listed Cedar Bog as a nature preserve, the first of its kind in Ohio. Located in Champaign County, Ohio, the bog was carved by a glacier leaving behind the Teays River, a rich, fertile area teaming with natural wildlife. The new official designation protected nearly 500 acres of the epic 7,000 acre fen (a wetland fed by mineral-rich ground and river water).

Shortly after Cedar Bog was opened, locals began whispering about a large, ape-like creature sighted frequently around the Bog and in particular, near Woodburn Road, a county road that ran parallel to the Bog. Sometime after, the area near where the creature was spotted was enclosed with a large metal fence topped with ominous barbed wire. Some thought the new fence was installed to protect the Bog – to keep people out. Others however, felt it was installed for a more sinister purpose – to keep something in.

The locals’ fears grew a few years later when a group of teenagers mysteriously disappeared while on a camping trip near the Bog. Legend grew around the incident and locals attributed the unfortunate youths’ disappearance to the “Boggy Creek Monster”, a nickname credited to the creature shortly after the sightings near Woodburn Road (not to be confused with the Fouke Monster of Fouke, Arkansas which spawned the Legend of Boggy Creek movie).

Decades later and about three hours east of the Bog, a documented sighting of the creature would earn a high-ranking position in Bigfoot lore as one of the most interesting and thoroughly investigate Bigfoot sightings in history.

Minerva Monster terrifies Ohio family -

Minerva is a small town, population just under 4,000 people, in Paris Township, Stark County Ohio. It was here (actually two miles west of Minerva proper), on Lincoln Street SE just off of U.S. Route 30 where Herbert Cayton cleared an area near a deep pit by his home. His work done, he disposed of some garbage in the pit and settled in for a few days rest after the job. A few nights later, Cayton’s grandchildren and their friends came running into the house claiming to have seen a large, hairy monster rummaging around in the pit. The children were obviously terrified, believing a threatening mountain man or crazed hermit was just outside their home.

Howe Cayton, his mother Evelyn Cayton and her daughter Vicki Keck, went outside to investigate. They noted that the dogs were “going berserk” as they walked up the small hill leading to the pit. As they approached the pit, they saw a large, thickly-haired “monster”, about 7 feet tall and weighing an estimated 300 pounds. Evelyn later commented

“It just stood there. It didn’t move, but I almost broke my neck running back down the hill.”

A few days later, Evelyn Cayton saw the creature again picking through the garbage in the pit. She noted that the creature was bipedal (walked on two legs) and had long hair covering its face. The creature’s hair was thick and although she could not make out any of its facial features, she recalled it had no visible neck. Again, her dogs went wild, tugging to get free from the chains that kept them bound to a nearby tree.

Days after the second sighting, the family found one of their German Sheppard dogs dead – with a broken neck. The dog’s collar was found next to the dead dog, still attached to the chain. The other German Sheppard (Missy) appeared in an addled state. The Cayton’s observed that Missy continued acting strangely for weeks after the incident, and out of character, dug a huge 8-foot hole in the ground (investigators later confirmed the existence of the hole and took evidentiary photographs of it).

More friends of the family witness the monster firsthand – August 21, 1988 -

The family told little about the sightings to friends but their problem publicly came to light on August 21, 1978. Around 10:30 PM, the Cayton’s and a few of their friends were relaxing on the back porch of their home. Behind the home was an old, abandoned strip mine that had been out of use for many years. Beyond the mine were dense, unpopulated hilly woods that the family rarely ventured into. Near the mine, was an old chicken coop. Amongst the chatter of conversation, someone heard an unusual noise near the chicken coop. The Cayton’s and friends turned to see what the commotion was and noticed two pairs of yellow eyes peering back at them through the darkness.

A close friend of the family, Scott Patterson, jumped into his car to turn the vehicle’s headlights toward the glowing eyes. As he inched the car forward to better illuminate the pair of animals, the lights revealed a huge hairy creature which stepped in front of two feline-like creatures as if to protect them. The witnesses would later describe the creature as well over 7-foot tall with black and brown matted hair that covered its head and face. The creature turned its attention to the idling automobile and began running towards it.

