YEAR: 2005

SEASON: Fall

STATE: Missouri

COUNTY: McDonald County

LOCATION DETAILS: A small group of houses surounded by Ozark hills and forrest, alot of woods where the incident ocurred have since been cleared. Take highway 71 to Bear Hollow and follow approx. 2 miles and turn on Tyson Rd. follow til turns to dirt and keep a goin until you see some houses right on the road.

NEAREST TOWN: Jane

NEAREST ROAD: Tyson/Bear Hollow

OBSERVED: It was a dark night and I heard the dogs all barking from their cages, which was not that unusual as they would do this whenever a coyote would come close or a car would drive by. I grabbed my flashlight and turned on the back motion light and went outside with my .22 mag revolver thinking a coyote had stirred them. I hollered at the dogs to hush and they would not at first, but eventually did. It was at this time that I heard something walking in the woods behind the house that sounded as though it was on two legs. I then assumed that it had to be a person and called out asking if anyone was there. Immediately afterwards the walking stopped and I called out again as I began walking towards this little dirt road that separated our back yard from the woods. At this point it sounded as though the footsteps were coming towards me. Not wanting to shoot someone accidentally and still wanting to be safe I went back to the dog kennel and let out our red heeler who I add is usually fearless. I told her come "come" and began walking back towards the woods, the dog ran up to the treeline ears pointing up and alert and immediately ran back to her cage. I have never seen that dog back down from anything before or since so I yelled out one more time for whoever was out there that I was armed and to leave now. I heard the footsteps coming towards me again and the time in between audible steps indicated that whatever it was was very tall, at least seven or more feet. I then proceeded to fire two shots at the ground right in front of the woodline and whatever it was calmly began to walk away as though it was not afraid at all. I then put the dog up and went inside the house and have never had any further experiences.

ALSO NOTICED: I had never heard of Momo before that or even sometime after so I have not told many people about this.

OTHER WITNESSES: None.

OTHER STORIES: No.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Clear night.

ENVIRONMENT: Ozark hills and forrest, small springs and hollers with plenty of game. Site is a former Tyson pig farm that was mostly wooded. Site has been heavily logged after incident.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Larry Newman:

I spoke with this witness by phone. He was 18 years-old at the time. He has since moved away but still has family in the area. It has been six years since the incident and I found him to be credible.

At the time he was aware of wild cats in the area and bear are now seen in this location. He was adamant that the dog had never been afraid of anything and the reaction by the dog was very strange.

Throughout the questioning he was sure of the bipedal walking of whatever he was hearing. He grew up in this area and was familiar with all night sounds and the animals common here.

I found the witness to be credible and I feel truthful about his experience.

About BFRO Investigator Larry Newman:

Life long hunter and fisherman with tracking skills.
Fall 2009 Missouri expedition.
Retired Law Enforcement investigator and certified crime scene investigator. Also experienced and trained in interview techniques and written statement analysis.