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| Downtown Worthington. Photo by Tim Kiser. Source: Wikipedia |
West Virginia's Bigfoot sightings continued into summer of 1961 with what most people accepted as a hoax, perpetrated by the organizers of a county fair. However, to some people in Marion County, namely in the Bunners Ridge area near Fairmont, the monster was VERY real. Stories of some sort of hairy creature began in early August, with the monster being blamed for the destruction of camping tents and convertible car tops, attacks on cars, and even the death of a horse! No one, however, was as affected by the beast as much as a young man named Junior Dale Wagner.
Referred to as 'John Wagner' in another article, the 17 year old was coming home from his girlfriend's home on the evening of August 7th, 1961. Near the town of Worthington, he saw something that scared him nearly to death. 'Something brown and pretty big' came rushing at him from a nearby hill. Wagner took off running, running so fast that he ran out of his shoes, leaving them in the street. After about 300 yards, he panicked, looking for a place to hide, when he decided to enter the closest building by any means necessary.
Wagner dove head first through the glass window of the local barbershop, knocking himself unconscious in the process. He also suffered bruises and cuts from the broken glass. He was found by Mayor Heisel Fox, who had heard shattering glass and moaning coming from the barber shop. Wagner was taken to a local hospital and treated for his injuries.
Apparently, the organizers of this rural fair never officially admitted to being behind the prank, but quite a few officials went on record stating that there was no monster in Marion County. Interestingly, newspaper media didn't bother with lumping these events in with the 'Braxton County Monster' sightings of the beginning of the year. However, the Braxton County Monster wasn't completely forgotten, as you'll see in the upcoming days!
Stay spooky, ya'll.
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| Weirton Daily Times. 09 August 1961 |
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