YEAR: 2003

SEASON: Spring

MONTH: May

DATE: 15th

STATE: Ohio

COUNTY: Guernsey County

LOCATION DETAILS: Not quite to Cambridge, on rt 77 south,the part of the highway i was on did have highway lights.

NEAREST TOWN: over the Cambridge

NEAREST ROAD: on route 77 south

ALSO NOTICED: What I obseved to this day still haunts me. I was driving and on the side of the road there looked like a brown bear just lying there as if it was hit by a car. I did not completely stop;however, I did slow down to observe what ever was lying on the side of the road stood up glanced and ran off into the distance. This thing when it took off stood about 6.5 to 7 foot tall. After this thing took off it stepped over the gaurd rail that is on the side of the road. This thing look like a large man in an ape suite . After the Creature or what ever it was took off I did stop rolled down the windows but did not get out of the car because i was scared. When i did roll down the passenger window it smelled as if a skunk was hit. The smell could have came from a skunk i don't no where the smell came from all i no the smell was there after rolling down my window.

OTHER WITNESSES: Just myself

OTHER STORIES: Not to my knowledge

TIME AND CONDITIONS: about 3:30am or 4:00am

ENVIRONMENT: On rt 77 south, Forest, night time but very clear and crisp,out side.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Cathy Betz:

I spoke to the witness JS and found him to be sincere and forthright in the description of his encounter.

While driving south on route 77, near the Salt Fork Lake State Park in Ohio, JS passed something huddled on the side of the road. It was lying up against the guardrail, between the railing and the yellow line on the edge of the highway.

At first he thought it was a bear but then realized that it was a humanoid shape that was in a hunched or crouched position, much like the duck and cover position that 1950's school children were instructed to do when going through a nuclear alarm test, on the knees with the head ducked low. His first thought was that whatever it was, had been hit by a car because of its position and location on the side of the road.

Confused at what he had seen, JS quickly stopped and put the car in reverse. As soon as he backed up to it, the creature then stood up on two legs and stepped over the 3½-4’ guardrail and walked into the woods.

JS said that once he had backed his car up, he was about 15’ to 20’ feet away from the creature covered with well-kept, long brownish-gray hair and the back was hairier than the front. He likened the length and texture of its hair to that of ‘Cousin It’ from the TV show ‘The Addams Family’, smooth and flowing. JS stated that he did not see its face but did remember quite distinctly that it had no ears. The head was more of an ‘oval’ shape, rather than a circular shape, and its head sat squarely on its shoulders. The shoulders were ‘massive’, probably three times the width of his own shoulders, and the torso and legs were huge and ‘thick’. He also emphasized that the hands were also ‘huge’ and that they hung down to its knees. When asked for an estimate of the weight and size, JS told me that it exceeded 6’ 5” and weighed close to 500lbs, maybe more.

JS commented that in the 15 to 20 seconds he observed the creature, he could see such details about the creature because there was quite a bit of moonlight present at the time. After he lost sight of the creature, he noticed a large pond lit up by moonlight in the bottom of a nearby valley. With the window rolled down, he noted quite a stench in the vicinity, described as being between a skunk and a fishy smell. He did not feel safe in getting out of his car because of what he had just witnessed.

While reviewing this encounter which occurred near the Salt Fork Lake State Park, I found that there are five other reports that have also occurred in the same vicinity. They are reports #8843, #9281, #9188, #15371 and #15876. The Salt Fork Lake State Park borders Route 77 and has a land area of over 17,000 acres of wilderness which includes lakes, streams, woods and marshes, as well as the Salt Fork Lake that is @ 3000 acres in size.

About BFRO Investigator Cathy Betz:

Cathy has been a nurse for over 27 years and currently works in a busy ICU. An amateur naturalist, Cathy has been intrigued by the bigfoot phenomenon from an early age.
Attended the following expeditions:
- The 2006 Florida Expedition
- The 2007 North Carolina Expedition
- The 2008 South Florida Expedition
- The 2008 North Florida Expedition
- The 2009 Central Florida Expedition
- The 2009 Utah Expedition
- The 2010 TN Survey Expedition
- The 2011 East Texas Expedition
-The 2012 North FL Expedition
-The 2013 Michigan Upper Peninsula Expedition
For more information, please see the Florida BFRO