Seeing the creature quickly closing in on them, the witnesses ran into the home while Patterson tumbled from the car to join the fleeing party. Inside the home, the frightened witnesses (some of the women burst into tears) called the Stark County Sheriff’s Department. While they huddled inside waiting for the authorities to arrive, the creature peered through the kitchen window, illuminated by the back porch light. Patterson grabbed a loaded .22 caliber pistol while Evelyn Cayton snatched a .22 caliber rifle and began loading it. They noted that despite aiming their weapons at the creature, it stood by the window for about 10 minutes showing no fear of the guns. Nobody shot at the creature, but all were careful to keep it within their gun sights.

“It didn’t seem to want to bother anyone. It was just curious. We all felt that it wanted to be friends.”

After several minutes, the creature turned and moved silently away from the window.

Stark County Sheriffs investigate the sighting – massive manhunt for an elusive creature

Deputy Sheriff James Shannon arrived about 15 minutes after the call from the Cayton’s (about five minutes after the creature moved away from the kitchen window). Deputy Shannon (he later retired as Captain of the force) interviewed the witnesses who described to him the two “cats” and monstrous creature. Years later, he recalled the incident:

“They heard something at the window, kind of clawing and pawing. From what I remember, I don’t think this creature, whatever the hell it was, was trying to get in as much as it was saying, ‘Hey, look at me!’”

Sheriff Shannon noted that the family’s terror seemed genuine and everyone’s description of the incident matched perfectly. Shannon did not suspect a hoax – not even a hint of it. The family and friends had definitely seen something but he could find no rational explanation for what they had seen.

Shannon searched around the home and noted an alarming, strong stench near the kitchen window (described as an ammonia-sulphur, rotten-egg smell). Additional deputies were called in and searched the area on horseback and in 4-wheel dive Army surplus Jeeps. During their 6-hour search, they found unusual footprints in the woods behind the home. Measuring 14-16 inches long, law enforcement wrote them off as bear footprints. When Mrs. Cayton was asked if she thought the creature could have been a bear, she responded, “No, not unless they were mutated!”

Regardless of the official conclusion, years later Shannon would call the investigation “the most bizarre investigation of his 30-year law enforcement career” and family friend Scott Patterson, who was skeptical of past sightings, admitted to reporters that he was now a “believer”.

Second Minerva Monster sighting – August 22, 1978 -

On August 22, 1978 at around 9:00 PM, Mrs. Mary Ackerman, daughter of Evelyn Cayton, drove to the Cayton home to pick up her daughter and a friend. Mary turned into the Cayton driveway and to her surprise, saw the creature standing on top of the hill next to the abandoned strip mine behind the home. She described the creature as more than 6-feet tall with stubby legs and hairy, indistinct features. Mary sat in the car and watched the creature until it finally turned and walked towards the woods behind the mine. According to Mary,

“It was shaped like a man and it walked like a man. When a bear moves away, it does away on all four feet. This swung up over the edge of the strip mine on two legs.”

Third Minerva Monster sighting – August 23, 1978 -

Howe Cayton had his second experience with the Minerva Monster on August 23, 1978 at around 11:00 PM. Cayton saw the creature appear outside his home and quickly grabbed a gun and fired it into the air. The creature turned and fled. Howe noted that the same night, as the family lay in bed, their home was pelted with rocks which pattered and clanked on the metal roof of the home throughout the night.

The final Minerva Monster sighting? -

The last Cayton sighting of the Minerva Creature occurred two weeks after their home was pelted relentlessly with rocks. On September 8, 1978, around 6:00 PM, Mrs. Ackerman saw two “ape-like” animals moving about near the strip mine. She thought at first, that they might have been in a tree but could not tell because of the hillside angle and the distance. She watched the creatures for a while until they disappeared into the woods.

The Minerva Monster media circus -

Virtually overnight, the Cayton homestead turned into a veritable media circus. The Cayton’s say the crowds outside their home grew so large, they had to post “no trespassing” signs on fences to keep “bigfoot hunters” off of their property.

