By Tim Binnall
An odd mystery has gripped a small city in Texas as numerous residents have reported seeing a monkey roaming through their neighborhood and causing a ruckus. The puzzling case reportedly began early Monday morning when authorities in the community of Santa Fe received a call from a woman claiming to have just seen the creature outside her home. Recounting the sighting to a TV station, Patricia de la Mora said that she had been woken up in the middle of the night by a loud storm and subsequently heard strange coming from the backyard.
"I can't sleep, it's like two o'clock," she recalled, "I look out the window and I see it was in there. It was a monkey, a big one." Frightened by the bizarre sight, de la Mora briefly watched the curious creature and then quickly closed the curtain on her window because "I didn't want him to see me." Unfortunately, the out-of-place primate was nowhere to be found when police arrived and a lengthy search of the area yielded no sign of the animal.
If authorities had any doubts about de la Mora's account, they were likely squashed the following day when another person from the neighborhood called with a similar report. As with the first case, attempts to locate the creature proved futile and it soon became apparent that there was a full-blown monkey mystery unfolding in Santa Fe as several residents began sharing their own accounts of spotting the creature on social media. One particularly unsettled individual declared that they were forced to hide in their car for 20 minutes to avoid being attacked by the creature and another person claimed that the meddlesome monkey tried to steal their cat!
Whether these stories are genuine or just people having a laugh online about the mystery is uncertain and one of many questions that authorities are unable to answer. They concede that they're actually not even sure what kind of primate the creature could be as de la Mora said that she observed a very large monkey, but a spokesman for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department asserted that it is a chimpanzee. And, understandably, the lack of any photos or video of the animal has only deepened the mystery.
Despite the phantom-like nature of the primate, authorities believe that it does exist as a spokesperson for the Santa Fe police department stated that "I'm not saying that there is no monkey, in fact, I’m sure there is one on the loose." To that end, the prevailing theory for the origins of the creature is that it is an illegal exotic pet that somehow escaped. Until the case is closed, residents are being cautioned against approaching the animal if they see it and are asked to report any sightings to the police, who are likely hoping to put an end to the proverbial monkey business.