YEAR: 1983

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: October

STATE: Missouri

COUNTY: Cass County

LOCATION DETAILS: South of Daugherty on Freedom Rd. (Daugherty is halfway between Harrisonville and Garden City on Highway 7) about a mile or so where road turns into 291st. Turn right and immediately to the left is a house on the land where the print was.

NEAREST TOWN: Daugherty

NEAREST ROAD: Highway 7

OBSERVED: My brother, neighbor, and I were on a walk like we normally did almost every day that we could. We would walk miles away from our house (we lived in the country) and would go exploring for hours on end. This time we were in a soybean field that had been combined and left for the next planting season. Farmers whenever they plant a field they leave an area between the field and the fenceline not plowed so they can turn their equipment around to get the next row. In this area we saw something had walked in the grass next to the field that had large steps but didn't think anything of it till we came across a small wash out that had brought dirt out of the field into the area of grass into the path of the creature that had walked in the grass. There we saw the largest footprint I had ever seen in my life. We looked around for more tracks we could make out beside the one, but we lost the rest in the woods because it was starting to get dark. The print was long but not extremely wide. Like the stupid kids we were, we did not get a cast of the print and did not go back that way for a long time, but after that incident we were creeped out about going out in the woods without a weapon with us even still to this day

ALSO NOTICED: Never found anything later on.

OTHER WITNESSES: 3 witnesses / myself, my brother and a friend.

OTHER STORIES: Not in same area-stories about around Truman Lake area in Henry county near Clinton, Missouri when I was in high school. Unknown creature smashed truck hood and carb. after being hit on back road late at night and just walked away from it like it was not hurt. Could not verify the story with the original person involved.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: About 5:15 pm just starting to get dark - sun was starting to go down.

ENVIRONMENT: Very remote field that was only visited around harvest time and possibly during deer season. Field was up higher than grass area and field tapered toward area where print was found. Other side of grass area was fence and beyond was very thick woods with 8 Mile Creek tributary running through it (Very hilly area in woods). The area behind the field was wooded with numerous Indian mounds in the woods. In front of the field was gravel road where access was-print area not seen from road. Opposite side of field where print was-fenced treeline with open cattle pasture beyond fenced treeline with 8 Mile Creek running through it.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Stan Courtney:

I spoke with the witness by phone and can add the following details to the report:

• The footprint was 15 – 16 inches long and 5 1/2 inches wide.
• The footprint was 1/2 inch deep in the soil.
• All five toes were visible.

About BFRO Investigator Stan Courtney:

Stan Courtney has a special interest in wildlife audio recording. He has attended numerous BFRO Expeditions. See Stan's blog StanCourtney.com for recordings he has collected over the years.

Stan Courtney can be reached at illinois@bfro.net