YEAR: 1992

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: August

STATE: Minnesota

COUNTY: Wadena County

LOCATION DETAILS: 4-5 miles north of wadena and 1 mile west of hwy 71.

NEAREST TOWN: wadena

NEAREST ROAD: highway 71 or leaf river road

OBSERVED: Younger Brother:

In 1992-93 we went to visit family friends. And when playing outside us kids built a tent-like fort over the clothesline. With sheets and clothespins. Then later when were called in for dinner we went in and ate. Then watched a movie. And as now it was late we decided to leave on wishing us farewell the owner of the house saw the fort with her sheets still up and said "no one is going anywhere until those sheets are in the house".

So me being little I got out of the work and got to sit in the van with my mom. Who turned on the head lights so they did not have to dismantle the fort in the dark. As we are watching this my mom says "hey do you see that shadow over there by the tree?" and I tried to look but could not make it out. so she took a flash light and shined it in the vicinty but not directly on it hoping not to spook whatever it was that was only 20-30 feet from the kids and the clothesline. she asked me again if i couls see that thing just standing there watching the kids take down the tent-fort. when i said no she called over my big brother who instantly saw what she was talking about. And in his excitement he grabbed the flash light ran towards it.

and i will let him take it from here.

Older Brother:

I approached the clothes line and held the light on the trees just beyond us and never did shine the light on this shadow figure due to i was afraid too. But what i remember from then was seeing the out line of a dark colored figure. It was adifferent shade than the tree bark. it was near 6 in a half feet tall or maybe 7 feet. I was about 5'9" at the time and i felt very short upon seeing this shadow next to the tree about 20 feet from me and my sister and her friend.

We all saw this outline of a tall man near that tree when i told the girls that there was something by that tree watching us. It never moved from its position by the tree it stood up right and just seemed to watch. We hurried quickly and gathered the sheets off the line and i threw them in a bag and gave them to the friend as i was scared and so was my sister. We ran to the van and she got in first and i followed.

My seat in this van was not a normal seating position. My folks had installed another van seat in the van that faced out the back window. This was the seat i took and sat in this night.

Mom backed down the drive way. As she turned on the road the head lights passed over the spot where the figure had stood and everyone but me at this time say they saw the what looked like a upper body shape or a set of shoulders that where large.

Mom started to drive forward towards Wadena and as we pulled away from this sighting of this shadow and figure. I watched in terror as i saw it running down the tree line towards the road we were on heading home. I told mom to drive faster and to this day she claims she was doing about 30 miles an hour on this dirt road. I watched this thing take and turn at the ditch and run real fast and real close to our van it had kept up for the first half a mile. Before it must have given up on following us anymore. It never ran on the road it stayed in the ditch and was fast.

It didnt pump its arms when it ran like a sprinter does. The arms of this beast swung long and almost like with ease right in stride with its long stride as it kept up very well with the van. I know it didnt run like a mile or anything but it was almost a half mile that it did and never lost speed or footing in its steps as it chased us.

Younger Brother:

I would like to add someting now to my brothers discription. First off will never forget the feeling of not knowing what was going on when he hurried and took down the fort quickly. I could tell he was scared and remember very clealy as he ripped the sheets off the line the clothespins popping up in the air madly. I knew something was wrong, I was eight or so and this was my big brother. Nothing scared him. He was like the strongest person knew.

And when my brother said it was chasing us his seat faced the back but I turned over the second seat and you could see it plainly in the red light provided by the tail lights. There was a shadow on two legs not more than ten feet from us running in the ditch after the van. It was very fast and especially for its size.

ALSO NOTICED: yes, about a week or so before my mom and i were driving to the same house. and on the way there as we approached a hill i saw what i thought was a skunk run across the road. but it was a steep hill and after cresting it. when i looked in the direction it was running in there was a corn field probably 50 yards long. when we got to the field there was a path recently knocked down about 4-5 ft. wide. all the cobs were on the stocks and it just looked trampled over all the way through. cause i could see the barn just like looking down a hallway. from the moment i saw the "thing " cross the road to when we got up to it lasted probably 4-5 seconds. my mom and i got out and inspected the corn and it was just trampled over.

OTHER WITNESSES: yes, 4 of us total

OTHER STORIES: yes from around that time a fellow from west of sebeka and north of new york mills said he saw something large, quick and hairy on two legs cross his field. that was around 15 years ago.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: little after dusk around 9:00 maybe 9:30

ENVIRONMENT: at the time it was more wooded area than today, mostly leaf bearing trees and somes pines on the other side of the yard.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Andy P.:

I interviewed both witnesses and have the following to add to the report:

- The incident happened in late summer of 1992 or 1993. The younger brother was eight to nine years old and the older brother was 12 to 13.

- The older brother had a much better look at the animal and was able to provide me with much better data. Also, the younger brother's testimony, while corroborating his older brother's, was a considerably more hazy memory, especially when it comes to distances and sizes. That isn't surprising given his young age at the time and fear level during the incident. As a result, I am going with the measurements given by the older brother.

- The incident happened just after sunset when there was still enough light to see by, but everything was in shadow. The weather was clear and pleasant.

- The animal was around seven feet tall, three feet wide at the shoulders, and had a "V" shaped torso.

- Its fur was dark, and the older brother estimates that it was three to four inches long, based on what he could see as it ran.

- Its head was large with a slight crest, a flat face, and no apparent neck.

- Its arms/hands hung down to just above the knees. It swung them gracefully in wide arcs as it chased them.

- The arms were slightly longer than the legs.

- Originally, the animal was about twenty feet from the older brother when they were by the clotheslines. After the car turned around in the driveway, it followed them down the driveway in the woods (it is likely that this is when the younger brother saw it in the taillights). When the car got to the road, it emerged into the ditch and began chasing them. The older brother reports that it was about fifty to one hundred feet from the van at this point.

- It ran in a fluid gallop, full of grace. It did not appear to be exerting itself much as it ran through the grassy ditch. The mother clocked it at thirty miles per hour before it turned off into an open field. It had followed them for between one half to three quarters of a mile.

- The area is a mix of farms, woods, and swamps and has a history of sightings.

- The other possible sighting, described as a skunk crossing the road, was actually viewed from over the crest of a hill. The witness believes that he and his mom actually only saw the head of the animal; the rest of it was obscured by the hill, thus the original thought of it being an much smaller animal. There isn't enough detail in this second sighting to say one way or the other. The witness does not remember looking for tracks.

About BFRO Investigator Andy P.:

Andy P. lives in Minnesota. He is a professional writer with a degree in English and Biology. His interest dates back to his first sighting in 1985.

He attended the following BFRO expeditions:

- 2006 Wisconsin I
- 2007 Michigan
- 2008 Michigan
- 2008 Minnesota (private)
- 2009 Wisconsin
- 2009 Minnesota (organizer)