The account
In March 1972, Loveland officer Ray Shockey reported something unusual near the Little Miami River. Another officer, Mark Mathews, later encountered an animal in the same area. In a 2016 interview, Mathews said it crawled beneath a guardrail, rather than walking upright over it as familiar retellings suggest. He shot and recovered it, then showed it to Shockey. Mathews identified it as a large, sickly iguana missing its tail and said Shockey recognized it as the animal he had seen.
Following the trail
Officer’s later account identifies an iguana
WCPO’s interview is a direct retrospective account from a participant. It is stronger evidence for what Mathews said than later versions that omit his explanation, although it is not a preserved 1972 specimen report. His account does not establish the origin of every separate Loveland legend. It does directly challenge the claim that the officers’ encounter ended with an unidentified humanoid frog escaping into the river.
Why it stays with us
The guardrail becomes a hinge between two stories. Climbing over it on two legs makes a monster; crawling underneath it leaves room for an unfamiliar pet. A small change in remembered motion can carry an enormous change in identity.