The Ohrt Family Chupacabra, Victoria County, Texas

Texas knows the chupacabra well. In 2004, in Elmendorf, near San Antonio, DNA testing at UC Davis showed one reported creature was a coyote with mange. Cuero, Lake Jackson and other towns had stories of their own. On the Ohrt family ranch in Victoria County, the story began long before anyone fired a shot. Doug Ohrt, 79, said the family had heard long wailing howls at night for at least the past year. And something kept coming back. "It would get real close and try to get into the dog food," he said.

Sunday night, February 23, 2014. The family was at home on the ranch. Then they heard a howl.

The grandson did not wait. "My grandson ran outside and shot him from about 240 yards," Doug told ABC News. Lucy Ohrt, 77, told KAVU-TV much the same. "My grandson ran and got a gun, and shot it at 250 yards."

Lucy said it had long legs and big teeth, like a coyote. But it did not look like any coyote in the area. Doug described it this way. "It's mangy looking and it's got long hair on the back and hair on its legs." Lucy remembered it differently. "It's usually got long hair on it and this one doesn't and that's what makes it different from a regular coyote."

The grandchildren had already decided. "My grandkids said 'Oh, that's a chupacabra'," Lucy said. She and Doug agreed. Lucy knew the stories that came with the name. "I've heard people say that they've gotten young calves, but they never gotten one of ours." Her fear was closer to home. "I'm scared they're going to get my dogs."

KAVU-TV filmed the dead animal. CNN first reported the story nationally. Within days ABC News, UPI, The Independent, TheBlaze and stations from Richmond to El Paso had carried it. The family kept the carcass. Where it went after that was never reported.

Josh Turner, a biologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife, had seen the look before. "I've seen squirrels, raccoons, and coyotes in this area with the same features," he said. His answer was sarcoptic mange, caused by a mite that "can affect dogs, cats, coyotes, foxes, and humans." He advised wearing gloves to move the body. "They're a mythical creature that most people see, but what it really is sarcoptic mange," Turner said.

No necropsy was reported. No DNA test. No official investigation. Wildlife experts attributed the animal to known mammals affected by mange. Nobody accused the family of staging anything. The only debate was over what the animal was. The skeptic Benjamin Radford has long argued that Texas chupacabras are consistently mangy canids or other known animals.

The Ohrt animal earned its place in the chupacabra's Texas record. In early April 2014, a couple in Ratcliffe trapped a hairless animal that had been eating corn on their property. A game warden called it a mangy raccoon, and the two cases are often confused. But the Victoria County animal was shot, not trapped. And no lab ever published what it was.