Media Article # 382
Article submitted by Kevin Henderson
Article prepared and posted by Kevin Withers

Monday, December 15, 1975

Iowa's own Lockridge monster

By Alan Koonse
Des Moines Register

A recent resurgence of interest in the legendary Loch Ness monster hasn't made it the No. 1 creature in the minds of Iowans in the Turkey Creek area north of Lockridge.

That distinction still belongs to the so-called "Lockridge Monster."

Some believe the Iowa monster may even be Sasquatch – more commonly known as Bigfoot - a creature that reportedly has been sighted in the United States in recent years, and one that is
the subject of research by groups as intent as those interested in the Loch Ness monster.

After Mr. and Mrs. Herb Peiffer reported sighting a large, bushy-haired creature on their turkey farm north of Lockridge in early October, they have received numerous inquiries about the creature.

Bear-like

Ramona Hibner of the South Mountain Research Group of Brooksville, Fla., has written to the Peiffers seeking detailed information on the bear-like animal that reportedly reared up on its hind legs to a height of almost five feet when Peiffer saw it while he was tending his turkeys.

Two other Lockridge area residents also reported seeing the creature. One farmwife said it had an ape-like face.

Hibner gave the following description of Bigfoot: "It stands up on two feet and walks like a man, covered with hair and has an ape-like face. It has been known to kill chickens, rabbits, raccoons, pigs and sometimes cows. It mutilates the bodies, often not eating all of the kill."

Dead Turkeys

The Peiffers found a pile of three or four dead turkeys, eaten, almost every morning before they shipped their birds to market in late October.

Bigfoot is reportedly between eight and 12 feet tall, and according to various reports, mostly from the state of Washington, weighs as much as 500 to 1,000 pounds.

Hibner wrote that "Sasquatch is very agile and powerful, with the endurance to cover a vast range in search of food and shelter and his mates."

Eats Apples

Bigfoot is also reportedly more of a vegetarian than a meat-eater, and Mrs. Peiffer said she and her husband found a number of partially eaten apples still hanging on a tree.

"It looked like a bite was taken out of some of the choicest apples clear around the tree," Mrs. Peiffer said. She said the partially eaten apples were on branches about seven feet off of the ground.

Mrs. Peiffer said one unidentified hunter who was carrying a camera said he spotted the "Lockridge Monster" on their farm a few weeks ago.

"Before he got the camera focused, it was gone," she said, recounting the hunter's story. "He said he didn't know what it was, but it wasn't a bear."

Cast of Tracks

Hibner of the Bigfoot research group also informed the Peiffers that plaster casts taken of various Bigfoot tracks in western states show a foot 14 to 24 inches in length and 5 to 10 inches wide.

Mrs. Peiffer said her teenage son easily slipped his size-12 shoe into a track believed to have been made by the "Lockridge Monster" along the Turkey Creek.

Tracks have been found on sand bars along the creek. Local hunters say they resemble bear tracks.

The partially eaten apples on the tree, the track and the reported sightings have spurred national publicity about the "Lockridge Monster."

Many Inquiries

"Mrs. Peiffer said they have receive inquiries from every state in the nation except Alaska and Arkansas (where they have their own lurking creature sightings periodically).

"I'm kind of disappointed in Arkansas," she said.

There have been calls from radio and television stations and newspapers across the United States, Mrs. Peiffer said. She said one group in Pennsylvania attempted to persuade her
to speculate that the "Lockridge Monster" was a lost being from a UFO. Mrs. Peiffer said she told them to jump in a lake.

She said she is not afraid of the creature, but she added, "If I see it again, I wouldn't go up and throw my arms around it."

She said the sighting of the creature hasn't changed their lives much. "But we keep our eyes open more than we used to," she said.

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