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“Oh man! What is that? Wooo!,” she exclaimed as she and fellow DeWitt County Deputy Cpl. Brandon Riedel followed a strange looking animal on a country road, dashboard video camera rolling.
The two deputies came across the animal as the patrol car rounded a curve on Thimme Road near the Nordheim area of DeWitt County about 6:30 p.m. Friday.
Carter, who is in training, can be heard on the video not only expressing her excitement, but her disbelief.
“I’m seeing it, but I don’t believe it. It’s in the daytime,” she said. “He’s long. How crazy is that?”
On Tuesday Riedel recalled encountering the animal.
“It took off running and it just didn’t seem like an ordinary dog or coyote or anything like that. It’s just an odd creature standing out in the middle of the road. I’ve patrolled these county roads for a long time and I’ve never come across anything that looked like that,” said Riedel, a deputy for eight-and-a-half years.
Apparently, neither have a lot of people.
On Monday afternoon, DeWitt County Sheriff Jode Zavesky notified media outlets of the video and less than 12 hours later “we’re on CNN,” the sheriff said.
“We’re getting more media attention for this than for the unidentified murder victim we had in 2005,” Zavesky said. “It’s crazy.”
By midday Tuesday the sheriff had been contacted by dozens of television stations, newspapers and radio stations, and national media like Fox News in New York and television programs Inside Edition and Most Daring. And, of course, the National Examiner called.
“It was fun at first,” Zavesky laughed from behind his desk as the telephone intercom announced, “a radio station from New York on line one.”
Riedel couldn’t believe the attention the video was generating.
“It’s something off the wall and out of the ordinary. It’s fun, but it’s crazy,” the deputy said. “I never expected this much media attention.”
Another person interested in the video is Phylis Canion, the Cuero woman who took possession of the first “chupacabra” last year and continues to have a scientific interest in the genetic makeup of these unusual animals. DNA testing has concluded that the animal in her possession is a coyote mixed with Mexican wolf.
“I’ve watched the video multiple times and while the ones I’ve seen I thought ran a little differently, when it turned its head sideways I could see the similarity. It’s pretty close,” she said. “The mystery continues.”
Unfortunately it hasn’t all been pleasant.
The sheriff had already gotten a nasty e-mail Tuesday morning rebuking him for calling the animal a chupacabra.
“It’s tongue in cheek. It shouldn’t be taken so seriously,” Zavesky said. “People need to lighten up.”