YEAR: 2003

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: October

DATE: SUNDAY

STATE: New Mexico

COUNTY: San Juan County

LOCATION DETAILS: NEAR THE ARIZONA AND NEW MEXICO SATELINE, ON THE CHUSKA MOUNTAIN. BETWEEN RED VALLEY, AZ AND TSAILE, AZ. EAST SIDE AND THE CHUSKA MOUNTAIN. SUMMER SHEEP CAMP.

NEAREST TOWN: RED VALLEY

NEAREST ROAD: BUFFALO PASS

OBSERVED: LATE IN THE AFTERNOON, EARLY FALL. GETTING READY TO MOVE OUR LIVESTOCK BACK DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAIN TO THE WINTER CAMP. MY BROTHER AND I WITH OUR MOTHER, WERE LOOKING FOR OUR CATTLES, MOM HAD COOK AND WE ATE LATE LUNCH. GOT SOME REST AND TALKED ABOUT WHAT AREAS WE NEED HAVEN'T CHECKED YET. MY BROTHER WAS STILL EATING SO MY MOM AND I, DECIDED TO CHECK THE AREA BELOW OUR SUMMER SHEEP CAMP, WE GOT IN MY TRUCK AND STARTED DRIVING SLOWLY. WE HAD DROVE ABOUT A MILE OR TWO FROM THE HOUSE, DOWN THE MOUNTAIN SIDE, THICK BRUSHES AND PINE TREES. DRIVING SLOW ENOUGH TO LOOK AROUND FOR ANY COWS THAT WERE DOWN THAT WAY, USUALLY THERE ARE SOME, BUT TODAY THEY WEREN'T ANYWHERE TO BE FOUND. SO WE, KEPT DRIVING, MOM TALKING ABOUT HOW THE WEATHER WAS CHANGING AND GETTING A BIT CHILLY. I KEPT LOOKING LEFT AND TO THE RIGHT DRIVING SLOWLY, THEN I SAW A MOVEMENT JUST BEHIND THE PINE TREES, FIRST I THOUGHT IT WAS A MAN, SO I STOPPED AND BACKED UP FOR JUST A BIT, AND SAID TO MOM, WHO'S THAT? SHE GOES WHERE? I SAID RIGHT THERE, LOOK! AND POINTED FOR HER IN THAT DIRECTIONS. THAT (PERSON ) WAS STANDING RIGHT NEXT TO A PINE TREE, TALL REDDISH BROWN, THAT (PERSON) WENT BEHIND A TREE AND STOOD THERE, SO I BACKED UP SOME MORE AND THEN THAT (PERSON) TURNED AND STARTED MOVING FAST AWAY FROM US INTO THE THICK BRUSHES, THATS WHEN MOM AND I, BOTH NOTICED THIS (PERSON) HAD LONG HAIRY ARMS BECAUSE WHEN IT TURNED AROUND, THE ARMS SPAN AROUND, IT WAS REDDISH BROWN. IT RAN INTO THE FOREST, WE WERE STILL PARKED THERE PUZZLED, MOM GOES "WHAT WAS THAT?" I SAID I DON'T KNOW..THEN I GOT SCARED AND LOOKED AT MY MOM ,AND SAID, LETS GO, WE TURNED RIGHT THERE ON THE ROAD AND HEADED FOR HOME, WE DROVE BACK FAST AND BELIEVE ME, THIS PARTICULAR ROAD REQUIRES SLOW DRIVING, BUT NOT THAT AFTERNOON, WE GOT BACK TO THE HOUSE AND TOLD MY BROTHER...HE GOES, IT'S PROBABLY A SHEEPHERDER, I TOLD HIM A SHEEPHERDER WOULDN'T HAVE LONG HAIRY ARMS. THEN HE TELLS ME, NO THEY WOULDN'T. HE WANTED TO GO BACK DOWN THERE AND LOOK FOR THAT PERSON, BUT I WAS SCARED AND SUN WAS ABOUT TO GO DOWN BEHIND THE MOUNTAIN, IT WOULD BE DARK SOON, I'M GOING DOWN THERE THAT EVENING, NO WAY. WE PACKED UP OUR STUFF AND LEFT FROM THE MOUNTAIN.

OTHER WITNESSES: MY MOM AND I, WE WERE LOOKING AROUND FOR CATTLE.

OTHER STORIES: YES, MY LATE FATHER USE TO STAY AND THE SUMMER SHEEP CAMP, WHEN HE WAS ON LEAVE FROM HIS JOB. HE WOULD STAY UP THERE AND GIVE OTHERS A BREAK, WE ALL TOOK TURNS WATCHING OVER LIVESTOCK.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: WARM SUMMER AFTERNOON, CLEAR SKY, LEAVES WERE STARTING TO CHANGE COLORS. QUIET..

ENVIRONMENT: PINE FOREST, VALLEYS, LITTLE PONDS, THICK BRUSHES, RIDGES, OLD LOGGING ROAD, CREEK.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Eddie Flores:

The witness added the following details:

• The sighting occurred at about 4 in the evening and the sun was setting.

• They saw the animal at a distance of about 25 yards.

• The witness has seen bears and she is certain this was not one.

• The witness saw the animal from the waist down. The rest of its body was obscured by trees.

• As it ran off, the witness saw its arms swinging and hair flowing.

• Its arms reached to its knees.

About BFRO Investigator Eddie Flores:

Eddie Flores is a state licensed Cosmetology Instructor in El Paso, Texas. He served as a BFRO guide/detective on the Mescalero Apache Expedition (January 2005). Click here for the expedition report.