Mysterious Monkey On the Loose in Tewksbury, Search Underway

Early Tuesday morning a couple of friends were out for a walk in Tewksbury when to their surprise they came upon a black monkey, sitting and staring at them. The animal was spotted just outside the Shawsheen Animal Hospital on Main Street. One of the women, Diane Charlton, rushed to snap a Bigfoot-blurry-esque photo of the primate as it ran away. The two were stunned because - how often do you see monkeys in the wild in New England?

It gets weirder. The next day Charlton's son spotted the same monkey - in their backyard - a half mile from where it was spotted the day before. As soon as the monkey locked eyes with the son, it hopped the fence and took off again.

The family contacted Tewksbury Police. Animal control has now set up traps with fruit in them to hopefully the monkey into them so they can safely hold the monkey until they can figure out where the mysterious little guy came from. It's believed that it's someone's pet who escaped. Shawsheen Animal Hospital says it's not their monkey but they did put this warning up on Facebook:

Please. Don't touch the monkey.

Anyone who sees the animal is asked to contact the Tewksbury Police Department at 978-851-7373.