Lee County Yeti Update

Lee: Georg von Podebrad College Zoologist, Dr. Clayton Webster points to his field research on the furtive---if not mythical---Lee County Yeti as proof of the animal's existence. Since December, 1996, the professor has been analyzing data from at least one unknown animal he believed to be a yeti implanted with a subcutaneous micro-transmitter (see: Podebrad Zoologists Search River Bluffs For Yeti, December, 1996, vol. 3, Issue #12 & The Lee County Yeti, January, 1997, vol. 4, Issue #1). On the other hand, his devise successfully helped capture an escaped Alzheimer's patient (see: Yeti-Tracking Device Helps Recover Alzheimer's Patient, August, 1997, vol. 4, Issue #8). At best, his evidence is inconclusive; at worst ridiculous---especially when compared to the recent cases whereby youths microwaved a parrot and beat a squirrel to death at a cemetery (see: Bettendorf Teens Murder Parrot, April, 1998, vol. 5, Issue #4).

     But the bizarre violent events on May 16 at a Lee County dairy farm five miles west of the town of Dover on the Mississippi, produced new and disturbing evidence that gives more compelling credence to the beast's existence---evidence that beheaded one local police officer, institutionalized one man, fractured Dr. Webster's right thigh, and keeps dairyman Nelson Twining breathing solely with the aid of a ventilator.

     According to Dr. Webster's official statement as well as the Dover police recording of Twining's 911 call, Twining had discovered early that Saturday morning that his cows had been attacked and several had been killed "by somethin' awful damn big".

     "When Nelson called me that Saturday afternoon, he sounded scared," Webster explained during a recent exclusive interview. "Very scared. He told me exactly what happened over the phone and on my way down, I mulled it over. It seemed very strange. In all my research and in my data, I have found these creatures to be extremely shy and conspicuously wary of getting anywhere near human habitation or livestock. Certainly, there are incidents more consistent with their natural inquisitive behavior but never anything near the violence Nelson told me about. And most important of all, my research shows that yeti tend to migrate to colder climes as soon as the spring thaw arrives which is usually by April 10. Consequently, I thought someone was trying to hoax us."

     "He said the police said he was being hoaxed, too---albeit obviously for different reasons. But he insisted that from what he saw---and smelled---that he needed help and I was the only who probably could. Since I didn't get a single hit on my trap all this past winter, I decided it was worth the trip."

     At approximately 4 PM, Dr. Webster arrived at Twining's farm to find the 43 year old dairyman in front of his house busily loading a .306 deer rifle. A 12 gauge shot gun and another pump action shotgun lay on the hood of his 4x4 pick up and a .44 magnum was strapped to his hip.

     "Nelson is a very skinny man and when I got there, he looked like a fence rail gone Rambo. We met last year when my research team was tracking a possible contact across his land. He didn't seem one that got that scared easily. I told him he was over-reacting. He gave me this real grim look and said if I'd take the shotgun and follow him, I'd soon be wishing we were carrying a bazooka or two with us."

     Twining drove in his pick up down a dirt lane across his field to a forest at the confluence of two streams where he said his cows frequently spend the night during this time of year. When they pulled up to the stream bank, a grisly sight greeted their eyes. Twelve cows lay dead on the shore opposite. Not with their legs sticking out rigidly but instead all crumpled up under their bodies with their chins on the ground and their butts up in the air. Congealing bloody puddles turned the otherwise pastoral setting into a nightmare. Twining and Webster soon discovered that each cow had received a single massive blow to the center of the forehead that pulverized the skull and killed the cow outright. But one astounding sight chilled Dr. Webster to the marrow: a cow hanging from the stout limb of an old oak tree; its head caught in the fork between two branches. This was a full twelve feet off the ground.

     "Well, we got out and splashed across the stream to investigate and I started checking out this carcass. The skin on it's abdomen hung in tatters and what was inside resembled a shredded mass of school lunch leftovers rather than anything remotely anatomical. There was no sign of a rope being used to hoist the animal up into the crook. It was a 550 lb jersey; a crane would have been the only way to get it up there. I noticed an overpowering musky reek. When I saw those telltale giant bloody footprints in the soft sand, I realized that we had a very big problem on our hands."

     The pair were then startled by Dover Police Officer John Stanton exclaiming "God in Heaven above!" as he got out from his police car and beheld the mutilated cattle.

     According to Police records, Stanton evidently overheard a report that one Joseph Fedders, the 25 year old son of a Mrs. Theodore Fedders had thrown a tantrum the night before and run off. Fedders is well known to the Dover Area police. Born with Down's Syndrome and diagnosed with a number of psychotic and behavioral disorders, Fedders is over 325 pounds and stands seven feet, six inches tall and had a history of violent outbursts.

