Apr 8, 2015 2 min read

BELLE VERNON – The mythical “Monongahela River monster” may have reared its ugly head in the form of an alligator two people said they saw in the water Tuesday in Belle Vernon.

One of the witnesses, a fisherman, shined a spotlight on the animal and claimed he saw its head and tail near the ramp off Water Street shortly before midnight, Southwest Regional police said.

“At first, he thought he saw a log going against the stream,” said Southwest police Chief John Hartman, who called out the U.S. Coast Guard Wednesday to search the Mon for the reptile.

An employee of an area business told police he noticed something large swimming in the river Tuesday morning shortly before “it took down a duck,” Hartman said.

Hartman said the reptile could have been a pet its owner no longer wanted. He also said it’s possible the animal “hitched a ride on a barge from Louisiana” that traveled north on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers to the Mon Valley.

The second witness was an experienced fisherman who was “100 percent certain” he saw an alligator six to seven feet long in the water, police said.

Hartman said he also contacted the Pittsburgh Zoo and state Fish and Boat Commission about the animal, and he was attempting to obtain a trap from Beaver County that can capture live alligators.

He said some people think the river’s temperature is too cold to sustain an alligator, or that the sightings might have been an alligator gar or some other large fish.

“They’re wrong,” Hartman said.

Local residents also have given the nickname “Mon River monster” to what was believed to be a giant carp or catfish lurking in the river.

Last year, Cheswick police warned of a possible alligator in the Allegheny River after a man reported seeing unusual tracks on the riverbank. Wildlife experts later concluded the markings were created by beaver.

Anyone who may have seen the animal is asked to call police at 724-929-8484.