Expedition Team: Dave Miller
Date: September 11, 2021
A reptilian humanoid, urban legend, Ohio folklore or just plain hoax? Adding credibility to the claim that this cryptid sighting was real is that the first two sightings in 1972 were made by police officers. Officer Ray Shockey saw the creature (photo #1) at one in the morning on March 3rd on a clear, cold night along Riverside Drive near the Totes Boot Factory. First thinking it was a dog lying in a field, it stood up, looked at him, leaped over a guardrail down an embankment and into the Little Miami River. It was four foot tall, weighed about 60 pounds, had textured, leathery skin and a face like a frog or lizard. He returned from the police station with Officer Mark Matthews, but the only evidence found were scrap marks on the guard rail leading down the embankment.
On March 17th, Officer Matthews driving into Loveland saw an animal lying in the middle of the road. He stopped the cruiser and got out. The creature rose, keeping an eye on the officer walked to the guardrail, lifted its leg up (Photo#2) and climbed over. Matthews said the creature stood more upright than what Officer Shockey described but did not have a tail. He took one shot at the creature but missed. Later in March a local farmer told investigators he had seen a large froglike or lizard like creature. In 1999, Officer Matthews was tired of talking about Frog Man and said what he had seen was a large iguana. But back in 1972 both officers swore what they had seen was a creature that looked like an upright manlike lizard or frog about four feet tall.
Investigation: Before the triathlon I took photos at the Officer Shockey sighting location (Photo #3 & #4). The Totes Boot Factory building no longer exists. I visually did not see any frog creatures along the riverbank while paddling five miles in the kayak during the triathlon. There have been no Frogman sightings since 1972 other than a hoax/prank by a Moeller high school student wearing a frog costume a few years ago.
