Housewife Raised by Monkeys? Story Questioned by Public
Marina Chapman of Bradford, U.K., has claimed that she was raised by monkeys in Colombia when she was just five years old. Her story has caused many to wonder if she is actually telling the truth, while others are fascinated and have bought the rights to the story. Chapman now has a book and movie deal.
Only now is Chapman coming forward with her incredible tale that begins in the Colombian jungle. According to her, she was kidnapped some time in the 1950s, but then abandoned in the jungle. That's when a family of Capuchin monkeys "adopted" Chapman and taught her the skills she needed to survive in the jungle.
Five years after the Capuchins took her in, Chapman was found by hunters, but her "rescue" didn't have a happy ending. Instead, she was sold to a brothel in Cucuta; thankfully she escaped and was then taken in by a Colombian family, where she spent her teenage years.
During a trip to the United Kingdom, Chapman met and fell in love with her husband, John. The two now have children and live in Yorkshire. She claims she has only told her husband about her story, but now that she has gone public, there is a great deal of interest in her story.
"The Girl With No Name" is scheduled to be published in April; Chapman is writing it with the help of her daughter, Vanessa James, who often helps her talk about her experience. "I got bedtime stories about the jungle, as did my sister. We didn't think it odd- it was just Mum telling her life. So in a way it was special having a mother like that."
Chapman's story was not that unusual to her own children, who just thought their mother was "childlike in many ways. When we wanted food, we had to make noises for it. All my school friends loved Mum, as she was so unusual," James told The Sunday Times.
Some, however, are having a hard time accepting Chapman's story.
"Mainstream Publishing have acquired the UK rights- I hope they employ a good and thorough fact-checker," noted Daily Mail reader Woodstock.
"Sounds like the story of the kid found wandering in the German forests. That was all [expletive] too," added Daily Beast reader OttodaFe.