Luther, Michigan 1987

"Maybe it's the dogman, like that song on the radio."

Luther, Michigan is a small community roughly in the center of Lake County, on the western side of the lower peninsula. It is surrounded by wide expanses of forest and farm lands, along with countless lake cottages and hunting camps.

In early July of 1987, the telephone rang at the Lake County Sheriff's office in Baldwin, about 10 miles southwest of Luther. The deputy listened carefully as a man described what he termed "an animal attack" on his remote cabin. The damage was significant enough that the caller wanted an officer sent out to file a report.

The Luther cabin as it appears today.

Deputy Jeff Chamberlain responded to the scene, and was shocked by what he found. The cabin was made entirely of wood, and whatever had attacked it had used considerable force. Shards of wood from the trim around the rear door and a large picture window littered the ground. There were deep claw marks in the wood siding. A steel door had been dislodged from its hinges, and the bottom section of the door had been torn away. The picture window was smeared with slobber and blood, and gouges from claws and teeth were visible over 7 feet from the ground.

Deputy Jeff Chamberlain shows the level where teeth marks appeared on the window frame

Chamberlain contacted a Ron McCarty of the Michigan DNR office in Baldwin to accompany him back to the site later that day. On the way, McCarty joked with the deputy. "Maybe it's the dogman, like in that song on the radio." They both laughed at the idea.

McCarty first suspected the damage had been done by a bear, but on closer inspection, noted the only tracks were those of a large dog. The impressions were set deep, indicating a heavy animal, and the damage to the cabin spoke of an aggressive one.

Today, McCarty is convinced the Luther incident was the result of a neighbor's dog. Chamberlain is less certain. To this day, he keeps a chunk of the wood ripped from the cabin as a souvenir. While he stops short of saying it was the dogman, he recently stated, "Thinking back on that day...I'm still bewildered as to what it could be."

Status: Confirmed

Sources: Michigan DNR, Lake County Sheriff Dept, Local interviews