NOTE: This new story used by permission of the Sun-Commercial.

From The Vincennes (Ind.) Sun-Commercial, October, 1981

By William Menke, staff writer

Only two people, Roger and Barbara Crabtree of Decker Chapel, claim to have seen it. But the alleged monster they claim to have seen has caused quite a stir both locally and in other places across the country.

Some say it's Big Foot. Others say it's nothing more than a wild coyote or wolf. And some say the monster is at best noth- ing more than spirited imaginations.

Believe what you will.

The "Big Foot" scare in Knox County got its start the night of Aug. 26, when the home of Terry and Mary Harper, 2006 S. 15th St., was gnawed on by an unknown creature.

An unidentified animal tore the bottom of a door and ripped a few pieces of aluminum siding from the house causing about $200 damages.

Found at the scene were a tuft of dirty white hair, some teeth marks and blood.

The Harpers didn't hear the beast at work - just the barking of their dog, which they said, was nothing unusual. But when the Harpers investigated they supposedly found the damage and their dog with its paws covering its eyes while shaking and whining in fear.

The Harpers called the Knox County Sheriff's Department. Deputies guessed the incident was caused by a wolf because of teeth marks found on the siding.

After a few days of speculation, the incident at the Harper residence was forgotten by most of the people in Knox County and visions of a monster prowling about were put to rest.

Monster reappears

That is until about 9 a.m. Sept. 25, when Barbara Crabtree of Decker Chapel claims to have seen the monster in a corn field behind her rural home.

By all accounts, the day started like any other day for Mrs. Crabtree. She said she went outside to dump garbage onto the trash pile when she saw the hairy creature standing in the corn- field.

"It had dirty white hair and stood somewhere between 7 and 8 feet tall," Mrs. Crabtree said. "He emitted a bad smell and had huge eyes but I couldn't tell you what color they were be- cause I didn't stand around long enough to look."

Mrs. Crabtree had thrown a chicken onto the trash pile that morning and by that afternoon it was gone. She believes the monster took it.

That night she had her husband Roger went to a drive-in movie at Princeton. They were returning home about 2 a.m. Saturday when he spotted the creature.

"We were coming home from Princeton, it was about 2 a.m., and we were on the Decker Chapel Road when Roger saw it," Mrs. Crabtree said.

She said it was coming from a woods which lead to the road.

He called the county police.

The police log shows Crabtree reported the incident at 2:34 a.m. Saturday Sept. 26. Deputies were sent to investigate but found no evidence that the monster existed - no tufts of hair, no foot prints nothing.

For the next few days things were peaceful - no monster - but:

About 9 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30, Mrs. Crabtree was at home and heard a loud growling noise outside the house com- bined with the barking of their dog. She woke her husband who turned on the front porch lights. The growling stopped. A few minutes later it resumed on the side of the house, she said.

Again the Crabtrees called the county police who investigat- ed and found no evidence that the monster had been there.

Since Sept. 30, neither the Crabtrees nor anyone else has been disturbed by the alleged monster.

Perhaps it is best to recall the words of Phaedrus, a phi- lospher who lived in the fifth century B.C. ''The mind ought sometimes to be amused, that it may better return to thought, and to itself."