However, not all bigfoot hunters were so intrusive. Researcher Jim Rastetter of Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (BFRO) arrived on the scene on September 9, 1978 (he returned for a followup investigation on September 30) and interviewed residents throughout the area. His first “find” was Henry Colt, who lived about five miles east of Minerva on US 30. Colt told Rastetter that he too had seen the animal while on a walk through the woods near his home. Colt says the animal was squatting near a tree and made a noise that sounded to him like a very loud cough. He described the creature as large, hairy, and bipedal.

Next, Rastetter interviewed the Cayton family about their encounter with the creature. In his report, he noted that the Cayton’s and their friends had no reason to concoct a hoax and seemed truthful and sincere in their stories. He also noted that all witnesses told the exact same story.

“They were very plain, simple, down-to-earth people, and you could tell something had happened that really frightened them. There were never any inconsistencies with their story, however many times we went over it.”

Another researcher who accompanied Rastetter confirmed his assessment of the family’s veracity:

“Some of the persons were interviewed separately and all described the beast identically. All hoped they would never see it again.”

To their surprise, the researchers found that the Cayton’s and many of their family friends were unfamiliar with the term “Bigfoot”.

More Minerva Monster sightings -

Within weeks of the Cayton sightings, others in the area began reporting similar encounters with the Minerva Monster. One man saw a large, hairy creature cross Route 30 near the Cayton’s home. It was a fog-shrouded night and as he was driving down US 30, all of a sudden “this thing darted out in front” of his vehicle.

Another sighting occurred on Liberty Church Road SE where a woman reported hearing strange noises in the woods surrounding her home. She described the sound as a “cat fight” or a woman’s terrified shriek. She reported to authorities that whatever was making the uncanny noises, had been harassing her for several months.

58-year-old David White said he heard mysterious sounds behind his Paris Township home, located at the rear of the Skyland Mills Mobile Home Park, near they Cayton’s property. Similar to the Liberty Church Road report, he described mysterious sounds echoing from the woods next to a small lake.

“It’s a blood-chilling sound. A curdling sound. It will scare the hell of out you.”

His wife, Connie, confirmed hearing the strange noises.

Sightings spread to nearby counties

In the years following the Cayton incidents, reports of the Minerva Monster arrived from the neighboring counties of Logan and Union. On June 24, 1980, Mrs. Donna Riegler, a legal secretary from Union County, was driving home from work on a stormy day. It was hot and lightning flashed in the distance. Riegler slowed her car as she crossed over a set of rough railroad tracks and saw something lying in the road ahead. The creature appeared to be hunched over and at first she thought it was a dog. Then, as the creature rose to two legs, she felt it must be a man. When the creature turned to face her, she saw it was a huge, hairy creature. It stared at her and held its hands out to her, palms up. She drove away quickly and stopped at the first home she came to. Inside the stranger’s home, she collapsed, breaking down in tears.

The Minerva Monster aftermath – Cayton’s refuse to recant their story -

Many years after their infamous encounter with the Minerva Monster, the beleaguered Cayton’s never recanted their story. The family was hassled by neighbors who claimed the Cayton’s were “seeing things”. Locals harassed the Cayton’s at a high school football game when the crowd stood and began chanting “Bigfoot! Bigfoot!” as they entered the stadium. Herbert Cayton told reporters:

“There were doubters. Those who yelled things from car windows when they passed. It was weird. … The way I feel about it is if they don’t want to believe, they don’t have to.”

Despite the alienation of their neighbors, they Cayton’s refused to bend.  Researchers who followed up on the story several years after the events noted:

“Back in ’85, when I spoke with the family, and again in ’91, their reports were the same practically word for word as they were in ’78. If you had a list of the top ten sightings in Ohio based on credibility or believability, Minerva would easily be in the top three.”

The Cayton family today -

Today the Cayton family continues living on the property although Evelyn and Herbert Cayton have since died. Family members have installed fences to keep curiosity seekers away. They exhibit much skepticism when it is suggested that the animal they saw was a Bigfoot. They continue to denounce any publicity and insist that they do not want public attention focused on the case.

Read more @ https://www.altereddimensions.net/2015/minerva-monster-ohio-bigfoot