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[Josh Greenman <josh.greenman AT gmail.com>]

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Elgin Monkey Hunt Continues
Repeated Reports Of Monkey Sightings Prompt Night Search

POSTED: 11:49 am CDT August 4, 2005
UPDATED: 3:22 pm CDT August 4, 2005

CHICAGO -- Police in Elgin continue their hunt for an elusive monkey
reported to be roaming in wooded areas in the far west suburbs.

Tatiana Williams, 15, was still a bit unnerved Thursday morning by
what she saw at around 11 p.m. Sunday near her home.

"It was a monkey," she told Tutman. "(It was) brown, or like tan. It
was a monkey sitting on the slide."

Williams said the monkey did not appear to see her and just sat quiet
and stil on the playground equipment. The teenager, on the other hand,
moved quickly, running from the scene to tell her mother what she had
seen.

"I thought she was playing, because me and a couple of my friends were
sitting out here, and she was like, 'Mom, I just seen a monkey,'"
Jennifer Williams said. "She said it was a monkey and I was like, 'Are
you sure?'"

Police say that they've received several similar reports since Sunday,
including one Thursday morning three miles from the playground where
Williams spotted the primate.

There have been at least six police searches through wooded areas in
Elgin since Sunday, Tutman said.

"Last night, our animal control officers and a couple of other
officers were actually out in nightvision gear walking through the
woods to see if they could find this animal, mostly because the
information we had received indicated that the animal was mostly seen
late night, late hours," said Lt. Cecil Smith, with the Elgin Police
Department.

"So, they were out in the woods late last night until 2 o'clock this
morning," he added.

Tutman pressed Smith.

"Have you given any thought to the possibility that this may just be a
really short, hairy guy?" she asked.

"Well," he replied, "anything's possible, but we're going on the
premise that it's a chimpanzee or a monkey."

Police say they will likely resume their searche as they get more
information and sightings, the Williams family said that, while there
is humor in the monkey tale, there are some real concerns, too.

"I'll be scared for my kids to be out late at night because, you know,
you never know what that monkey may be carrying," Jennifer Williams
said.

Police believe the monkey may be an escaped pet.