YEAR: 2011

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: August

DATE: 8th

STATE: Ohio

COUNTY: Adams County

LOCATION DETAILS: This is a state park in Ohio. It is off of Rt. 41 between Hillsboro and Peebles.

NEAREST TOWN: Hillsoboro

NEAREST ROAD: Rt. 41

OBSERVED: I took my kids camping at our camper and decided to do some sight seeing at a couple of places by the camper. We went to a place called Fort Hill in search of a stone wall the indians built encasing 40 some acres of forest land. It has not been touched since then. While hiking on the paths we seen what looked to be a bigfoot print in the mud on the path that we was on. It was about half way up a 400' hill we was climbing. While we was hiking, we heard a big crash that sounded like a tree falling and also had something follow us through the woods for a while. We never seen anything but could hear twigs breaking and leaves shuffling. I did take a picture of the print with my daughter's foot next to it.

OTHER WITNESSES: My daughter and her boyfriend were with me. We all went hiking together and seen the print and heard the sounds.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: It was a hot, sunny afternnon.

ENVIRONMENT: It was a dense forest. It had cliffs, high ridges and a stream that ran through it. It had rained the night before in the area so where the print was looked like it was washed out a little and was muddy.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Steve Nystrom:

On 22 April 2012 I drove down to Peebles, Ohio to conduct a follow-up investigation with the family regarding their encounter and they took me to the Fort Hill Hiking Trails area. The Fort Hill Hiking Trails area is heavily wooded, very rugged and is in a very isolated, mountainous region in South Central Ohio.

We proceeded to walk up the Fort Trail and Earthworks path to the very top to identify the location of the track that the witnesses had photographed that day and to where they had been followed.
The photo:



The witnesses were able to identify the location of the large track that they had photographed, which crossed the trail about a quarter mile from the parking lot. The track was approximately 14 – 16 long, and 6 – 8 inches wide and appeared to be freshly made, had identifiable toes, and left a deep impression in the mud, as well.

The witnesses informed me that widespread thunderstorms had moved through the area during the previous 48 hours before their encounter, and judging from the amount of cobwebs crossing the trail, as well as the lack of other human or animal tracks – they were probably the first hikers on the trail that day. After seeing and photographing the track, the witnesses proceeded to walk up the trail about 100 more feet when they heard a loud “crash” that sounded like a small tree or large tree branch being broken off, to their right in the woods. Not sure exactly what was making the noises, the three of them continued to walk up the trail. While doing so, they heard something walking through the dense brush, off to the side of the trail to their right (southeast), while keeping a steady distance from them. The witnesses stopped periodically along the trail to see if they could get a glimpse of what it was that was following them. However, whenever they stopped – it stopped.

As the three of them finally reached the top of the hill and started down the trail on the other side, they could hear something continuing to follow them for several minutes before it finally stopped.

Based on the follow-up investigation and the photograph they provided, I sincerely believe the three individuals involved to be very credible witnesses. They are all matter-of-fact people who have spent a lot of time hiking and camping in South Central Ohio. The witness who submitted the sighting report is currently employed as a dispatcher with a local police department in the vicinity of Columbus, Ohio.

About BFRO Investigator Steve Nystrom:

Steve Nystrom is an active member of the BFRO. He enjoys investigating reports of Sasquatch encounters and vocalizations throughout the Midwest. Mr. Nystrom is a Senior Analyst with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. He has had a number of leadership, staff and analyst positions throughout his career, which also includes deployments to Iraq in 2008 and 2010. He recently graduated from the U.S. Army's Command and General Staff College and is attending the U.S. Army's School of Advanced Military Studies.