The saga of the so-called Montauk Monster appears to have taken another bizarre turn, this time toward Hollywood, with the Web site of a movie production crew claiming to have the "kidnapped" carcass.
The Web site montauk-monster.com reported Thursday that the crew of "Splinterheads," a movie about carnival life being filmed in Patchogue, N.Y. — not far from where the "monster" reportedly was found — posted the claim and a photo of the carcass on its Web site, splinterheadsmovie.com.
"We have the Montauk Monster," the site proclaims, along with a photo of the beast.
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An accompanying Web site, sersenpark.com, claims the animal is "most likely a prop used in [Darren] Goldberg’s film 'Splinterheads.'" Goldberg is listed as the low-budget film's producer.
"A mystery source called 'Tonya'" claims that the Montauk Monster is a stunt that will be revealed when the movie is released early next year, the site reports.
The mystery of the beaked beast found on an upscale East Hampton, N.Y., beach in mid-July deepened Tuesday when local real estate agent Eric Olsen told the East Hampton, N.Y., Star newspaper that he's the mystery man who picked the famous cryptid carcass off the beach last month — but now some dastardly bandit has made off with the remains.
"Someone came and took the carcass. Now I have to hunt for my damn creature," Olsen told the newspaper.
Olsen recounted that he'd taken the dead animal from the beach the night of July 13 and thrown it into the back yard of his friend Noel Arikian to rot.
The pair planned to have a New York City artist work with the bones. All went well until the bloated beast vanished from Arikian's property last weekend, Olsen claimed.
Meanwhile, animal experts weighed in with their theories.
"Animal Planet" wildlife expert Jeff Corwin told FOX News that the "beak is actually canine teeth.
"What we have is an incredibly rare — raccoon," Corwin said tongue-in-cheek.
The women who first revealed the photo had a different view.
"It exists," said Rachel Goldberg, Courtney Fruin and Jenna Hewitt, denying they'd Photoshopped a picture of a dead dog.
"It decomposed in our friend's back yard," said Goldberg — who may or may not be related to "Splinterhead" producer Darren Goldberg, a claim made by mystery-woman "Tonya."
To complicate matters, Alanna Nevitski, who e-mailed the original photo that started the whole brouhaha, told New York magazine that the three women were "full of" what dogs and raccoons produce a lot of, and that they had nothing to do with the picture.
Stayed tuned, Monster Heads.
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