Reader Information

Friday, July 05, 2019

El Paso Woman Claims Physical Attack by 'Desert Ape'


On Tuesday July 2, 2019 I received a telephone call from an El Paso, Texas resident who had a physical encounter with an unknown being. The witness, 'YP', along with her husband and young son, were enroute to an area southeast of El Paso in order to do some stargazing. YP had to relieve herself, so they stopped the car near some brush. She heard something moving about and witnessed a 7+ ft. hairy being emerge from an underground opening. It chased her and made contact on her back and legs. She fell and was on the ground trying to get away. In the meantime the husband tried to help her.

I needed to find a researcher / investigator in the El Paso area, and was directed to Bruce Cornet through Sharon Buydens Cornet. Bruce contacted YP and submitted the following information:


Lon, went with YP, her husband and son to locality. She tried to explain what happened, but could not be certain of what bush she crawled under to escape her attacker, who touched her and scratched her. Mesquite thorns abundant, and did scratch her. Bruise-like injuries on her back she said were caused by touch, not blunt force. It was 10:00 pm and dark in those bushes, leading to her difficulty recognizing plants in daylight. Soil too hard for footprints. Method of creature rising up out of a hole not supported by evidence, which shows no burrow or circular disturbance. Grasses between bushes all laid down as if trampled. Shallow depressions with exposed soil everywhere, probably due to scavenging animals. Some broken branches and a couple bent trunks to Mesquite bushes. Strange. She did save shirt worn which was between skin and whatever touched her back. I told her to not wash it and put it in plastic bag to preserve any tissue from what touched her. Bruce

NOTE: the first four images were submitted to me. Bruce later submitted 4 additional images. Lon:





Bruce Cornet describes images below: Describing size of hole which creature emerged from, and how far it had emerged when she turned away and ran. She demonstrated how she crawled between bushes with creature behind her and grabbing her right leg, leaving scratches, which you already posted. She said its fingers sharp as if it had claws - not like Bigfoot fingers. May be another type of paranormal creature, not Bigfoot.





Sharon Buydens Cornet on her Desert Apes web page lists Bigfoot sighting near Horizon East Lake several years ago. Dry lake within two miles of new locality. YP was very emotional and wants her story known. I have to be concerned about hoaxing with no physical evidence other than scratches and bruise-like marks on her lower back. Her young son does talk as if event did occur.

Their two dogs accompanied them stargazing that far away from city lights. They became nervous, sniffed the air, then bolted, running away. I didn't meet their dogs. To the North in upper States and Canada, I saw documentary on wraith-like creatures that attack humans at night. They live near lakes. Bigfoot has fingernails like that of humans. Not claws. Her scratches look like narrow sharp claws. She said her leg not near a bush when scratches occurred. She rolled on her left side and tried to kick attacker when it allegedly grabbed her leg. She had shorts on. Bruce

Sharon Buydens Cornet offered the following information:

A couple of thoughts from me about this. Although I prefer to keep it scientific, this story reminds me a lot of my last witness in this same area. Lon, I posted the link to my website and report on your wall yesterday. The lady also mentioned a hole in the ground (but the creature walking down into it rather than climbing up out of it), yet in daylight at the same location proved no opening was there — we even dig into the loose sand and checked the area and she insisted it was the right spot. What to make of it? Did this new witness have any knowledge of my website and that story? I would ask questions to the little boy and have him tell it as he remembered it happening.

Horizon City's Monster - El Paso Times - January 13, 2010


Another thought...too bad it was nighttime and all she could see was black. The hair of every Bigfoot sighting in the area that I’ve investigated shows three colors - a dark brownish-black, a reddish undertone, and a faded grey tips we think from sun exposure maybe (or old age, but I doubt this in every case). Also, another feature of arm hair (that I purposefully leave out of my reports) was not witnessed here due to the darkness. Too bad.

The claws like that I have only heard about from the “grinner” type of Bigfoot creature, but they are tall and quite thin rather than bulky. Did she say what his physique was like (maybe no chance to see it). If you scroll down on my webpage you’ll see an account by Larry Kelm who claims to have walked into a portal opening by accident while hiking and saw a grinner who had spade-shaped fingernails. Freaked him out and he backed out and ran miles to home. But he got a single tiny scratch on his neck as the creature tried to grab him, which later got inflamed and infected severely. This lady, two days after the scratches appears to be healing nicely. Only the bruises appear red on top of the purple color.

Grinners use portals, have claws/sharp nails, and grab aggressively at people, but this account seems to have some differences. If it’s the same type of being as my former witness in the same area, then it would not be a grinner’s body type and still be more in line with a regular Bigfoot creature of the southwest desert, which I have coined “Desert Apes”.

NOTE: JC Johnson mentioned a similar unusual breed of Bigfoot that inhabited the Four Corners area - very tall and aggressive with long talon-like fingers. I'm not positive that this is the same creature, but it is intriguing. Lon

Mysterious America: The Ultimate Guide to the Nation's Weirdest Wonders, Strangest Spots, and Creepiest Creatures

Chasing American Monsters: Over 250 Creatures, Cryptids & Hairy Beasts

Compendium of North American Cryptids & Magical Creatures

The X-Files: The Official Archives: Cryptids, Biological Anomalies, and Parapsychic Phenomena

Adventures in Cryptozoology: Hunting for Yetis, Mongolian Deathworms and Other Not-So-Mythical Monsters

Lon's Suggested Reading List - Books & Films / DVDs

Subscribe to the Phantoms & Monsters / Arcane Radio YouTube channel