The Cohomo Monster

In 1972, a wave of Bigfoot sightings swept through the Peoria area of Central Illinois. It all started in late May, when 18 year old Randy Emert and some friends reported seeing a ten foot tall creature resembling a Bigfoot. They described it has having white hair, quick moving, and makes screeching sounds. Randy said he had first heard about the monster from a friend a year earlier. He said that "there are tracks everywhere up there", referring to the wooded area along Cole Hollow Road, between East Peoria and Creve Coeur, where he and his friends had seen it. Many suspected it as being the famous "Momo" creature of Missouri. It became known as "Cohomo".
Many more sightings soon followed. On May 25, the East Peoria Police Department recieved over 200 phone calls of people saying they'd seen the creature. More reports arose until the police conducted a search of the creature in July. More than 100 volunteers searched the woods until one of them shot himself in the leg with a pistol. The manhunt, or should I say "Bigfoothunt" was called off.
But, the reports kept coming in. On July 25, a family from the nearby town of Eureka was celebrating a birthday party in Fondulac Park in Easp Peoria. They said they saw a figure standing in the woods nearby accompanied by strange lights behind it.
The next day, July 26, a woman was picking berries by an old coal mine on Route 98, 3 miles east of Route 2, in South Pekin at approaxamately 7:35 PM. She said she saw a Sasquatch-like creature near her and ran away, terrified. She left her purse behind.
The day after that, July 27, two people said they saw Cohomo swimming in the Illinois River. They said it looked like a cross between an ape and a caveman and smelled horrible. The police said they were "reliable citizens."
That same year a young boy named Rodney Erps was outside his family's rural home about 2 miles east of the Mackinaw River near South Pekin. He said he was 150-200 feet from their barn when he saw a massive figure exit out of the front door . He said that it was so big that it took up the entire space of the doorway. Terrified, he ran for the house. Their dogs began to bark and didn't stop for over three hours. A neighbor later said that he'd seen a huge shadow alongside the barn. When the police arrived, they found nothing. However, 2 months later, Rodney and his brother found a half eaten pig in the area he'd seen the creature before.
After this, the sightings ceased. The hype calmed and people forgot about Cohomo. There were several articles published on the local phenomena by the Pekin Daily Times.

P/S:i feel that this story kinda strange..