On June 29, 1988, a teenager was on his way home from work at 2 AM.  Unfortunately, he blew a tire on the way and pulled to the side of the road to fix it.  After successfully replacing the blown tire, he began to stand up when he heard a thumping sound from behind him.  To his horror, twenty five yards away and heading straight toward him was a terrifying creature with red, glowing eyes.  He raced back to the car and was barely able to shut the door as the creature reach his three fingered hands with long black finger nails and rough green skin around the same handle.  Luckily, the teen was able to lock the door and start the car.

(images:auve/flickr) Scape Ore

Before slamming the car into drive, the wary teenager took a glance at the creature, which he was able to see from the car window, neck down.  When the creature could not enter the car, he jumped onto the roof.  The teen could see the black nails peeking over the windshield as he sped away.  The creature clung to the top of the car as the teen attempted to rapidly shift from side to side to knock the creature off.  Finally succeeding, the teen made it safely home.  Upon returning, he noted his car had side mirror damage and deep scratches along the roof.

This was the first reported sighting of the Lizard Man of Scape Ore, or as he was also called, the Lizard Man of Lee County.  Noted as a reptilian, bipedal, cryptid, he frequented swamps and sewers in Lee County, South Carolina.  Reports indicated he was seven feet tall and covered in bulky dark hair.  He had scaly, lizard like skin on his hands, feet and face.  Some compared his features to those of a dinosaur.  He had three toes on each hand and foot.  Some reports described a sort of tail.  He was also described to have incredible strength, notably for ripping into cars.

The creature was reported again on July 14, 1988.  Police were called to a local residence for reports of vehicle damage.  Upon arriving, they noted that the car had its chrome moldings ripped off, the fenders were torn, the sidewalls were scratched and dented, the hood ornament was broken off, the antennae was bent, wires were ripped out, and more oddly, there were chew marks all over the car and clumps of hair.  There were muddy foot prints located around the car, with distinctive three toe markings, some over fourteen inches in length.  Police estimated over three hundred pounds of torque was required to inflict the damage to the car.

(images:auvet/flickr)

Similar reports continued to surface in the area.  There were increasing reports of a lizard creature, often running in front of cars.  Even more reports involving scratches and bites to cars that were located near the swamp.  Reports continued into the 1990s as one mother described a giant hairy man like creature running into the side of her car.  Sheriffs continued to make plaster casts of the three toed footprints in an effort to have biologists identify their source.  Unfortunately, no known animal could ever be credited for the foot prints.  The reports increased in number so much that sheriffs offered a one million dollar reward to anyone who could locate the monster.  While thousands of hunters and tourists traveled to try their hand at locating the beast, he was never found.