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BISHOPVILLE, S.C. (AP) -- A teen-ager who claims he encountered a
"Lizard Man" creature on the edge of a swamp is cashing in on the story.
Christopher Davis, 17, is busy staffing the Lizard Man Information Center
in Bishopville, a town of 3,400 about 45 miles northeast of Columbia. He
is autographing $10 T-shirts bearing the likeness of the creature he said
he saw on a road at the edge of the Scape Ore Swamp almost a month ago.
Davis answers questions, signs autographs and poses for pictures in front
of his brown, 1976 Toyota Celica, pointing to where the so-called Lizard
Man scraped paint as he clung to the roof of Davis' speeding car.
Shepherding Davis through the attention is Joye Reis, from nearby Sumter,
who says she's representing Davis and taking 10 percent of everything he
makes. "I've always been interested in the unknown," she said. Ms. Reis
and her partner, Randy Galloway, say that in the wake of intense media
interest, it's only right for Davis to reap some of the benefits from his
harrowing episode. Davis freely admits, "I'm not in it for my health."
Other entrepreneurs are cashing in on Lizardmania as well, selling
T-shirts, bumper stickers and Lizard Man dolls. Davis says he encountered
the creature at 2 a.m., after changing a tire on his car. "The moonlight
was out. I turned around and saw a red-eyed devil. He was about 30 yards
from me, in the field. It had real long arms. When he would run, his arms
would swing," Davis said. Davis said he drove off and the creature jumped
on the roof, but apparently fell off. Davis didn't tell authorities about
the experience until later, when he heard that a couple had reported a
similar creature had pulled chrome and molding off their car.
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