YEAR: 2007

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: July

DATE: 12

STATE: Florida

COUNTY: Lake County

NEAREST TOWN: Leesburg

NEAREST ROAD: 26A

OBSERVED: Me and my friend Kaiti were walking Flat Island Preserve in Leesburg Florida Lake County it was about 9:30 at night we were walking the nature trail when we heard a something hit a tree over and over we aproached the area where it was coming from and seen what i think was bigfoot it looked at us for a second and ran off it was about 8 feet.

OTHER WITNESSES: One

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 9:30

ENVIRONMENT: Swamp Lands

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator David Wright:

On 7/15/2007, I conducted extensive telephone interviews separately, with both witnesses. The first was a young adult male. He stated that their interest was first drawn by a sound of wood knocking against wood, in an area where such a sound was unusual; that being in an uninhabited preserve. He stated that when they went to investigate the sound, they saw an animal that may have been upright, and was of approximately 300 to 400 lbs. He stated that the animal was moving straight away from him, at a distance that he estimated at less than 100 yards. He stated that the figure appeared to be furry, but he was not sure of that fact.

The second witness was much more expressive and offered considerably more detail. Her recollection was that they were sitting in the wilderness area, and heard the sound of cracking bushes and branches, and the sound of loud walking. She had the distinct sensation of being stared at, and asked the other witness to stop staring at her, whereupon he responded that he was not. Early in the incident, she stated that she first heard a heavy breathing sound, then heard moaning sounds and asked the first witness if he had heard them, and he responded in the negative. She stated that they had indeed heard the wood knocking sound, and went to investigate. As they did so, she expressed that their distance was less than 50 yards when they saw the creature. She described it as 7' - 8' tall, she did not recall hair, but did recall that she marveled that it "looked really buff" (very muscular and well built). Neither witness noticed any unusual smells or other sensation. Upon their sighting of the creature, the first witness exclaimed that they were seeing a Bigfoot.

They left the area and returned to next day to find "huge footprints" that were long and wide, and shaped like very large human prints with visible toes. They did not photograph them.

Based on this startling experience, they searched the internet and found the BFRO website, and decided to file a report. It should be noted that in the process of filing the report, the female witness urged the male witness to include more details in the report, which he did not. These details are reported here.

Upon being asked, "What do you think you saw?” the second witness stated, "We saw a Bigfoot, and it really scared me!" or something to that effect.

While the initial report is sparse in content, I found in the interviews that the witnesses were serious and credible, considering the detail of those personal interviews. It is the opinion of this investigator that the experiences reported herein did occur, and that these two individuals likely saw a specimen of the creature of our interest.

About BFRO Investigator David Wright:

• Certified Florida Master Naturalist (U. of Florida)
  
• Visual Tracker, Level 1
• Teaches Biology, A.P. Biology, Ecology, and Environmental Science at a rural high school SE of Jacksonville
• See local TV interview with D. Wright
• Participated in the 2007 Private Florida Expedition [Click the video link on that page.], the 2007 South Carolina Expedition, the 2008 South Florida Expedition and assisted with the organization of the 2008 North Florida Expedition. Assisted with the organization of the 2009 Central Florida Expedition.