Montauk Monster mystery continues as body ‘goes missing’
by Stevie Smith - Aug 4 2008, 13:04
Mysterious beast goes missing from Montauk beach. Image: Gawker.
A bizarre grizzly beast that recently washed up dead on the eastern shores of Long Island, N.Y., sparking something of a ‘what in the hell is that’ furore across several noteworthy media outlets, is receiving even more (undeserved?) page space today following news that it has now mysteriously disappeared.
News of the deceased creature, which was discovered on a patch of coastline in the tiny resort town of Montauk, Long Island, was initially uncovered by Gawker.com on July 30 before swiftly catching the attention of prominent media outlets including the likes of FOX News and CNN.
Unsurprisingly labelled as “The Montauk Monster“, the stocky-looking quadruped was photographed as a hairless beast with visibly sharp teeth, elongated front paws and what appeared to be a distinctly beak-shaped snout.
Speaking with Newsday, Jenna Hewitt, one of those who literally stumbled across the extraordinary corpse, commented that her and a group of friends were looking for a nice place to sit when they noticed people gathered around something lying on the beach.
“We were kind of amazed, shocked and amazed,” said Hewitt (26), who described the unfortunate beast as something akin to a large hairless dog when asked to comment on what she thought it was.
A bloated dog ravaged by the effects of the sea is the more logical explanation for the strange find, although other, more imaginative suggestions have also been offered up as to the beast’s true identity and also where it may have come from.
Specifically, the Net has spawned a selection of wild Montauk Monster theories that say the creature is perhaps large raccoon, a skinned pig, a sea turtle that has been separated from its protective shell, or part of a viral marketing campaign for a Cartoon Network show.
Some have even suggested the creature is the result of some terrible failed experiment conducted by the U.S. Government’s Animal Disease Center, which is located on the nearby Plum Island.
However, what’s currently more telling about the animal is that it has now completely disappeared and is no longer something that can be viewed beyond the sensational beach-bound snapshot posted on this story.
Hewitt recounts that locals in attendance during the initial discovery described how “an old guy came and carted it away,” apparently boasting that he was going to mount the creature as a trophy on his wall.
Needless to say, local authorities are likely working to track down the unidentified old man and retrieve the dead creature for study and investigation before he’s able to fill it full of sand it nail it to a plaque above his fireplace.
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