YEAR: 2007

SEASON: Spring

MONTH: April

STATE: South Carolina

COUNTY: Horry County

LOCATION DETAILS: Highway 17 S from Little River, SC to junction of Eagle's Nest Road & Hwy 17S

NEAREST TOWN: Little River

NEAREST ROAD: 17

OBSERVED: I recently told a story of an encounter that happened to me when I was 11 in cortland NY. I am now 30 and live in little river SC. About 2 weeks ago I was walking on highway 17 at about 9:00pm to the nearest store. along the way there is a small creek thats surrounded by wooods that appear to go several miles west of the area. as I approached this section of woods I heard this scattering in the brush. I figured it was a deer or even a wild dog. I went to the store which is about a 5 to 10 minute walk further down the road. as I was walking back which was probably 10 to 15 minutes later the traffic was bothering me so when i approached the same section of woods to get away from the highway I heard an even louder scatter in the bushes about 10 to 20 feet in the woods. I paniced and quickly ran back closer to the edge of the highway. there was no traffic now and I could hear everything clearly. I was too afraid to run so I walked quickly. I could hear this creature stomping through the brush real fast. I would stop for a second to look to see what was following me and it stopped too. I started off agian and I could hear another couple of footsteps that sounded as if it was the size of a bear. I stopped again and it stopped with me. as I approached an area that was partially lit by a company that had an outside light on i could see at the edge of the woods a creature that apeared to be squating down with its long arms in front of it. the hair looked to be about maybe 5 inches long and a light redish color. it looked more ape like than my fist encounter which leads me to believe that it might have been a skunk ape. I still cant say for sure what it was. I do know that if it was a bear, dear or wild dog it would have fleed when I walked by it the first time. instead it stayed

OTHER WITNESSES: just me

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 9:00pm

ENVIRONMENT: The general location is narrow tract of pine and hardwood trees with a meandering stream nestled in between the trees. The creek leads back to more wooded areas and small salt marsh. The Waccamaw River is 5 miles N of this area and is a swampy environment that is not very accessible in many areas.

Wampee SC Topo Map

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Don Tart:

I spoke with JA via telephone concerning his report. He has since moved back to the NE and was unable to meet the SC BFRO team at the sighting location. We discussed his sighting and I found JA to be a credible witness.

JA described the bipedal as having an Orangutan type appearance. The hair was redish in color with a length of 4" to 5" in length. The weight and height was hard to estimate due to the crouching position. There was no scent noted. One sounds were noted, but the witness had a comment concerning he had the feeling the bipedal was lonely and felt the creature may have been trying to toy with him as he walked from the store along the highway that night.

The SC BFRO drove to the area as described by JA and found the location as described. The team mapped the location, photographed the general area, and looked for signs of activity. None were found at this time. The team plans to return to the site in the near future to investigate further.

The area is on the outskirts of N Myrtle Beach and Little River, SC. Hwy 17 is heavily traveled. This sighting location is one of the few remote spots along this corridor. It is possible for a bipedal to traverse this area as described by the witness without detection from passing motorists. The fact the witness was walking along the highway and heard the noises coming from the creek area one night and spotted a bipedal squatted beyond the guard rail is quite plausible once you view the general area. The road running beside the creek is a private golf course road which has no late night traffic. As the path way goes beyond the golf course greens the trail leads to the Peter Horry National Wildlife Area and the Waccamaw River Basin.

There are numerous sightings in the Horry County area that are being investigated at the present time.

About BFRO Investigator Don Tart:

Don T. is an I&C/E Commissioning Engineer in Waynesboro, Ga. Don is an avid outdoorsman. He is a Life Scout, member of the Order of the Arrow and a Boy Scout Commissioner for Oconee County,SC. Don & his team scouted for "Finding Bigfoot" series for SC episode. He attended the 2006/2007/2008 NC Expeditions. He supported the pre-scouting activities for 2007 SC Expedition & 2007 Ga Expedition. He was a guide for the 2007 SC Expedition and the 2008 Florida expeditions.Don was the sponsor of the 2011 SC BFRO Expedition. Don is a founding member of SE BFRO Tracking Team.