Starting in 2004 the residents of El Campo Texas, in Matagorda County, began reporting strange encounters with a large ape like creature now known as the El Campo Ape Man. Representatives from the Texas Bigfoot Research Center said that they where contacted by a local family who said they where inspired by a newspaper report, in the Leader-News, to contact the TBRC and report there own encounter with the El Campo Ape Man. “We received a good sighting report from an El Campo resident after they read the article,” said Craig Woolheater, a representative of the TBRC.
The sighting occurred at about 10 p.m. on August 31st 2004 and according to the eyewitness, who wished to remain anonymous, “I was sitting out on the porch around 10 p.m. on Tuesday night. My dogs, a lab mix and a pit bull, started acting strange and growling.” The eyewitness said at this point that they heard a noise coming from a darkened area near the house. “It sounded like something heavy stepped on a piece of tin that is over there on the ground,” The eyewitness then summoned her husband, who grabbed his pistol and went to investigate. “As my husband was coming out the door, our pit bull ran inside the house very scared. We stood there on the porch for a little bit when suddenly this grayish animal that looked like an overgrown monkey jumped up on the corner of a refrigerator that was lying on the tail end of my husband’s trailer. It was stooped over and very fast, my husband fired his pistol towards the ground just as the creature started to run off very fast.”
Jason Gibbs with the El Campo Leader-News reported that the sheriff’s department confirmed a deputy was summoned to an El Campo home along U.S. Business 59, near the Garden of Memories cemetery. The deputy was unable to locate anything suspicious and departed the scene about 20 minutes later.
The eyewitness reports stated that the creature was “grayish and had a man like face, but its nose was flatter than a human nose” they added that the creature was about 5 feet tall. According to the TBRC’s investigation, the deputy reported that the male witness was, “disturbed and shaken, but very sober and clear minded,” at the time of the sighting.
The El Campo Ape Man is generally not considered to be a unique cryptid; more often than not it is looked upon as a region specific name for an already recognized cryptid such as Bigfoot or NAPs, North American Apes. Other region specific names given to what is believed to be a species of Bigfoot include the Honey Island Swamp Monster, the Fouke Monster and Old Yellow Top. See the Unknown Explorers section on Bigfoot for more information.
The Evidence The El Campo Ape Man left behind no physical evidence during its visitation to El Campo Texas. Please see the Unknown Explorers section on Bigfoot for physical evidence pertaining to the creature thought to be responsible for the El Campo Ape Man sightings.
The Sightings Several sightings of the El Campo Ape Man where recorded by the TBRC during the short time frame in which the creature roamed the area. The most known sighting was that of an eyewitness, who wished to remain anonymous, which was published in the El Campo Leader-News. The eyewitness reported that a 5 foot tall, grayish colored, “overgrown” monkey jumped on the back of her husband’s trailer before being frightened off after the husband fired his pistol into the ground.