Momo — Cryptid Encyclopedia

Momo — short for Missouri Monster — terrorized the small town of Louisiana, Missouri in the early 1970s with a series of encounters that remain unexplained to this day.

The most famous sighting came on July 11, 1972, when the Harrison children were playing on Marzolf Hill and saw a massive creature step out of the tree line. It stood over seven feet tall, covered head to toe in matted black hair, with a pumpkin-shaped head that sat directly on its shoulders — no visible neck. Hair covered even its eyes. And it was carrying a dead dog under its arm.

Over the following weeks, multiple residents reported sightings of the creature. A 20-person armed posse was organized to hunt it down. Investigators found three-toed footprints, flattened vegetation, and a horrible stench that lingered in the areas where Momo had been spotted. The creature was never found.

Momo's distinguishing features — the neckless, pumpkin-shaped head, the hair covering its eyes, and its habit of carrying dead animals — set it apart from standard Bigfoot reports. Whatever walked out of those woods in 1972, it wasn't a creature anyone in Louisiana, Missouri had seen before or has seen since.

"It was seven feet tall, hairy all over, and carrying a dead dog under its arm." — Description from the Harrison children sighting, 1972.