     "Stanton stayed on the other side of the stream and yelled that he had heard on the radio about Joey going postal and figured that was what attacked Nelson's cows and that he'd better came out. But once he crossed the stream and confronted the carcasses and the footprints and the stink, he changed his mind pretty damn quick."

     Officer Stanton was a 25 year veteran of the Dover police force and a formidable tracking expert. In the past, he had been instrumental in tracking escaped inmates from the Fort Madison Federal Prison. After examining the footprints and the area more closely, Stanton informed Webster and Twining that the culprit of the mutilations stood nearly eight feet tall, weighed approximately 500 pounds, walked with a pronounced limb, and had scraggly sandy-brown hair.

     "As soon as he gave his description, I was thrilled because that was nearly verbatim of the historical accounts of a yeti. When I pointed that out to Stanton, he shook his head and quite bluntly dismissed the idea."

     Twining, meanwhile, plunged brazenly into the woods heading the direction Stanton had indicated the as yet unidentified beast had come from. When Stanton ordered him to stop, Twining reminded the officer that he was on his property and could go where he damned pleased. Hoping only to see a yeti, Webster followed after Twining into the thick woods.

     "We followed the footprints through the woods for five minutes. They weren't difficult to miss and that surprised me because yetis seem extremely adept at walking without leaving any trace. We also saw a few splotches of blood on leaves and the ground but figured that came from cows. All of a sudden, we hear something on the move behind us. Nelson panicked, I think and he started shooting into the bushes with his deer rifle. That's when Stanton yelled for him to hold his fire. He charged out of the bushes, went right up to Nelson, called him an inbred son of a bitch and slugged him in the jaw. It was a real good punch. Glad it wasn't me."

     Stanton angrily explained his back-up was on the way and that he had come to help but would be no use with his head shot off. When Twining recovered his senses, Stanton led the party further into the green and lush forest. They found themselves gingerly following the tracks into a deep, densely covered ravine. At the bottom, a freshet trickled over the eroding exposed bedrock and the tracks made their way along the water's course. The further the party followed the tracks, the more dense the foliage and the higher and steeper the ravine walls grew about them. At once, the tracks disappeared. Try as he might, Stanton could not find any sign of them.

     "We split up to try and find the tracks but after a little while, the sun dipped below the rim of the ravine. We couldn't see one another because the light was so dim and the brush so thick. Then all of a sudden, I heard someone sobbing. I came around a tree and found a huge man huddled up in a fetal position rocking and sobbing 'Bad thing keep away!! Bad thing keep away!' One look at his face and I knew it was Joey Fedders."

     "I called out to the others that I'd found Joey. And all of sudden, there was this weird scream. I know I've read all the accounts of it---a half-man, half-animal cry is usually how its described---but that doesn't do it justice. It's a sound that drives a cold steel rod of fear right down your spine. Just like when a deer freezes in the headlights of a car---only you're the deer. Joey started screaming in sheer terror and I tried to calm him down, but it was impossible. Then, that unmistakable musky stench rolled in. Nelson showed up and then Stanton and both of them were just a scared as I was. That's when the rock slammed into my leg and broke my right femur. Nelson and Stanton both opened up into the bushes. I was in serious pain and consequently useless, but just as I looked up I saw a huge club swing out and clobber Nelson in the head from behind. Stanton turned and fired his shotgun at something in the brush. I lost sight of him, then. It sounded like he was at the other end of the ravine when I heard him scream. He screamed for about two minutes. I never want to hear that sound again."

     Dover Police followed the trail and arrived on the scene half and hour later. Dr. Webster was driven to the Fort Madison Regional Medical Center where his leg was treated and he was released. Nelson Twining, who suffered a fractured skull, was airlifted to Georg von Podebrad Medical Center in Zoar. Though unconscious for several days thereafter, he is now awake but due to brain damage from his injuries, he is unable to breathe on his own or remember most of what happened to him. Joseph Feeders was taken to Massaraty Asylum and continues there under heavy sedation. Officer John Stanton's badly mauled body was recovered the following day and has been buried at the Dover Municipal Cemetery. His head, however, is still missing.

     Dr. Webster remains even more committed to his research on the Lee County Yeti and believes his forest encounter has provided him with a frightening realization.

     "I am certain that the yeti we were tracking was insane---due either to an organic condition or possibly through exposure to industrial pollution common along the Mississippi. We know that it was injured as Stanton discovered that feature in the tracks at the site with the dead cows. I am also certain that it purposely led us into that dark, overgrown ravine to entrap us and kill us. This means there's a dangerously cunning 500 pound yeti lurking in southeastern Iowa that no longer fears Man."