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The MonsterQuest Search for the "Vampire Beast"

In 1954, Bladenboro residents were terrified by a creature known as the Beast of Bladenboro. Recent attacks indicate that the creature may have returned. Witnesses describe a dark brown beast with a face like a cat, and the teeth like a vampire.

The History

In 1954, the town of Bladenboro, North Carolina was terrorized by what was known as the Bladenboro Beast. The Beast of Bladenboro was described as being able to crush the skulls and suck the blood out of its victims. The beast was responsible for numerous attacks on dogs and livestock in the area and may have set its sights on humans. Witnesses report hearing strange beast-like wailings in the areas of attacks.

On 6 January, 1954, a 21 year old woman was on her front porch around 7:30 p.m. when she saw the beast stalking towards her. She screamed and ran into the house. When her husband later investigated the perimeter of the house, he found strange cat like paw prints in the area.

Hundreds of hunters and hunting dogs flooded the town and the surrounding swamps for days in search of the mysterious Bladenboro Beast. Locals remained frightened and kids were kept inside for days. Then as quickly as it had begun the attacks and sightings suddenly stopped.

Then in September of 2020, the mysterious attacks started up again across a much larger area. Similar attacks on dogs and goats have been reported in North Carolina along a 200 mile track including the towns of Greensboro, Lexington, Bladenboro, and Bolivia. The method of attacks have been similar to those reported in 1954.

In October of 2020, William Robinson's three year old pit bull named RayRay was killed in Bolivia, North Carolina. RayRay was one of 10 dogs slaughtered in a 2 week period in this area. Robinson's son had found the dead dog and William buried the gutted remains of the family pet. The next morning, Robinson found that the carcass of RayRay had been dug up and dragged back to the backyard of his house. Robinson found unidentified tracks in his backyard. These tracks were about 4 ½ inches in diameter and did not display prominent claw marks. Robinson photographed these track marks as evidence.

Another Bolivia resident, Leon Williams, lost his two year old pit bull in a similar attack. Four days after the attack on Robinson's dog, Williams found his 120 pound pit bull named Coco had been slaughtered. Coco was found savaged with a large part of her shoulder missing and with little signs of defending itself in an attack. Williams believes that he heard strange animal vocalizations around the times of the attack.

In Lexington, North Carolina, there have been similar attacks on goats that remain unexplained. The goats all appear to have been killed quickly and silently with the carcasses uneaten for some unexplained reason. Bolivia resident, Glenda Floyd, reports finding several of her goat killed with their throats ripped open. Floyd believes that she heard strange animal sounds in the area of her home prior to the attacks. In Greensboro, Billy Yow found four of his goats killed in a similar manner without the bodies being eaten. Yow took photos of the carcasses as evidence of the attacks.

Dr. George Feldhammer is the Director of the Environmental Studies Program at Southern Illinois University. He believes that a possible explanation for these killings is the attack of a pit bull type dog. According to the CDC, 1/3 of all fatal dog attacks are caused by pit bull type dogs. The breeding of pit bulls to fight other dogs has led to their ability to cause more severe damage than what you may find in other dog attacks.

North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission biologist Tom Padgett states that he often receives calls on the deaths of animals and pets. He believes that these attacks can be attributed to known predators in the area and that the claims of a vampire beast are hard to believe. He does, however, state that he finds the unearthing of the Robinson dog carcass to be hard to explain.

North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission biologist Jonathan Shaw is also skeptical of any unknown beast such as the Bladenboro Beast. He believes that most attacks can be attributed to coyote attacks. Coyotes are found throughout North Carolina and they are known to attack the neck area of their prey.

Nationally recognized animal behavior expert, Kate Cox, does not agree with the coyote explanation. She finds that the lack of reaction by local dogs to not be consistent with the presence of coyotes. Domestic dogs will usually react very loudly to the presence of coyotes in the area. Cox also believes that coyotes would most likely eat the carcasses of the killed animals.

The Investigation

The MonsterQuest team launched an investigation of the vampire Bladenboro Beast. This investigation included the investigation of the track photos, a forensic investigation of a victim carcass, a team placing camera traps in known attack areas, and an investigation into the heard animal vocalizations.

Examination of Track Photographs

Jonathan Luce is the Mammal and Bird Curator at the Montreal Ecomuseum. He examined the photograph of the tracks left behind at the attack of the dog at the Robinson home. He believes that the photograph indicated canine type tracks but he can not rule out a cat-like creature.

Necropsy of Animal Victim

Leon Williams agreed to exhume the remains of his dog Coco in order to have the body examined for evidence of the attack. Veterinarian Dr. Alyssa Travis examined the remains for evidence of crushing wounds, bone damage and signs of dislocation. The remains were cleaned and x-rayed in order to help determine the cause of death. Dr. Travis believes that Coco died from blood loss or severe spinal damage. While this could be caused by another canine such as a dog or coyote, it would be more consistent with the attack of another large predator such as a large cat. The only known large cats in the area are bobcats and it is not known if a 40 pound bobcat would be able to inflict such wounds on a 120 pound dog.

Trail Camera Investigation

William Robinson, Tom Padgett, and local hunter Bryan Gardner are recruited by the MonsterQuest team to investigate the area of the Bolivia attacks with the aid of trail cameras. These trail cameras are placed in the areas of the 2020 attacks and are set to take pictures of any animals that come within the sensor field. While placing these cameras and investigating the area, the team locates additional bones from large dogs in the woods around the areas of the attack. Review of camera trap footage shows no evidence of any unknown predators in the area.

Beast Vocalization Investigation

Dr. Robert Benson is the Director of the Center for Bioacoustics at Texas A M; University. Benson states that many animals have a characteristic vocalization that can conclusively show that a particular animal was present in an area. Benson has developed a test to determine witnesses Glenda Floyd and Leon Williams can identify the characteristic sound of known animals. Benson will play vocalization recordings of 13 known animals from the approximate location of the witness reports. The witnesses will then grade the sounds on a scale of 1 to 5 on how closely the sounds resemble what they heard at the times of the attacks. Floyd and Williams will not be told what sounds they are hearing at the time of the test. Leon Williams recognizes the sound that he heard as belonging to a tiger. Floyd does not recognize any of the sounds played but states that the animal that she heard sounded cat-like.

The only known cat in North America that has been responsible for large dog attacks is the mountain lion, also known as a cougar. According to biologist Tom Padgett, that while cougars were once native to North Carolina there have not been any in this area for at least 100 years. The closest known cougar population is found in Florida.

Conclusions

The MonsterQuest team was unable to find any definitive evidence about the existence of the Beast of Bladenboro. Most attacks do not seem consistent with known area predators but they still could be attributed to known predators or dogs. One month after the filming of this show, MonsterQuest learned of some additional evidence that could offer a possible explanation.

Bolivia residents William Robinson and Brian Gardner received an anonymous cell phone photo that was reportedly taken less than a mile from the sites of the 2020 attacks. The photo appears to show what definitely looks like a cougar. If cougars have begun to repopulate this area of North Carolina, they would be the most likely suspect in the attacks of the Beast of Bladenboro.