Jasper County, GA near Monticello

Hills, creek bottom, dense hard woods, along with overgrown clear-cut areas and nearby soy and hay fields. Hills surrounding a creek. Hard woods (primarily poplar). Deer, black bear, raccoons, rabbits.

Hwy 142

1986

30 minutes before dark.

Clear with scattered clouds. Sun was beginning to set.

Sighting

Witness left home with a friend to ride their bikes down a logging road to a nearby hill that overlooked Turkey Creek. The two would often ride their bikes to this location to watch animals watering at the stream.

The witness was accompanied by a friend of the same age.

The following is the witness's unedited report as it was received. Numbers in parenthesies were added by the investigator and represent note points.

Witness Statement
“Me and a friend of mine used to ride our bikes on a logging
road, across the road from my house. The road went through
the clearing(1) about a mile, before it re-entered the woodline.
It went into the woods a couple hundred yards, and stopped.
At the end of the road, it sloped down a few hundred feet, to
Turkey Creek. On the other side of the creek, it sloped
upward, approximately 300-400 yards(2). We would ride to this
location and watch the animals on the creek bottom. Sometimes
we would watch deer come down to water, or coyotes, raccoons,
etc. One evening, about 30 minutes til dark(2), we were watching
2 does feeding and watering at the creek. There was no wind,
we were always quiet, had a height advantage, so we were
usually undetected. We watched for a few minutes and the deer
never knew we were there. The deer suddenly alerted(3), without
immediately running away. At first we thought they smelled
us. Then we noticed that they not only turned their head, but
their entire body towards the opposite slope. One doe "blew",
towards the slope. I looked to my right, about 45 degrees, up
the opposite slope, and saw what at first I thought was a man(4)
running at an angle down the hill. As it made its way down
the hill, we noticed that it was walking, by the leg
movement, but it covered ground like it was running(5). I then
noticed that the closer it got, it still remained dark in
color, dark brown, maybe black. My friend and I froze in
fear. Thoughts of bears or maybe a hunter ran through our
head, but we realized that there was no way possible it could
be either. The closer it got, the bigger it became. By the
time it was halfway down the slope, we knew it was something
we were not familiar(6) with, nor that we have ever seen. It was
approximately 7'00" tall(7) and dark. The arms swung alot and
very distinct. The stride looked as though it was covering
6'00"-8'00" a stride. We were 14 years old and cried like
baby girls to my parents, who played it off as seeing a bear
or hunter.(8) At 14 in my family, there is no crying and we did
not lie about anything. My friend and I never went in those
woods again. That was in 1986 and I'm well into my 30's now.
We are still friends and still get goosebumps thinking about
It”

Witness described the subject as appearing at first to be “a man running at an angle down the hill.” Upon closer observation, witness noticed the subject was walking not running. This disparity was explained by the amount of ground it was covering with each step. Witness described the subject as having long arms, slumped slightly, with shoulders that were broad but rolled forward, with it’s head cast down or slightly to the side. Subject was covered in a dark colored hair that the witness described as being either dark brown or black.

Samuel Rich

This witness was contacted by phone on 10/28/05, at which point his report was discussed briefly. A full interview was scheduled for 10/29/05. Due to scheduling difficulties the interview was rescheduled. The actual interview was conducted on 11/02/05 by phone.

The witness is currently an investigator with a local police department. The witness has five years of law enforcement experience, along with five years of military experience having served in the Army. During his Army service he saw combat action in Iraq, Kosovo, and Bosnia, along with tours of Kuwait and Korea.

During the interview the witness seemed relatively comfortable discussing the subject, but stated that it had only been in the last 8-10 years that he had been able to discuss the subject without getting goose bumps and having the hair on his neck rise.

During the course of the interview the witness remained composed and relatively calm. When discussing details, the witness was quick to point out areas that he could not describe, such as facial details, but often lingered on particular points, such as the shape and size of the subject’s shoulders, as well as it’s ability to cover a great amount of ground in very little time (witness estimate of 100 yards in 30 seconds). The witness also did not appear to attempt to embellish or overly elaborate any point of the story. He also stated that as a 14-year-old, it was possible that some of the distances involved appeared greater at the time than they actually were. In listening to his account, which was recorded, the witness gave the impression of describing a very real account, much as one would describe a sighting of a known animal.

Upon being asked why he reported the sighting, the witness stated that he and his fiancee had watched “The Legend of Boggy Creek.” After having watched the film which he had seen previously, he did an online search and found sighting information in Georgia (Putnam and Newnan), along with the Georgia Bigfoot website. When asked about his interest in the film, he stated that it had been one of his dad’s favorites, as well as his, and at the time he had been planning on recording the scream used in the film for Halloween.

When asked to compare the stress of the sighting to the type of stress he experienced in combat, the witness stated that given the circumstances, the sight of a large, unidentified hairy figure appearing before two unarmed kids was scarier than anything he had experienced in combat.

When asked if he had anything further to add, the witness became apparently stressed. He stated, “Since you’re taking notes I want you to know we ain’t crazy. We tried every avenue to explain it.” He went on to explain that due to his employment and his friend’s activity within his church, that they both stood greatly to lose should the matter be made public. It was only after being assured by me that his and his friend’s information would be kept confidential that he was able to regain his composure. At the end of the interview I was left with the impression that the witness was feeling at least some regret for having reported the sighting and allowing himself to be interviewed.

Topographic and satellite imagery confirm the general description of the area as recounted by the witness, although the directions of travel given (East, North, South, West) differ from the actual directions of the road in the area. Given the fact that the witness had to rely on his mother for road names, along with the amount of time that has passed since the sighting, this would appear to be a minor detail, but it’s contradiction to known facts should be noted.

As the investigation stands no onsite investigation is pending. This decision is made due to the ability to confirm the general topography via research aids, along with the amount of time that has passed since the sighting.

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