YEAR: 2000

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: June

DATE: June, 2000

STATE: New Mexico

COUNTY: Otero County

LOCATION DETAILS: Between Mescalero and Ruidoso, New Mexico. On the Mescalero Apache Reservation.

NEAREST TOWN: Mescalero

NEAREST ROAD: US highway 70

OBSERVED: Last summer, my mother was awaken by the dogs who were barking really hard so she got up and went upstairs to check on the children. On her way back down she just happened to look out of the window and she saw this dark figure walking up the road. She couldn't see it that well because trees were blocking her view but the window was open so she heard it making deep grunting noises. All the dogs in the neighborhood were barking and crying.
About a week before my mom seen it, my aunt was also awaken by the dogs and she looked out here window (upstairs) and saw it disappear into the trees behind her house. She lives just next door to us.
A few weeks after my mom seen it, I saw it. I woke up about 3 o' clock a.m. and my bed is positioned in my room so that if I sit up, I can see directly out of my window. My room is also on the second floor so I sat up and I saw it walking up the road. My window was open and the odor it let out smelled like something dead or decaying. It was about 7 or 8 feet tall, it was black, it's head kind of had a point near the back, as it walked it seemed slightly hunched over and it naturally swung it's arms. it was about 8 ft from an orange street light so I could see it clearly. I watched it as it walked up the road and once it got past the trees I couldn't see it anymore so I ran downstairs to my mom and woke her up then she came up to my room and she sat on my bed with me then the dogs started barking back by my house so we just sat on my bed and looked out the window. In the ditch by the road, we see it's figure through the trees, it was playing with a can or something. It was scary.
We hear a lot of stories from the people who have seen it. Our neighborhood isn't that big and it's only been there for about 10 to 15 years, plus it's in the mountains.

ALSO NOTICED: It was playing with a can or something that was lying by the road.

OTHER WITNESSES: There were two witnesses, my mother and I. We were sleeping.

OTHER STORIES: This lady saw it looking in her window, another man said it was chasing him,my uncle saw it digging in the neighbor's trash, people have saw it walking back into the trees or walking across the road. There are a lot of stories we hear but I think people actually see more than they tell because they don't want people to think that they're crazy. I know that's how I was.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: It was a clear night, early morning. The moon was out and there was an orange street light about 8 ft. from it.

ENVIRONMENT: On one side of the road there is a canyon, but the whole neighborhood area is surrounded by mountains. The trees there are mainly pine.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Dr. Steven Coy:

I met with this family for six hours on August 3, 2001, including a five hour night surveillance from their home.
The mother and daughter have both had two sightings apiece, one mutual and one each separate. We concluded they have seen two separate creatures because of height differences. The first was estimated at 6 feet or so, and the second, based on physical structures at the site, I estimate at 7 1/2 -8 feet in height.
They have innumerable stories of relatives, friends, and neighbors having had sightings, vocalizations, or experiences over the years in this area.
The aunt who lives next door, perhaps 40 yards through the trees but easily in view, has had at least 3-4 sightings from her house.
Unbelievable as it sounds, the creature(s) seem to be raiding garbage containers in the housing unit. The witnesses live across the street from a deep canyon that is thick with ponderosa pine and scrub oak. Visibility is 15-20 yards at most. During my night of surveillance with them, from 8 pm to 1 am, we heard 2 unusual grunt-like sounds from down in the canyon.
The daughter's most recent sighting was a Friday night about July 14, 2001, She was awakened by heavy footsteps outside her bedroom, sat up to look out the upstairs window, and saw the head and shoulders of a huge dark creature walk by between the house and the family clothes lines.

About BFRO Investigator Dr. Steven Coy:

Former wildlife biologist - US Department of Interior