YEAR: 1974

SEASON: Spring

DATE: 5/01/1974

STATE: West Virginia

COUNTY: Harrison County

NEAREST TOWN: stonewood, wv

NEAREST ROAD: old logging road

OBSERVED: This is the story as was relayed to the investigator. "Just after dark the witness, which was 15 at the time, and his friend were getting nightcrawlers to go fishing with. Just behind their house, which like many West Virginia houses is rural, their was an old logging road which was covered by very heavy green briars. The witness heard something coming down the mountain through the green briars. He shined his flashlight and saw an enormous animal which was built like a large bodybuilder. He watched the animal from 60 feet away traveling right to left. He watched the animal for several seconds. What stuck out his memory the most was the swinging arms and the hair 10-12 inches long hanging down off of the forearms. The hair in general was mostly straight and dark brown in color with reddish tinge on tips. It really scared his friend and him. The next day based on a sapling they estimated the animal to be 9 feet tall."

TIME AND CONDITIONS: it occurred at night

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Russ Jones:

I talked to this witness about 90 minutes on the phone. He is a blacksmith by trade and still lives in the area. The event was life changing. The witness thinks of that night often. He has drawn hundreds of pictures of the animal over the years and has sent me a few. He is familiar with the wildlife in the region being a life long hunter and outdoorsman and knows that the animal he saw was not a bear. He believes it looked similar to the animal in the Patterson/Gimlin film. Interestingly, after the sighting he was in the service and when he came home there had been a merger of schools. He found out there had been another sighting the same week as his about 1/2 mile away during the same week by a student who went to a school other than his. I appreciated talking to such a well spoken person who has obviously thought his encounter well through. He is reasonable and does not make any extraordinary claims.

Below is one of the sketches drawn by the witness:

About BFRO Investigator Russ Jones:

Dr. Jones brings a background of hunting, trapping and outdoor experiences together with undergraduate and graduate education. He is a master naturalist and has attended numerous public and private expeditions. He has led expeditions for the BFRO in Ohio and West Virginia. He has written two Bigfoot books, the last “The Appalachian Bigfoot” was an Amazon best selling book. He hosts the Wide Open Research Podcast on the Untold Radio Network. Dr. Jones may be contacted at DrRLJ@Yahoo.com