YEAR: 1961 1962

SEASON: Fall

STATE: Missouri

COUNTY: Pemiscot County

LOCATION DETAILS: Two miles west of sunrise corner just acress the railroad tracks

NEAREST TOWN: Hornersville

OBSERVED: In the fall of the year 1961-1962 I was out behind our house in the field. It was just before dark I was throwing dirt clods up in the air in front of bats flying around and they would chase it till it would almost hit the ground. My dog was with me and it was right at dark. Now he had went over to a barn that was no longer used and had tall weeds growing all around it. I had noticed that he was going back and forth along the weeds and then started to inch his way in then. I heard him starting to bark very fearfully. Then it turned into the noise he makes when he is very scared. I stopped what I was doing and started walking toward over to were he was. He came running out toward me very fast and then I saw why. Right behind him was the biggest thing I have ever saw. I stopped in my tracks. Then he saw me and did the same. We were looking right at each other, eye to eye, no more then ten feet from each other. My dog stopped right behind me and began his barking again at this very tall thing that had hair from toe to head. It was A very dark brown I could see his very huge hands and long fingers. I turned very fast and ran to the house and told my folks they did not belive a word of it. Since then I've only told very few friends and my family. We lived in the boothill of Mo. Their was nothing around us but farmland water ways and deep woods. Not any houses were located to the south or the west of us and only one to the north for many miles.

OTHER WITNESSES: No

OTHER STORIES: none

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Late in the day almost dark

ENVIRONMENT: Hard wood forest and water

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator G.E. Stade:

I spoke to the witness and found him to be credible and sincere. The witness had the following additional information to add:

• He was between the ages of 7 and 9 years old at the time of the sighting.
• The witness didn’t get a very long look at the creature because, being very scared by the incident, he immediately ran away to the safety of his house, located approximately 30 yards from the location of the encounter. Prior to the witness’ retreat, the creature approached to within 6-10 feet of the witness. It was close enough it could have easily injured the witness if it wanted to but made no attempt to do so. The witness said that he no longer fears the creature as he did at the time of the sighting, having realized after the fact that it meant him no harm.
• In recalling the encounter, the witness repeatedly returned to his observation of the creature’s hands which hung at and in front of the creature’s waist during his observation. Asked why the hands, the witness said he just thinks that the hands were what he primarily looked at during the brief time of his sighting. I would interject that this may be because its hands were most directly within the witness’ line of sight / eye level during the encounter.
• The witness described the creature he saw as being a little over seven feet tall, wide and weighing over 400lbs. He has never seen a human man as big as the creature he saw. It had very dark brownish nearly black bushy hair (not fur) covering its body and part of its face. He recalls that the creature acted/looked confused. The witness doesn’t remember specifically noticing if the creature was a male or female but believes it to have been a male and refers to it as “he.” The witness can’t remember any unusual smells during his encounter because he was “so scared.”
• Witness described the creature as not completely animal but also not completely human in its actions and appearance.
• The time of year was fall and the sighting occurred just around dusk as the bats were coming out for the night.
• The witness recalls hearing unidentifiable animals screams and vocalizations on occasion while living in the house where the encounter occurred.

About BFRO Investigator G.E. Stade:

An experienced outdoorsman and naturalist. Mr. Stade attended the following BFRO Expeditions: 2008 & 2009 OK; 2008, 2009 & 2010 MO.